A Labour MP was ejected from a Westminster debate this morning by the chair after a furious clash with Reform UK’s Lee Anderson over knife crime. Mr Anderson had been mid-flow, accusing Sadiq Khan of major failure to keep knives off the streets of London, when South London MP Neil Coyle began intervening.
The Ashfield MP told Westminster Hall: “We know that under Sadiq Khan’s leadership there’s been a reduction in stop and search of over 23% in just one year (2023/24). Meanwhile knife crime in London has increased by nearly 60% in just three years, and that’s according to a Policy Exchange report. It is a classic case, I believe, of a mayor who could not care less.”
Provoked by this, Mr Coyle asked Mr Anderson if he would give way for an intervention, something he denied.
Following this, Mr Coyle, who represents Bermondsey, asked the chair if he could make a point of order instead.
Dame Esther McVey interjected to remind him that it’s down to the MP speaker to accept interventions or not.
She said: “Is it a point of order? OK I’ll listen to your point of order and then I’ll decide if it was.”
Mr Coyle proceeded to incorrectly use a point of order to accuse Mr Anderson of making an incorrect claim about knife crime in London and, in doing so, misleading the House.
“There is an issue with some of the figures that have been presented, and I just wondered if you could encourage the member to either give the dates for the figures he was using, which show they would be out of date, or use the correct data that shows knife crime has fallen in the capital – something we should welcome together.”
Dame Esther hit back that it wasn’t a point of order, before inviting the MP to leave Westminster Hall.
After Mr Coyle shot back “when we’re done, yeah”, an unimpressed Dame Esther replied: “I’d actually ask you now to leave, thank you.”
Mr Coyle could be heard sarcastically countering: “Oh wow, brilliant.”
Dame Esther blasted: “I’m afraid your temper and your attitude doesn’t actually belong in Westminster Hall.”
Lee Anderson quipped, “It’s not the first time the hon. member has been thrown out of a room on this estate”, referring to a 2023 incident when the Labour MP was suspended from the Commons for five days after drunkenly making racist comments to a journalist in one of the parliamentary bars.