Attorney general forced to apologise after making 'joke' about domestic violence in parliament

Geoffrey Cox repeats loaded question, 'when did you stop beating your wife?'

Lizzy Buchan
Political Correspondent
Wednesday 25 September 2019 17:26 BST
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Attorney general apologises for making 'joke' about domestic violence

The attorney general has apologised for making a "joke" about domestic violence during a fiery defence of Boris Johnson's decision to suspend parliament.

Geoffrey Cox came under fire during an urgent question on his legal advice on prorogation, when he compared being asked when he knew the advice was "not true" to being asked the loaded question "when did you stop beating your wife?"

Labour MP Emma Hardy told the senior Tory not make a "joke" of domestic violence and urged him to "moderate his language", as opposition MPs could be heard describing his comments as "disgusting".

Ms Hardy said the words would cause particular offence, as the future of a crucial domestic violence bill was thrown into doubt by the prorogation of parliament.

Mr Cox apologised for his comments, saying it was a well-known phrase used by lawyers in relation to a "cross-examination technique of asking a question that presumes the premise".

The attorney general had been responding to a question from Labour MP Clive Efford, who asked: "When was it that he first became aware that the advice that was given to Her Majesty the Queen, the Speaker of this House and this House itself about the reasons for prorogation, and that those reasons were not true?"

He replied: "That is, if I may say so, what we used to call in advocacy terms a 'when did you stop beating your wife?' question - the reality is I don't accept the premise of the question.

"There is no question that the Supreme Court found in any way that any advice that had been given was consciously or knowingly misleading."

The row came after Mr Cox made a bombastic appearance in the Commons, where he declared parliament was "dead as dead can be" and demanded a general election.

'This parliament is a disgrace!' Geoffrey Cox says opposition parties are 'too cowardly' to vote for an election

The senior Tory had been summoned to answer questions about the legal advice he gave Mr Johnson over prorogation after the Supreme Court ruled the move was unlawful.

Mr Cox insisted that the government had acted "in good faith" when it suspended parliament, which the prime minister said was necessary to prepare its domestic legislative agenda.

However opposition MPs were outrages as they believed it was an attempt to dodge scrutiny on his Brexit plans.

As tensions between the government and the opposition ramped up, Mr Cox warned MPs they have "no moral right" to sit on the green benches of the House of Commons.

He told the Commons: "This parliament has declined three times to pass a Withdrawal Act, to which the opposition, in relation to the Withdrawal Act, have absolutely no objection.

"Then we now have a wide number of this House setting its face against leaving at all, and when this government draws the only logical inference from that position, which is we must leave therefore without any deal at all, it still sets its face, denying the electorate a chance of having its say in how this matter should be resolved.

"This parliament is a dead parliament, it should no longer sit. It has no moral right to sit on these green benches."

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