Boris Johnson’s Svengali Dominic Cummings is berated by a Labour MP who corners him and says ‘I’ve had death threats overnight’ and blaming him for masterminding the PM’s performance in ‘toxic’ Commons row
- Shadow transport minister Karl Turner made a beeline for the No 10 chief of staff
- He told the Tory aide he had received death threats overnight
- Mr Cummings, with a friend in Portcullis House, replied: ‘Get Brexit done’
- He has been accused of encouraging ‘people versus Parliament’ row
Boris Johnson’s divisive aide Dominic Cummings was confronted by a furious Labour shadow minister in Parliament today who accused him of masterminding the Prime Ministers role in a ‘toxic’ Commons confrontation.
Shadow transport minister Karl Turner made a beeline for the No 10 chief of staff when he saw him this afternoon, telling him ‘people are blaming you’ for last night’s bruising encounter.
Brexiteer Mr Cummings has been heralded as encouraging a ‘people versus Parliament’ strategy to push through Brexit.
Labour wants the PM to apologise after he said the ‘best way to honour the memory’ of murdered MP Jo Cox is for Parliament to ‘get Brexit done’.
He also claimed the ‘best way’ for MPs to stay ‘properly safe’ is for them to help him deliver the UK’s departure from the European Union on October 31.
Mr Turner, the MP for Leave-voting Kingston-upon-Hull in Yorkshire, confronted the Tory aide in Portcullis House, part of the parliamentary estate.
The MP said ‘I’ve had death threats overnight, should be dead’, to which Mr Cummings, leaning on a post, coolly replied; ‘Get Brexit done.’
Shadow transport minister Karl Turner made a beeline for the No 10 chief of staff when he saw him this afternoon
Mr Cummings responded by telling the shadow minister: ‘I don’t know who you are’
This seemed to antagonise the Labour MP further, as he replied: ‘It’s a disgrace.
‘Get Brexit done? I’ve had three opportunities to get Brexit done. If I could have voted for it, I would have voted for it. Don’t tell me to get Brexit done.
‘The Prime Minister should be there (Brussels) negotiating a deal to bring back for me to support.’
Labour wants the PM to apologise after he said the ‘best way to honour the memory’ of murdered MP Jo Cox is for Parliament to ‘get Brexit done’
Mr Turner scolded the PM in the Commons on Wednesday for ‘laughing and joking’ and using ‘aggressive language’ towards MPs while they were questioning him about the decision to prorogue Parliament
Mr Cummings responded by telling the shadow minister: ‘I don’t know who you are.’
The Hull East MP had scolded the PM in the Commons on Wednesday for ‘laughing and joking’ and using ‘aggressive language’ towards MPs while they were questioning him about the decision to prorogue Parliament for five weeks, a move Supreme Court judges this week ruled unanimously to be unlawful.
He said threats then followed ‘overnight’ that ’caused me great stress’.
One person on the Facebook group Yellow Vest Hull said Mr Turner ‘wants putting in a ditch’, echoing the PM’s phrase that he would rather be ‘dead in a ditch’ than ask the European Union for an Article 50 extension.
Another said they were tempted to ‘pay a visit’ to the MP, who represents a seat that voted 72 per cent to leave the EU.
Mr Turner later told PA Media he was ‘truly worried’ about his family’s safety – he has a three year old daughter – having previously had a person arrive at his house in Hull to confront him.
Brexiteer Mr Cummings (pictured in Downing Street today) has been heralded as encouraging a ‘people versus Parliament’ strategy to push through Brexit
Mr Cummings, pictured at a book launch today, previously goaded Jeremy Corbyn when he saw him in Parliament earlier this month
As they passed eachother in Westminster, Mr Cummings told the Labour leader: ‘Come on Jeremy, let’s do this election, don’t be scared’
‘The reason I was provoked into making an impassioned plea for him to stop allowing the tone of the debate to be as it is, is because I am truly worried about my family,’ he said.
‘I’ve had previous experiences of attacks on the house and the family and you can’t decide when you see these threats whether it is a serious death threat or whether it is just someone firing off at the keyboard when they’ve had too much to drink. I don’t know and it worries me.’
It is not the first time Mr Cummings, who was the chief strategist for the Vote Leave campaign, has interacted with an MP.
Earlier this month, he is said to have goaded Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, shouting: ‘Come on Jeremy, let’s do this election, don’t be scared’ as they passed each other in Westminster.
Who is Karl Turner?
Karl Turner is the Labour MP for Hull East
Labour MP Karl Turner is hardly a household name but made the news yesterday after he scolded Prime Minister Boris Johnson during the heated House of Commons exchanges.
And today, Mr Turner – a shadow transport minister – confronted Mr Johnson’s controversial aide Dominic Cummings in Westminster.
The 48-year-old is the Member of Parliament for Hull East, having won his seat in the 2010 General Election.
A lawyer by profession, he was made shadow Attorney General by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn in January 2016 before resigning in June of that year in protest at Mr Corbyn’s leadership.
However, Mr Turner returned to the ministerial fold as a whip just four months later.
After Mr Corbyn did far better than expected in the 2017 General Election, the Hull MP moved portfolios to become a transport minister.