A Labour MP who has been suspended from the party after he punched a member of the public has in the past demanded tougher sentences for violent crime.
Shocking CCTV exclusively obtained by the Mail showed Mike Amesbury send the man to the floor with one punch before raining five further blows onto him in a seemingly unprovoked attack.
Mr Amesbury, 55, had claimed he was ‘threatened’ before the attack at 2.15am on Saturday morning in his Cheshire constituency.
But while footage from a nearby business shows the two men exchanging words in the street, there appears to be no sign of aggression or physical provocation before the MP throws his first punch.
Despite his own allegedly violent behaviour, Mr Amesbury has been one of the most stringent critics in parliament of violence and called for harsh prison sentences for those who commit violence.
As recently as this Summer, Mr Amesbury posted on X, formerly Twitter that ‘thugs and criminals’ should expect a decade in prison during the Southport riots.
In 2020 he spoke during a debate on the assault of retail workers in 2020 where he said: ‘Anyone who is assaulted deserves to be protected by the law…
‘What is more, despite ample evidence, some cases are not being prosecuted, even when there is clear video footage of an assault.’
The Daily Telegraph reported that Mr Amesbury was also one of many Labour MPs calling for former deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab to be sacked over bullying allegations which claimed he threw tomatoes across the room.
Mr Amesbury has been the Member of Parliament for Runcorn and Helsby since 2017 but now following his suspension from the party calls are growing for the MP to resign from his seat.
Taking to X, formerly Twitter, people have vented their anger at the Cheshire MP’s actions while also calling for him to now stand down.
X user Lee Harris in response to Mr Amesbury’s suspension wrote: ‘Good. Although he should just resign immediately after that shocking footage has been released. Absolutely no excuse for getting violent like that.
‘He’s not fit to be an MP. He’s got to go.’
Peter Sweeting said: ‘Mike Amesbury should resign immediately! He’s unfit to be an MP.’
Kevin Edger wrote: ‘Should Labour MP Mike Amesbury resign? I think so.’
Former Tory MP Dehenna Davison shared a statement on X about the dangers of a single punch where she spoke about how her own father died when he was punched.
Ms Davison said: ‘I have just seen the horrendous footage of Mike Amesbury punching a man to the ground in the street. The police are investigating, and I am sure the full facts will emerge soon.’
She added: ‘Such violence – whatever the background to the altercation – is never and should never be justified.
‘People in positions of responsibility always need to remember that their actions set an example. In democracies, we settle disputes with words, not with violence.
‘Thuggish, violent behaviour is not the example any MP should be setting.’
Meanwhile, Reform UK – who came second to Labour in July’s election- have become the first party to call for Mr Amesbury to stand down.
A spokesman for Reform UK said: ‘The new footage of Mike Amesbury MP is damning.
‘No matter what verbal exchanges happened before, it’s never acceptable for anyone to resort to violence to solve a dispute, let alone a sitting Member of Parliament.
‘It’s quite clear that the people of Runcorn and Helsby deserve far better than this.
‘Reform UK are today calling for Mike Amesbury to do the honourable thing and resign immediately so a by-election can be held.’
The calls for Mr Amesbury to resign come after Labour announced his suspension from the party tonight.
In a statement a Labour spokesperson said: ‘Mike Amesbury MP has been assisting Cheshire Police with their inquiries following an incident on Friday night. As these inquiries are now ongoing, the Labour Party has administratively suspended Mr Amesbury’s membership of the Labour Party pending an investigation.’
A spokesperson for Cheshire Police said: ‘A 55-year-old man has been voluntarily interviewed under caution by police in relation to this incident. He has since been released pending further enquiries.’
Footage of the incident first emerged yesterday when a video clip shared on social media showed the MP for Runcorn and Helsby appeared to point his finger at the man and say ‘You won’t ever threaten me again, will you?’
Then CCTV footage obtained by the Mail Showed Mr Amesbury punching a man and then continuing to hit the person six times while he lay on the ground.
