Boris Johnson has been slapped down by the Commons Speaker after he was accused of "lying" to MPs - then tried to justify it.
Sir Lindsay Hoyle hit out today after the Prime Minister said Keir Starmer had voted against a 2.1% pay rise for nurses.
In fact, the Bill containing the measure - which has now been ditched after the PM offered 1% instead - passed last year with no dissent.
No10 offered no evidence yesterday to prove his PMQs statement true, but has refused to retract the claim or correct the record.
Press Secretary Allegra Stratton claimed the Prime Minister did not need to correct the record because Sir Lindsay, as Speaker, had said it was "clarified".
But today Sir Lindsay blasted that suggestion, telling MPs: "All members should correct the record if they make an inaccurate statement to the House."
He added: "The Government's own ministerial code could not be clearer about what is expected of ministers.
© PAThe Prime Minister said Keir Starmer had voted against a 2.1% pay rise for nurses
"It says, 'It is of paramount importance that ministers give accurate and truthful information to Parliament, correcting any inadvertent error at the earliest opportunity'."
Sir Lindsay jibed "you might be proved wrong" after transport minister Andrew Stephenson insisted the Prime Minister is "always right".
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He went on: "All members of this House are honourable. They must take responsibility for correcting the record if a mistake has been made.
"It is not dishonourable to make a mistake, but to seek to avoid admitting one is a different matter."
© UK PARLIAMENT/AFP via Getty ImagSpeaker Lindsay Hoyle with Boris Johnson (file photo)
Green MP Caroline Lucas said the Speaker had to make his statement "because the Prime Minister lied about how Labour voted on nurses' pay."
Keir Starmer added: "The Labour Party did not vote against the pay rise for nurses. He was wrong about that. He should acknowledge that. He should apologise and correct the record. We've got a Prime Minister who's never taken responsibility for anything in his life - and he should start now."
Despite Sir Lindsay's comments, the PM's Press Secretary doubled down today - and refused to retract Boris Johnson's claim.
Bizarrely, Ms Stratton belatedly claimed the Prime Minister was actually talking about Labour voting against the Queen's Speech in January 2020 - not the NHS Long-Term Plan, like everyone thought.
© PANurses are angry about plans for a 1% pay rise
That's despite the fact the Queen's Speech contains only the titles of all laws to come and does not contain any detailed measures or scrutiny.
And the original question to Mr Johnson was directly about the NHS Long-Term Plan. The Queen's Speech was not mentioned at any time during yesterday's session of PMQs.
Despite the evidence, Ms Stratton claimed the Prime Minister had not made a mistake, because he had only been referring to the Queen's Speech.
Doubling down, Ms Stratton said: "The Prime Minister made the point he did because Labour voted against the Queen's speech and that was the basis for the point he made."
Asked why Ms Stratton didn't mention the Queen's Speech yesterday when asked about the falsehood, she said it was because she "hadn't had chance to speak to the Prime Minister" and "hadn't been able to get to the bottom of the point he had been making".
Asked whether Number 10 was trying to "retrofit in hindsight" to cover up the PM's falsehood, Ms Stratton said: "I'm giving you the reason why he made the point he made. It's not hindsight, it's explaining the point he made yesterday."