Theresa May pretended to fall asleep in the House of Commons this afternoon as she mocked Sir Bill Cash's anecdote about the Maastricht Treaty.
MPs were paying tribute to the first female Speaker of the House of Commons, who died yesterday at the age of 93.
Conservative MP Bill Cash paid tribute to Boothroyd by making reference to the Maastricht Treaty, the foundation treaty of the European Union.
Introduced in 1992, Maastricht created EU citizenship and kickstarted the creation of the euro.
Former Prime Minister Theresa May was not receptive to Cash’s anecdote, and made her feelings clear.
Cash said: “It wouldn’t go for me not to make mention of some aspect of the inevitable issue, and that is the Maastricht Treaty.”
May then pretended to fall asleep after looking befuddled by Sir Bill Cash’s comment.
MPs across the chamber could be heard laughing at the Eurosceptic MP who has, for years, criticised the EU from the back benches.
Cash had opened his remarks by paying tribute to Boothroyd, saying: “As the first lady speaker of the House of Commons, she not only made her mark but she was a wonderful person.”
Politicians from across the spectrum have paid tribute to Baroness Betty Boothroyd as the House fell silent in her memory.
Theresa May did not appear impressed by Sir Bill Cash's comment
Image: GB News
Current Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle described Lady Boothroyd as “one of a kind”.
Lady Boothroyd shattered more than 700 years of parliamentary tradition when she became the first woman to be elected Commons speaker in April 1992, staying on until October 2000.
She then entered the Lords as a crossbench peer in January 2001.
Sir Lindsay wrote: “Not only was Betty Boothroyd an inspiring woman, but she was also an inspirational politician, and someone I was proud to call my friend.
Theresa May's time as Prime Minister was defined by Brexit
House of Commons
“To be the first woman Speaker was truly ground-breaking and Betty certainly broke that glass ceiling with panache.
“She was from Yorkshire, and I am from Lancashire – so there was always that friendly rivalry between us. But from my point of view, it was heartening to hear a northern voice speaking from the chair.
“She stuck by the rules, had a no-nonsense style, but any reprimands she did issue were done with good humour and charm.
Betty Boothroyd died at the age of 91
Matthew Fearn
“Betty was one of a kind. A sharp, witty and formidable woman – and I will miss her.”
As MPs gathered in the Commons to mark a minute’s silence in her memory on Monday, he added: “I know all members will wish to join me in expressing our deep sadness at the loss of the groundbreaking parliamentarian who was a dedicated and illustrious servant of this House.”
Sir Lindsay said Lady Boothroyd was “someone I was proud to call my friend”, joking: “The sad part was she was from Yorkshire and I, being from Lancashire, saw there was always friendly rivalry between us.
“But from my point of view, it was heartening to hear a northern voice speaking from the chair.”
