Philip Davies has been accused of “physically” intimidating a comedian after she tried to interview him for a BBC TV show.
Comedian Luisa Omielan claims the Shipley MP trapped her in his office at Westminster’s Portcullis House by holding the door closed, after demanding she hand over the camera her director was filming with.
Omielan, who was filming her BBC Three series, Politics for Bitches, escaped through a fire exit and described the ordeal in a tearful Facebook live video post.
“I’m shaking, I’ve just had the worst interview ever,” she said in the video.
The comedian claimed Davies accused her of having a “leftist Corbynist agenda for the BBC” after she began questioning him about homelessness, the NHS and Brexit.
Omielan said the MP asked her to turn off the camera and threatened to call BBC Director Lord Hall as she quizzed him about cuts to the NHS, which he refuted, saying “where are your facts?”
“And that got me upset. I got tears in my eyes. My mum died at the hands of the NHS, because I saw the way she was treated... He held the door in front of me, he wouldn’t let me through the door,” she said.
Omielan’s mother died earlier this year. The comedian wrote a post on Facebook at the time claiming she had been “failed at every turn” by the system.
The BBC has been approached for comment about Omielan’s accusation, but is yet to reply.
Davies has so far not commented on the incident, telling the Daily Mirror only that he had “no faith” in it “accurately” reporting his comments.
This is the second time in as many days that Davies has caused a stir. The MP appeared on the controversial TV channel Russia Today on Monday, where he labelled Stormzy “boring” and accused him of “playing to the gallery to try and look cool” over his Brits attack on Theresa May’s Grenfell Tower response.
Davies is a controversial member of parliament, known for his strong opposition to political correctness, and for killing off legislation he doesn’t like by talking until time limits are reached, earning him the title the “master of filibuster”.
The men’s rights supporter has also claimed he has been bullied by “militant feminists” and has been accused of blocking a range of bills, on issues such as preventing violence against women, animal cruelty and veterans’ medals.