A constituent who appeared to be punched by a Labour MP has been pictured.
Paul Fellows was allegedly punched by Mike Amesbury while he waited for a taxi in Frodsham, Cheshire, after a night out on Saturday.
The pair are thought to have clashed over the temporary closure of a nearby bridge and cuts to the winter fuel allowance.
Mike Amesbury had the whip removed and his Labour membership revoked after CCTV footage appeared to show him knocking a man to the ground and hitting him several times.
The incident appeared to happen while Mr Amesbury, the MP for Runcorn and Helsby, was waiting for a taxi in Frodsham, Cheshire, at 2.15am on Saturday.
A witness told The Times the men had been discussing the forthcoming closure of the Sutton Weaver Swing Bridge, which carries the A56 over the River Weaver. Mr Amesbury, 55, has described the closure, set to last for 33 days from January to March, as “unacceptable”.
The Times reported that the conversation had also touched on a contentious plan to increase a local toll charge by 40p and the Government’s controversial scrapping of the winter fuel allowance for 10 million pensioners.
The conversation was said to have grown “heated” on both sides. However, the witness said there had been no physical provocation before Mr Amesbury allegedly threw the punch.
It is believed the MP had been drinking at local pubs after attending a police meeting about community safety that evening.
A woman whose sister was waiting for a taxi at the time told The Times that he was “just drunk and beat someone up”.
She claimed: “He is trying to get out of it now. He was trying to beat him to a pulp. My sister tried to intervene and pull him off. You have seen the video of how drunk he was. She was waiting for a taxi and so was the man.”
CCTV obtained by MailOnline appeared to show Mr Amesbury knocking a man down with a single punch before hitting him repeatedly as he crouched on the ground.
In a separate video, shared on social media on Saturday, he appeared to point his finger at the man and say: “You won’t ever threaten me again, will you?”
Credit: X / @harryteplowe
In response to that footage, the MP claimed he had been “threatened on the street” following a night out with friends in his constituency.
On Sunday evening, Cheshire Constabulary confirmed that a 55-year-old man had been “voluntarily interviewed under caution” in relation to the incident and released pending further onquiries.
Mr Amesbury said he would “co-operate with any inquiries” but was “determined to remain an open and accessible MP for our community”.
On Sunday afternoon, a Labour Party spokesman 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.”
Mr Amesbury has repeatedly demanded tough sentences for assault, it emerged on Monday.
He said “thugs and criminals” involved in the summer rioting should expect up to a decade in prison, and led a debate about assaults on retail workers in 2020, telling MPs: “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.”
Mr Amesbury demanded that the perpetrators of alleged assault on staff at a McDonalds in Runcorn last year “take responsibility” for their actions, and said Dominic Raab should have been sacked from the previous Cabinet after allegations of bullying emerged.
Reform UK called on him to “do the honourable thing and resign immediately” so a by-election could be held. A spokesman said: “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.”
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