A Tory MP has defended his female Labour colleague after witnessing the abuse she received on social media after they both took part in a Channel 4 News discussion.

Johnny Mercer said Ruth Smeeth did a better job on television than he did, despite the fact she sits on the opposite benches to him.

He said he was shocked, therefore, to discover no one had tweeted him, but hundreds of people had sent her sexist and antisemitic abuse.

Mr Mercer wrote in Politico: "She was accused of faking anti-Semitism — someone even referred to her as a 'CIA agent.' It reminded me of when I sat next to her in the House of Commons defense committee one day and started counting the number of tweets she had received in the previous 24 hours, which made reference to her Jewish heritage. I stopped at 200.

"It got me thinking, not for the first time, about what her daily experience of being an MP must be like.