Preparing to respond, he was interrupted by an angry Conservative backbencher, Leo Amery, who exclaimed "Speak for England, Arthur!"

Philip Davies, another Conservative backbencher, said the proposal was "the most ludicrous thing the Government has ever suggested".

Nadine Dorries, the outspoken Conservative backbencher, will face no charges over questionable expenses claims she made on her taxpayer-funded allowances, prosecutors have announced.

Richard Shepherd, a critical Conservative backbencher, said: "I'm very much for the European Convention on Human Rights being brought into our law.

Just after the war began the prime minister was asked by a Conservative backbencher to condemn the BBC for announcing that it would avoid calling British troops 'our troops'.

In 1988, when a Conservative backbencher, Robert Adley, tried to get diplomatic relations restored, Foreign Office ministers briefed him on British preconditions.

Amazing how quickly Cameron's tone went from lampooning of Miliband to taking a Conservative backbencher's question with grave solemnity.

- David Davis, the Conservative backbencher, has said the government must defend the right to jury trial.

A senior Conservative backbencher with knowledge of the energy sector told the Guardian he expected the CCS deal to collapse within weeks.

There were calls for a parliamentary inquiry, too, into what a Conservative backbencher from the battered town of Southend East called an "incomprehensibile" lapse.