Stratford on Avon's Conservative MP Nadhim Zahawi, referred to a picture tweeted by the former shadow attorney general on polling day in Rochester and Strood when he quoted Shakespeare's Richard ll to the Prime Minister at Question Time in the House of Commons.
MPs cheered as the Stratford on Avon MP spoke about sneering at hard working patriotic people who love their country. Nadhim asked the Prime Minister about two well-known symbols of small business and English patriotism.
Referring to Emily Thornberry MP’s derogatory tweet about a member of the public’s house, he asked: "Mr Speaker, when I see a white van I see a small business-owner who works long hours to put food on the family table; when I see a cross of St George I think of my most famous former constituent William Shakespeare’s words: ‘this blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England.’ Does my Right Honourable friend agree with me that we shouldn’t sneer at people who work hard, who are patriotic and who love their country?"
The Prime Minister answered by saying: "I agree with every word my honourable friend has said."
Commenting on his question to the Prime Minister, Nadhim said: "It was quite wrong of Emily Thornberry to denigrate a hardworking member of the public with this tweet. The point I wanted to make to the House is that we should be celebrating the patriotic small business-owners to whom we owe this economic recovery, not sneering at them. Shakespeare’s lines in Richard II are one of the most beautiful evocations of patriotism in English and his contribution to our language is one of the reasons I am deeply proud to represent Stratford-on-Avon."