A petition has been started calling for Burton's MP to resign after he admitted heckling Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn during the Budget debate in the House of Commons.
The petition was set up after the exchange in Parliament on Wednesday, November 22, during the Budget announcement in which Burton's Conservative MP Andrew Griffiths made a jibe about Mr Corbyn's age.
Mr Griffiths, who was elected in 2010 with a 10,000 majority, has however strongly denied saying that Mr Corbyn, aged 68, "should be in care". The Tory Whip admits heckling but has said that this quote was "wrong, misleading and inaccurate".
He claims the Labour leader said: "There are elderly people in need of help," and that he replied "That’s you!"
However, the incident has led to a barrage of criticism leveled at the MP and today, Friday, November 24, Burton resident Alex Eaton started a petition calling on Mr Griffiths to resign. It was nearing 500 signatures this afternoon.
Mr Eaton started the petition on Change.org and intends to send it to Prime Minister Theresa May, he said.
He claimed: "The budget is a stressful time for the population. When I watched it, I was shocked to see Andrew laughing, yelling and making noises while Jeremy Corbyn was trying to make points about cuts to social care, services and the way austerity was affecting the poorest people in our communities.
"Videos and photos clearly show Mr Griffiths crouched down in between benches, out of sight of the Speaker, shouting over Jeremy Corbyn.
"No matter his political leaning, I would expect our MP to be concerned and to listen to speeches about cuts to our services and the way austerity is affecting real people. Instead, he laughed and jeered and shouted over the points.
"Andrew Griffiths is the MP for an area with a number of wards in the top five per cent of deprived areas in the whole country - the issues Jeremy Corbyn was discussing are directly affecting his own constituents every day and he was laughing and jeering."
He added: "He should be ashamed of himself - as should all MPs who mock, jeer, laugh and shout over speakers when they are trying to talk about real human issues."
Mr Griffiths told the Burton Mail that there was always a certain amount of "rough and tumble" in Parliament and realises that people often take the opportunity to "have a go at a Tory".
"I think people need to get a sense of proportion and understand that there is always an element of rough and tumble in the House of Commons chamber," he said.
"I realise why some will always take any opportunity to have a go at a Tory MP but the fact is that earlier this year I was elected for the third time to serve the people of Burton and Uttoxeter with the highest share of the vote since the 1930s.
"I intend to go on serving my community as I have done for the past seven years."
Following the alleged inference about his age, Labour leader and MP for Islington North Mr Corbyn said: "I hope the Honourable Members begin to understand what it’s like to wait for social care stuck in hospital bed.
"The uncaring, the uncouth attitude of certain members of Parliament needs to be called out."
