He’s best known as the grandson of Winton Churchill, Britain’s greatest war-time leader.
But Nicholas Soames’ behaviour in the House of Commons today seemed to take more strongly after Churchill, the talking dog of 1990s insurance fame, after he was accused of barking at a female SNP MP.
Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh, MP for Ochill and South Perthshire, told ministers Soames was “making woof woof noises” while she was speaking to the Foreign Secretary “which I find of course extremely disrespectful”.
Soames apologised for what he called a “friendly canine salute”, saying that “no offence was intended”.
“I thought that in her question to the Foreign Secretary she snapped at him a bit at the end,” he explained.
The House of Commons Speaker John Bercow said the phrase ‘woof woof’ was “not in order.. it is discourteous and that expression should not be used.”
Soames was taken to task by critics on Twitter:
The exchange occurred during a feisty session in the House of Commons where Boris Johnson was clarifying the impact of Trump’s Muslim-targeted travel ban on the UK. He told MPs that British passport holders will not be hit by the ban.
During the session the Government was accused of walking “hand-in-hand” with a “fascist”.