Keir Starmer backs Labour MP ordered out of Commons for calling Boris Johnson 'a liar'

Labour leader Keir Starmer has backed an MP who was ordered out of the Commons when she called Boris Johnson "a liar".

Left-winger Dawn Butler was ordered to leave the House of Commons last week after refusing to withdraw claims that the Prime Minister has “lied to the House and the country over and over again”.

Commons etiquette do not allow one MP to directly accuse another of lying although the SNP’s Ian Blackford regularly attempts to be fall foul of the rules by calling the PM a liar.

Butler, the MP for Brent, was ordered to leave the Chamber on Thursday afternoon by temporary deputy speaker Judith Cummins, after accusing Johnson of “lying to the public” amid the pandemic.

Labour MP Dawn Butler was thrown out of the House of Commons last week (PA)

She highlighted a series of claims made by the Prime Minister which she said were "just not true", including figures about the economy growing and that the Tories had invested £34 billion in the NHS.

Asked about the incident on LBC radio on Monday, Starmer said: “I agree with what Dawn had to say.

"I think the Prime Minister is the master of untruths and half-truths, and Dawn was simply giving some examples of that.

“I think there’s a lot of people that feel that, you know, it’s the person who’s not telling the truth rather than the person who’s calling it out that ought to be on the hotspot. So, I agree with Dawn on that.”

Starmer added: “But I do want to, in fairness to the temporary speaker, Judith Cummings, who was there, she did the right thing, she followed the rules because Parliament doesn’t allow you to call other parliamentarians liars in the chamber, so I don’t criticise the speaker … the deputy speaker for what she did, she was following the rules. But do I support Dawn in what she said? I absolutely do.”

Butler said she hoped her actions would highlight that “we get in more trouble for calling out lies than people do for telling lies”.

She continued: “This archaic system serves only to protect privilege and don’t they know it. My stance has clearly struck a chord with the country.

"Maybe there are more of us that stand together than the PM and his cronies realise.”