Cameron's 'calm down' jibe 'patronising'

Shadow Treasury chief secretary Angela Eagle branded British Prime Minister David Cameron’s “calm down, dear” jibe a “revealing slip” today.

Mr Cameron aimed the remark at Ms Eagle yesterday as he defended his Government’s plans to reform the NHS.

On ITV1’s Daybreak, Ms Eagle said: “He just lost his rag, I think, and revealed himself in a way that perhaps his minders wouldn’t have wanted him to.”

But she said the comments did not come as a surprise.

“It was patronising but it wasn’t something that surprises me about him. He’s done it before in the House of Commons, especially when he’s been on the back foot.

“It’s up to him to decide what he does about it, I think. I can live with it.”

Asked if she found the comment sexist, Ms Eagle said: “I think when you are the prime minister, that kind of behaviour to women members of the Commons isn’t exactly what you’d like to see, is it?

“I think there have been a lot of women very annoyed by it. It’s kind of par for the course for me. I expect him to do that. I’ve seen him do it before.”

She added that Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg looked as if he had “sucked on a lemon” after Mr Cameron made the comment, which echoes a well-known car insurance advert starring Michael Winner.