Boris Johnson was left embarrassed after a lawmaker he had fired from the Tory Party over Brexit issues suggested it was rather hypocritical of him to condemn Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour for “Soviet-era expulsions.”

During the debate on the Queen’s speech, which laid out the UK government’s policy agenda for the next parliamentary session, Johnson laid into the opposition over their handling of internal staffing issues.

In his typically blustering, idiosyncratic style, Johnson made a joke about Corbyn’s chief of staff Karie Murphy and his political director Amy Jackson being moved to Labour HQ in preparation for the party’s general election campaign.

I fear for his political health, because we can all see the Soviet-era expulsions that are taking place in his circle, as one by one his lieutenants are purged.

However, the smear didn’t go unnoticed by Antoinette Sandbach, the now-Independent MP for Eddisbury, who was expelled from the Conservative Party for supporting a Brexit law that compels Johnson to ask Brussels for an extension if he fails to secure a deal by October 31.

During an intervention in the House of Commons, Sandbach gleefully told the prime minister: “I welcome the prime minister’s opportunity to revisit the marxist-style expulsions from the Conservative Party,” before moving on to a domestic issue about trains.

Johnson sheepishly rose to his feet and declined to address the former Tory MP’s specific point on expulsions, preferring to stick to her follow-up question.

Despite consistent accusations of threats of purges within the Labour Party, to date no MP in Corbyn’s party has been forced out by the leadership. In contrast, Johnson removed the party whip from 21 of his fellow Conservatives in September.

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