Member of Parliament ordered to leave for the day after calling Johnson a liar

A member of the British Parliament was asked to leave a hearing on Thursday after she accused Prime Minister Boris Johnson of being a liar. 

Labour MP Dawn Butler was ordered to leave the House of Commons by temporary deputy speaker Judith Cummins after she refused to retract her statements, according to Yahoo News.

Butler slammed Johnson for allegedly lying about the effects of the pandemic on the country, including its toll on the economy, investment into the National Health Service and nursing bursaries, the outlet reported.

“It’s dangerous to lie in the pandemic. I am disappointed the prime minister has not come to the House to correct the record and correct the fact that he has lied to this House and the country over and over again,” she said.

It is considered to be a breach of parliamentary etiquette to call another MP a liar, according to the news source. 

Cummins responded to Butler’s remarks by asking her to “reflect on her words and perhaps correct the record.”

“What would you rather: a weakened leg or a severed leg? At the end of the day the prime minister has lied to this House time and time again and it’s funny we get in trouble in this place for calling out the lie rather than the person lying,” Butler responded, doubling down on her stance.

Upon being asked to withdraw her comments one more time, Butler responded “I’ve reflected on my words and somebody needs to tell the truth in this House that the prime minister has lied.”

Cummins then asked Butler to leave the House of Commons for the rest of the day, citing “standing order 43″ which allows the speaker to “order any member or members whose conduct is grossly disorderly to withdraw immediately from the House during the remainder of that day’s sitting,” according to parlimentary rules.

Butler shared a clip of the exchange on Twitter on Thursday with a caption stating “I will never stop speaking truth to power!”

Butler is reportedly the first MP to be ordered to remove themself from the chamber since 2018.