Home secretary James Cleverly has said he “did not, would not and would never” make derogatory comments about Stockton-on-Tees.
His apology follows an exchange at last week’s Prime Minister’s Questions, where Labour MP Alex Cunningham claimed Mr Cleverly called his seat of Stockton North a “shithole”.
But Mr Cleverly said it was a criticism of the opposition MP, and not his constituency and apologised for ‘”unparliamentary language”.
Mr Cunningham claimed Mr Cleverly “hasn’t the guts” to admit what he said about the people of Stockton.
James Cleverly admits calling Labour MP ‘unparliamentary’ word
James Cleverly denies calling Stockton North derogatory term