A front man for Corbyn said on Wednesday that the opposition leader was rejecting calls for an apology, insisting that he had muttered "stupid people" while being captured on live television cameras during the exchange in the House of Commons earlier in the day.
"He did not call her a stupid woman, so I don’t think there are any grounds for an apology. As I understand it, he said ’stupid people’," said the front man.
Corbyn himself told the Commons that he used the words to refer to people who were trying to spoil a debate on Britannia’s withdrawal from the European Union
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing..."Mr Speaker I did not use the words 'stupid woman' about the prime minister or anyone else," Corbyn said while addressing the chair of the Commons session John Bercow, adding, "During prime minister's question time today, I referred to those who I believe were seeking to turn a debate about the national crisis facing our country into a pantomime as 'stupid people'."
Corbyn was shown mouthing the words after May attacked him by taking a line from Christmas pantomimes and said that the opposition leader had even lacked the support of his politicians in the Labour for his EU strategy.