Britain's Labour Party has accused David Cameron of sexism and called on him to apologise after he told one of its senior female MPs to "calm down, dear" during question time in the House of Commons.
The prime minister tried to silence heckling from Angela Eagle, a Labour Treasury spokeswoman, by repeatedly using the phrase from television advertisements that starred British film director Michael Winner.
In the ads for Esure Insurance Ltd, which are no longer broadcast, Winner told accident victims to "calm down, dear," after their vehicles were damaged.
"It was deeply patronising, insulting, sexist and un-prime ministerial," the Labour Party said in a statement after the exchange.
A spokesman for Mr Cameron told reporters that they may be overanalysing a humorous comment.
Bloomberg