John McDonnell has sparked a row after saying he would never be friends with a Conservative.
Labour shadow chancellor Mr McDonnell said in a BBC interview: “I can’t forgive them for what they’ve done.”
Public figures such as Tory vice-chair James Cleverly and Professor Brian Cox accused Jeremy Corbyn’s number two of “hatred” and “hubris”.
Mr McDonnell said: “I work with Tories on the basis of cross-party agreements etc. I’m perfectly civil and I’m perfectly willing to engage in conversation etc.
“I’m pleasant in many ways. I can get angry with them as well. I have to show emotions sometimes, too.
“But, to be frank, at the moment with regard to the Conservative Party as it now stands, and for all that they’ve done to our community, the suffering that they’ve caused, I can’t forgive them. I can’t forgive them.”
Asked if he would be friends with a Conservative, Mr McDonnell repeated: “No, I can’t forgive them for they’ve done.
“I go back to my constituency and I’ve never seen human suffering life this, in all the times I’ve been an MP and in the 40 years I’ve lived in my constituency.
“I can’t forgive them for what they’ve done.”
Mr Cleverly, the Conservative deputy chair, said: “I’ve never understood why some in the Labour Party wear prejudice and hatred as a badge of pride.”
Prof Cox tweeted: “If you struggle to be friends with someone of the ‘opposite political persuasion’ then it seems to me that you believe a one party state is the way forward – because the only ‘good’ people are people who agree with you. Certainty suggests hubris – doubt suggests wisdom.”
Journalist and broadcaster Kate Bevan said: “I have Tory friends, Green friends, swivel-eyed libertarian friends, Labour friends, religious friends, Brexit friends, and I'm grateful for and love them all.”
It is not the first time Mr McDonnell, the Hayes and Harlington MP, has made divisive comments about Tories. In 2014, he repeated a call for Esther McVey to be "lynched", something for which he has refused to apologise.
And Mr McDonnell’s latest "friends" remarks were reminiscent of comments made by Labour MP Laura Pidcock last year. She said: “I have no intention of being their [Tories] friends. We are ideological opponents.”
But the Commons is not as divided as Mr McDonnell and Ms Pidcock would suggest.
Blue and red friendships were cited in a piece by the Guardian last year including Anne Milton and Jess Phillips; Nicholas Soames and Frank Field; Johnny Mercer and Ruth Smeeth; and Heidi Allen and Steve Reed.
Jeremy Corbyn and David Davis have also been complimentary of one another in recent months with the former Brexit secretary calling the Labour leader: "A nice man".
