Dennis Skinner accused of sexism by Anna Soubry over Thatcher comparison

The veteran MP for Bolsover heckled the Business Minister during a Commons debate

Dennis Skinner asks a typically aggressive question at Prime Minister's Questions (BBC)

Dennis Skinner has been accused of sexism after suggesting Anna Soubry looked like Margaret Thatcher in a heated exchange.

The veteran Labour MP nicknamed the 'Beast of Bolsover’ is famed for his heckling, which has seen him ejected from the House of Commons ten times.

Skinner, 86, launched a characteristically fiery attack on the Conservative party as the Business Minister took questions from MPs during a Commons debate on the steel industry.

“This is the real true face of Toryism that we are witnessing here today,” he said. “It’s only taken them three months to appear as they really are, and this is the day when the Northern powerhouse of Osborne and his strategy died its death.”

When Soubry rebuked him for not actually asking a question, Skinner shouted: “You even look like Thatcher”.

The MP for Broxtowe responded angrily: “You know what, that is so out of order. Can I just say to the honourable gentleman, I find it offensive because it's sexist and he should know better.”

Ms Soubry, who became the first woman to be elected as a Defence minister in 2013, has been outspoken on gender issues in the past and claimed she was appointed to the post of public health minister in 2012 because it was considered the “soft bloody girly option”.

“I'm not a girl,” she said in 2014. “I'm a tough old bird.'“