A student at the University of Bristol has faced disciplinary procedures after telling Labour MP Thangam Debbonaire to “get in the sea” on Twitter.

Ms Debbonaire responded to the tweet sent by student Verity Phillips on 15 July, saying: “This person has just told me to drown - I believe that is a threat to kill.”

“I expect @BristolUni to deal with this,” she added in another tweet.

“Get in the sea” is a phrase popularised by the comedy writer Andy Dawson via the @getinthesea Twitter account, recently spun off into a book of the same title. It’s used as a splenetic insult, intended to humorously highlight perceived idiocies with deliberately over-the-top vitriol - “highlighting people and things that need to get in the f*****g sea,” as its Twitter profile says.