Anger as Labour MP ‘mocks suicide’
A LABOUR frontbencher was accused of mocking suicide after he mimed shooting himself in the House of Commons.
Clive Lewis, a shadow Treasury minister, pretended to shoot himself in the mouth twice during a debate on the Finance Bill.
The ally of Jeremy Corbyn made the move after his colleague Anneliese Dodds was interrupted by a Tory MP making an intervention.
Twitter users condemned the MP, with one saying: ‘The day after the male epidemic of suicide was highlighted as a part of International Men’s Day. Beyond sickening.’
Another said: Disgraceful, whatever side of the political debate you’re from – this is unacceptable.’
Mr Lewis was once seen as a future leadership contender, but blotted his copybook by resigning from the Shadow Cabinet in February 2017 over Labour’s support for Article 50.
He was brought back into Labour’s top team by Mr Corbyn in January, just weeks after being cleared of sexual harassment. He had been accused of groping a 39-year-old woman at a Labour conference.
Mr Lewis always denied the allegations and the party’s disciplinary panel ruled that the matter should not be referred to a full hearing.
At the same conference, he was caught on camera telling a man to ‘get on your knees, bitch’.
Labour and Mr Lewis declined to comment last night.