“This week saw the final PMQs of 2018 and in a very important week of serious announcements ranging from no-deal Brexit planning to the Immigration White Paper, it’s reasonable to have assumed there would have been a few headline-grabbing lines. No one, however, expected all this to have been overshadowed by two words spoken by Jeremy Corbyn.

The soap opera of PMQs ended with multiple points of order as MPs angrily demanded the Speaker take action against the Leader of the Opposition for allegedly calling the Prime Minister a ‘stupid woman’. For 21 minutes, as I sat on the front bench awaiting the Home Secretary’s statement on the future of immigration in the UK, colleagues berated the Speaker for not noticing the comment and pleaded with him to view the moment on Twitter, which seemingly now serves as the parliamentary third official.

It is, of course, completely unacceptable for any woman to be spoken to in such a way and it was particularly un-parliamentary of Mr Corbyn. As I sat there, however, I did begin to wonder what my constituents were making of the strange scene. I should say, there certainly wasn’t such an uproar when a member of the SNP once called me a ‘hen’, that said I’m not sure it would be warranted for such a poultry insult.

On Thursday, the House rises for the Christmas recess and MPs will have the opportunity to reflect on what has been an extraordinary year. Christmas is always a time when I speak to lots of constituents and I have no doubt this recess will give residents the chance to share their views on a number of issues; I certainly welcome them. In the meantime, may I take this opportunity to wish all readers a very merry Christmas.”

Caroline Nokes MP