There was a remarkable exchange in the House of Commons between Dawn Butler and the Deputy Speaker in which the Labour MP was almost thrown out of the chamber.
Speaking in parliament on Monday, Butler raised a point of order in which she said she was “completely offended” by comments from Reform MP Sarah Pochin over the weekend.
During an appearance on TalkTV, Pochin stated that it “drove her mad” seeing a high proportion of minorities featured in television adverts, instead of “white families”.
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The representative for Runcorn went on to state that the average white person ‘does not feature’ in TV ads, before going on to blame the ‘wokerati’ for the perceived shift in demographics.
Pochin has since apologised for her ‘poorly worded’ comments, but stood by the general point she was making.
In the Commons, Butler labelled Pochin’s comments as “racist” and said they amounted to a breach of the MP’s code of conduct.
“It is a racist comment, and can you imagine the constituents of that MP going to see her knowing that she is a racist,” she said.
But deputy speaker Judith Cummins took issue with the Brent East MP’s use of the word ‘racist’, and asked Butler to withdraw the remark.
Cummins told her: “If you can please reflect on your remarks of calling a member of this House a racist and stick to the comments being racist.
“It may be that she considers that is dancing on the head of a pin, but it’s important that we all act with respect and set an example to the country.”
The Brent East MP said: “It’s giving me deja vu. I appreciate that in this House that we are not supposed to be disrespectful and call Members of Parliament … what they actually are.
“Ultimately, the comment is a racist comment. It’s quite strange that I’m unable to call out the member for being racist, having made a racist comment.”
After a back and forth about the remark, Butler eventually withdrew the comment, saying: “I don’t want to be thrown out of Parliament again, so I will withdraw the fact that I am referring to the Member of Parliament as a racist because of her racist comments.”
Reacting online, many questioned why Butler had been made to withdraw the comment.
Sharing the exchange, one person said it was the “most pathetic thing” they’ve ever seen in parliament.
“How tragic for our democracy that it is more important to be polite about an MP than to point out that the MP is a racist based on actual racist remarks from said MP,” they added.