Can those Tory MPs be so unused to seeing a female MP that when they spot one they assume she's, oh I don't know, an escort or something?
Stella Creasy, the 30-something Labour MP, was with her (also female) researcher in a House of Commons lift when, according to her Twitter page, a Tory MP "came storming in and said neither of us could read as it was a lift for wheelchair users & MPs only ....."
We can only imagine his reaction when she brandished her security pass and pointed out that she was indeed the honourable member for Walthamstow.
Creasy used Twitter (@stellacreasy) to try to identify this "snotty Tory MP" but as my colleague Hugh Muir writes: "Arrogant, childish, aggressive, muddle-headed. How to whittle down the list of suspects?"
Creasy now knows who the MP was. "Have had letter of apology from Tory mp who tried to throw me out of lift. Blames his age..#mannersfail" she tweeted. But will she name and shame him?
She says that she isn't cross on her own account but that, male or female, people shouldn't be thrown out of a lift. It might be that this particular Tory MP just doesn't like new faces and is always questioning someone's right to be there, male or female. Or, a rookie MP just a year after being elected, will Creasy just come to expect such behaviour from our elected representatives in the future? It seems that we have at least another four years to tell.
