CCTV footage released Sunday appeared to show Labour MP Mike Amesbury punching a member of the public repeatedly in the early hours of Saturday morning after claiming to have been threatened.
UPDATE 18:30: The Labour Party has suspended MP Mike Amesbury, The Telegraph reports, following the release of CCTV footage appearing to show him punching a man multiple times.
The original story continues as follows…
The video, which was obtained by the Daily Mail, captured the 2:15 am Saturday morning incident in which the MP for Runcorn and Helsby appeared to sucker punch a man on the street and continued to punch him as he lay on the ground.
The CCTV footage backed up earlier cell phone video that went viral of the Labour MP seeming to attack the man while claiming that he was “threatened”.
“You will never threaten me again… Don’t threaten the MP. You will never do it again… You can’t do that… you can’t do that… fucking threatening me… you can’t do it,” he is heard saying.
At the time of this reporting, the Labour MP and former shadow cabinet minister for Keir Starmer had not been arrested in connection with the incident; however, Cheshire Police said that “inquiries are ongoing.”
In a statement on Saturday, Amesbury said, “Last night, I was involved in an incident that took place after I felt threatened on the street following an evening out with friends.
“This morning, I contacted Cheshire police myself to report what happened during the incident. I will not be making further public comment but will, of course, cooperate with any inquiries if required by Cheshire police.
“I remain fully committed to working hard for the people of Runcorn and Helsby, and am determined to remain an open and accessible MP for our community.”
A Labour spokesman said: “We are aware of an incident that took place last night. We understand that Mike Amesbury MP approached Cheshire police to report what happened this morning himself and that he will cooperate with any inquiries they have.”
Suggesting that the governing left-wing party will not launch an internal investigation, Cabinet minister Bridget Phillipson told Sky News Sunday that “it’s a matter for police”.