21:55

The home secretary’s chief of staff was escorted out of a bar in parliamentby armed police earlier – just as MPs were voting on an election that Boris Johnson wants to make about law and order.

Two people who witnessed the incident say James Starkie was ordered out of Strangers bar after swearing loudly in the vicinity of a Tory MP, Col Bob Stewart, being refused service and appearing to punch a door.

As police escorted him out of the bar, which is frequented by MPs, witnesses said he apologised for his behaviour.

Starkie is a familiar face around Westminster as a former Vote Leave campaigner who went on to work for Michael Gove, before taking up his position as a senior adviser to Priti Patel. A House of Commons spokesperson said: