Henry Smith, who represents Crawley, admits 'language is not parliamentary … but frankly it is still how I feel'

This article is more than 7 years old

This article is more than 7 years old

Henry Smith (@HenrySmithMP) Putin really is a tosser.

Russia's president, Vladimir Putin, has been called a "tosser" by a Conservative backbench MP angry at his support for Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria and abuse of human rights.

Henry Smith, the MP for Crawley, used Twitter to express his views of Putin, who is hosting world leaders including David Cameron at the G20 summit in Saint Petersburg.

Cameron ruled out any prospect of an international agreement over Syria at the summit, saying Putin remained "miles away" from the truth of Assad's use of chemical weapons on his own people.

Smith wrote on his Twitter account: "Putin really is a tosser." He later acknowledged that the language was not parliamentary but said it did express how he felt about the Russian leader.

He said: "On Twitter in a slight fit of pique I might refer to him as a tosser. But in other forums, such as the House of Commons, I would accuse him of being an absurd character.

"There is his abuse of human rights against the gay community in his own country, there is the abuse of human rights in Syria where the way he is helping and prolonging that civil war there is appalling."

He added: "I may not use that colloquial language in other forums, but frankly it is still how I feel."

The MP's post followed reported remarks by a spokesman for Putin, who was said to have told journalists that the UK was "just a small island, no one pays any attention to them".

Putin's chief spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, denied that he was responsible for the comment, and said it did not reflect the reality of Russia's views on its "positive" relations with the UK.

Smith said: "Geographically we may be a small island but the British economy is bigger than Russia." He said the UK's human rights record was far better.

A spokesman for the prime minister refused to either back or condemn the comments, saying the differences with Putin over Syria were out in the open and the two leaders had a "robust but constructive approach".