Overview
- The prime minister referred in Prime Minister’s Questions to an “individual responsible for the murder” of Ann Widdecombe, a description that critics said risked prejudging an active criminal case.
- Conservative shadow Commons leader Jesse Norman raised a formal point of order accusing the prime minister of breaching the presumption of innocence and demanding an apology.
- Downing Street issued a correction to Hansard and Commons Leader Sir Alan Campbell told MPs the prime minister had acknowledged the error and apologised.
- Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle had earlier granted a limited waiver allowing MPs to note that charges exist but forbidding discussion of case details or speculation about guilt, even though words in the chamber remain protected by parliamentary privilege.
- The criminal case against Joshua Kerry remains live with a High Court trial listed for 8 June next year and a plea and case management hearing on 29 January, a schedule that keeps public remarks highly sensitive and worth monitoring for potential legal impact.