'I heard shaggy dog. I am sure everybody heard shaggy dog.'
A Labour MP was forced to repeat himself in the House of Commons after a colleague thought he told the chamber ‘Operation s**g a dog’ is in full force.
Shadow environment secretary Jim McMahon told colleagues he thought Operation Big Dog, the name rumoured to have been given to the efforts to keep Boris Johnson in office, was ‘absolutely outrageous’.
But Mr McMahon renamed the project ‘Operation Shaggy Dog’ an alteration which was heard by his Labour colleagues but not Conservative MP Jerome Mayhew across the chamber.
‘Operation Shaggy Dog in full force. I think it is absolutely outrageous,’ Mr McMahon said.
But as he continued speaking, the Tory MP for Broadland requested permission to interject.
Mr Mayhew said: ‘I think the operation wasn’t called Operation s**g a dog, but perhaps the honourable member would care to correct the house.’
Sniggers broke out across the chamber and an MP seated behind Mr Mayhew could be seen with his head in his hands.
Clearly bemused by the interjection Nigel Evans, deputy commons speaker, agreed to let the clarification take place, but added: ‘I heard shaggy dog. I am sure everybody heard shaggy dog.’
As Mr McMahon stood up again voices could be heard agreeing with the deputy speaker and one even chimed in ‘learn to speak northern’.
The MP for Oldham West and Royton clarified he had indeed said ‘shaggy’ and had been referring to the Dulux paint dogs, known for their long hair.
Operation Big Dog, also known as Operation Save Big Dog, refers to the moves to keep Mr Johnson in office as prime minister amid the fall out of the partygate scandal and publication of Sue Gray’s report.
The PM carried out a mini Cabinet reshuffle yesterday, which saw him reward ministers who have openly supported him during the turbulent past few weeks.
No ministers left Government, with Mr Johnson concentrating on moving allies into new roles.
Dubbed a ‘he-shuffle’ for the lack of women given new jobs, the changes came after a week of chaos in Westminster which saw five members of the PM’s top team resign within 24-hours, three of whom were caught up in the partygate scandal.
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