THE Conservative Party whip should be withdrawn from the Tory MP who used "violent language" to describe a possible coup attempt to unseat Theresa May, a leading Brexiteer has insisted.
Steve Baker, the former Brexit Minister, said he hoped the MP's identity would be revealed and demanded disciplinary action be taken against them.
"The person or persons who directed violent language at [Mrs May] have thoroughly disgraced themselves. I very much hope that they are discovered and I hope that she will withdraw the whip from them," he declared to hear hears from across the chamber.
The Prime Minister thanked her colleague for his “supportive comments,” which echoed several from the frontbenches and the backbenches.
Weekend newspapers reported Tory backbenchers saying Mrs May was entering the “killing zone” and that she should "bring her own noose" to a meeting with Conservative MPs to discuss her Brexit plans.
An unnamed former minister noted: "The moment is coming when the knife gets heated, stuck in her front and twisted. She'll be dead soon."
During Commons exchanges Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn was among those who criticised the remarks, saying he hoped the debate following the PM's statement on the October EU Council would be conducted "without some of the language reported in the press over the weekend".
Mrs May, referring to the Brexit process, responded by telling MPs: “It is incumbent on all of us in public life to be careful about the language we use. There are passionate beliefs and passionate views that are held on this subject and other subjects but whatever the subject is we should all be careful about our language."
Labour’s Yvette Cooper, who chairs the Commons Home Affairs Committee, criticised what she described as "violent, dehumanising and frankly misogynistic language".
The SNP’s Lisa Cameron condemned the “wild language” used against the PM, noting how such attacks affected a person’s whole family and that last week a person was charged in relation to alleged abuse against the MP for East Kilbride herself.
“People watch how we treat each other in here and we have to act as role models,” she declared, insisting that MPs should never perpetuate abuse in politics.
Mrs May said she was sorry to hear Ms Cameron had herself been allegedly subject to abuse and that while politics often evoked strong emotions, political debate should always be conducted in a “respectful manner”
Earlier, the PM's spokesman said he would not dignify the attacks on Mrs May by responding to them but made clear she expected those in public life to avoid "dehumanising" and "derogatory" language. He added the PM believed “personal vitriol has no place in our politics".
Yesterday, Nicola Sturgeon, the First Minister, hit out at the denigrating language used against Mrs May, tweeting: “Few disagree with her more than I do but language like this debases politics. Get a grip, Tories.”
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