Labour's Wes Streeting apologises for Shipman jibe

Labour's Wes Streeting has apologised for making a jibe about mass-murdering GP Harold Shipman in the Commons.

The shadow health secretary mentioned Shipman after Boris Johnson had asked the public to show personal responsibility in dealing with Covid.

"Personal responsibility? What next? Harold Shipman on the front bench?" the Guido Fawkes website reported Mr Streeting as shouting.

But the Ilford North MP said he had been partially misquoted.

"I did NOT say that," he tweeted. "What I said was: 'Lectures from you [Mr Johnson] on personal responsibility? What next? Harold Shipman on medical ethics?!'

"I accept this wasn't in good taste, so I'm sorry about that."

Mr Streeting's comments came on Monday as Mr Johnson announced the end of Covid restrictions in England.

They also followed weeks of criticism of the prime minister over parties held in Downing Street during lockdown.

The Metropolitan Police are investigating what happened and Mr Johnson returned his questionnaire to them last week.

Shipman, who worked as a doctor in Greater Manchester and Lancashire, was responsible for the deaths of more than 200 people.

Most of his victims were elderly women, killed by injecting lethal doses of diamorphine (the pharmaceutical name for heroin).

Shipman, who was convicted of 15 counts of murder in 2000, took his own life in 2004.