Jeremy Corbyn denies calling Theresa May 'stupid woman' in PMQs clash
Jeremy Corbyn has denied branding Theresa May a "stupid woman" as the Labour leader faced furious demands to apologise for a muttered comment, SKY News reported.
Anger erupted at the end of the last session of Prime Minister's Questions of 2018, as a series of Tory MPs accused Mr Corbyn of a "misogynistic" remark.
At the conclusion of exchanges between Mrs May and Mr Corbyn in the House of Commons on Wednesday, which were dominated by Brexit, the Labour leader appeared to mutter "stupid woman".
After clips of Mr Corbyn's alleged comment spread on social media - and were picked up by MPs still sitting in the chamber - the Labour leader came under fire.
A team of lip readers study the footage of the Labour leader and disagree with the politician's explanation of a Commons row.
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Conservative Party deputy chairman James Cleverly tweeted: "This kind of misogynistic language must not be tolerated."
The Liberal Democrats added to calls for the Labour leader to apologise, with the party's MP Wera Hobhouse saying: "It is time Jeremy Corbyn left the 1980s behind."
MPs returned to the row at the end of PMQs, with a series of Tories raising points of order with Commons' Speaker John Bercow.
Former Conservative Party chairman Sir Patrick McLoughlin demanded Mr Corbyn come back to the Commons to apologise.
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Around three hours after the incident, Mr Corbyn did return to the Commons but told MPs: "During PMQs today I referred to those who I believe were seeking to turn a debate about the national crisis facing our country into a pantomime as 'stupid people'.
"I did not use the words 'stupid woman' about the prime minister or anyone else and am completely opposed to the use of sexist or misogynist language in absolutely any form at all."
Responding to Mr Corbyn's statement, Leader of the House of Commons Andrea Leadsom said: "I think the country and this House will have drawn their own conclusions.
MPs attempted to show Speaker John Bercow video clips of Corbyn's remark
"I deeply regret he [Mr Corbyn] has not seen fit to apologise to the prime minister."
Mr Bercow told MPs he had reviewed TV footage of Mr Corbyn's remark and that it is "easy to see" why the Labour leader's words "might be construed as 'stupid woman'".
However, explaining neither he nor his officials had seen or heard the remarks themselves, "nobody can be 100% certain" by relying on TV footage.
Mrs May responded to the allegations against Mr Corbyn herself during a visit to Heathrow airport after PMQs, as she revealed the government's post-Brexit immigration plans.
She said: "It's incumbent on all of us in the House of Commons to be careful about the language that we use.
"I'm particularly concerned in the year in which we celebrate the 100th anniversary of women getting the vote, I want to see more women encouraged to come into parliament and not put off by the sort of remarks that they might feel have been said in parliament.
"The Speaker made very clear that if an MP uses inappropriate language then they must apologise."
Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon told Sky News, as she made her way into 10 Downing Street for a meeting, that if Mr Corbyn had made the remark as alleged it was "unacceptable".
Mr Bercow, who was accused earlier this year of calling a top minister a "stupid woman" himself, had been dragged into the increasingly dramatic row during further points of order in the chamber at the end of PMQs.
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