The shocking recording was obtained exclusively by the Mail after Amesbury went to police to report that he had been ‘involved in an incident’ after he ‘felt threatened on the street following an evening out with friends’.
The 55-year-old has been a member of the Labour party since the age of 17 and he became an MP in 2017. Keir Starmer appointed him shadow minister for housing and planning in April 2020 but he has since stepped back to focus on his constituents.
The confrontation began just before 2.15am, according to the timing on the video, in the high street of the market town of Frodsham, Cheshire.
The recording begins by showing the MP for Runcorn and Helsby exchanging words with a man in the town’s well-lit Main Street.
One of two women in the foreground with two men can be seen raising her mobile phone in the air while apparently filming the MP and another man a few yards away, suggesting that they were exchanging heated words. At one point, Amesbury briefly raises his arm and points it at the man before making a finger wagging gesture back at him.
A few seconds later, the unidentified man nods his head and points back at the Labour backbencher who is standing in the street with his hands in his pockets.
Amesbury then wags his fingers at the man again and pushes his head forward as if making a forceful point while deep in conversation with him.
At 2.15am and 35 seconds, the MP suddenly lunges forward and delivers a left hook to the jaw of the man in the first physical contact between the pair.
The man appears stunned and is knocked over backwards by the blow, falling off the kerb and landing on the ground in a cobbled section of the road used for car parking.
Within a couple of seconds, the video shows Amesbury approach the man who was sitting on the ground. He then appears to take up to another five swings at him while a man rushes forward to try and calm the situation.
Another video from the incident, filmed on a member of the public’s mobile phone, shows Mr Amesbury repeatedly hitting the man while another person appears to be attempting to push the MP away from the man.
The incident is major headache for Keir Starmer, coming just days before his Chancellor Rachel Reeves is set to unveil major tax rises in Labour’s first Budget in 14 years.
National insurance contributions for employers will rise and the Chancellor is also expected to hike capital gains tax, close inheritance tax loopholes and extend a freeze on income tax thresholds.
But the Prime Minister has denied he misled voters when he pledged during the General Election campaign not to hit ‘working people’ with tax increases. He suggested last week that landlords and Britons with shares and savings do not qualify as ‘working people’.
By James Marsden
Mike Amesbury has been in the Labour Party for nearly half a century – having joined at the age of 17.
He became an MP in 2017 and was initially viewed as a rising star with Sir Keir Starmer appointing him shadow minister for work, pensions and employment from July 2018 then shadow minister for housing and planning in April 2020.
But in 2022, the Manchester United and rugby league fan stepped back to focus on his constituents.
Mr Amesbury, who is married with a teenage son, briefly came back as Shadow minister for Levelling Up, Housing, Communities and Local Government between September last year and May this year before returning to the backbenches.
Mr Amesbury, who graduated from the University of Bradford with a degree in community studies, became a councillor in his native Manchester in 2006.
He was later elected to the party’s policy making arm, the National Policy Forum (NPF), as well as serving as a policy adviser to Tameside Council, a director of a housing trust in Manchester and a director of the city’s international arts festival.
Prior to his parliamentary career, he worked as a careers adviser and was a senior parliamentary adviser for Angela Rayner when she was Shadow Secretary of State for Education.
And the politician also became a political adviser and stakeholder manager for Andy Burnham during his successful campaign to become mayor of Greater Manchester in 2017.
In March 2019, Mr Amesbury was forced to apologise for having shared an anti-Semitic caricature on Facebook in 2013 in a post referencing an ‘Illuminati’ conspiracy theory. He claimed at the time that he had not shared the post intentionally.
In 2018, his cockapoo dog, Corbyn, won a prize when MPs held a bring-your-dog-to-work day.
The pet won the ‘people’s vote’ accolade for best dog after an online vote open to the public.
After his dog was presented with the prize, he revealed his son came up with the name, adding: ‘I always find it entertaining when my wife shouts ‘Corbyn’ when he runs off the lead.’