British Parliament Fully Melts Down After Jeremy Corbyn Appears to Call Theresa May 'Stupid Woman'

We now go (almost) live to British politics land, where everyday proceedings are somehow sillier and dumber than previously thought possible thanks to an enormous amount of strange customs and rules as well as the funny accents. (I’m half-British so I’m allowed to say that.)

Last time we checked in, a man named Lloyd Russell-Moyle had been reprimanded for stealing a large ceremonial mace in an act of protest, which was awesome. Now today, there was a gigantic meltdown because Labour Party Leader Jeremy Corbyn was caught on video appearing to mutter “stupid woman” after some particularly deranged comments by Prime Minister Theresa May.

Let’s go to the tape!

For the record, a Corbyn spokesperson said that the Labour leader was saying “stupid people,” not “stupid woman.” This is an important distinction because as atrocious as Theresa May is, sexism still isn’t a great look.

But the jury’s still out on what he definitively said, so you can join thousands of people online in watching slowed down versions and consulting actual lip-readers to try to get to the bottom of it.

Almost immediately after the clip aired live and started to go viral on Twitter, MPs reportedly saw it on their phones, which derailed the debate entirely. Here’s Tory Vice Chairman Paul Scully getting irate as hell over it:

Corbyn left the Commons shortly after mouthing whatever it was, and the Conservatives began lobbying to try to get him to come back in for an apology, a move Speaker John Bercow denied, saying he didn’t see it:

Later on, though, Bercow was hit with a massive broadside from Leader of the House of Commons Andrea Leadsom, who brought up the fact that Bercow called her a “stupid woman” earlier this year and didn’t apologize.

Honestly, the best thing about all of this is that any time someone says something in Parliament everyone else just starts shouting and yelling. There’s so much shouting! Listen to this clip, when a Labour MP (Dame Margaret Beckett, which I think is the Most British Name in this post) points out that things have, er, gone off the rails a bit.

There’s a guy in the background just going “BEEAAAAWWWWWW,” which you should absolutely be allowed to do in Congress. Honestly, I could keep embedding Sky News clips for hours. This thread has a few more shouty moments in it, but you get the gist.

Corbyn eventually came back to the floor to firmly deny that he said “stupid woman,” which did absolutely nothing to quell the nationwide spluttering. Leadsom immediately followed him, saying that “the country and this House will have drawn their own conclusions.” That’s certainly true!