Labour MP suspended by his party after 'headbutting and punching Tories in brawl at Commons bar'A Labour MP has been suspended from the party after was arrested following an alleged brawl in a House of Commons bar last night.
Eric Joyce is said to have punched several Tory MPs in the fracas just before 11pm last night. It is reported he also hit a Labour MP.
Stuart Andrew, MP for Pudsey, was reportedly headbutted and punched in the Strangers Bar, a Commons bar reserved for MPs and their guests.
An eyewitness told the Politics Home website that Mr Joyce, a former Army officer who represents Falkirk, pushed a Tory MP and then started punching other Conservative members seated at the back of the bar. Drinks were also allegedly thrown over some bar patrons.
The MP has now been suspended from the Labour Party until the completion of a police investigation into an alleged assault, a party spokesman said this morning.
It is reported on the website Mr Joyce, 51, complained the bar, popular with MPs from both parties, was 'full of Tories'
Mr Joyce was held at a central London police station on suspicion of assault. Scotland Yard confirmed officers detained a man in his 50s after being called to reports of an incident at a bar within the House of Commons at around 10.50pm last night.
A Met spokesman said: 'We were called at about 10.50pm yesterday to a disturbance at a bar at the House of Commons. A man has been arrested on suspicion of assault.'
Scotland Yard confirmed today they were still questioning a man over the alleged assault.
A spokesman said: 'The man remains in custody at a central London police station.'
Speaking today in the Commons before transport questions, Speaker John Bercow said: 'Members will be aware of reports of a serious incident in the House last night.
'I have been informed by the Serjeant at Arms that the honourable member for Falkirk has
'The matter is being investigated. I take this matter very seriously, as do the House authorities. I would ask that no further reference should be made to these reports in the Chamber today.'
In 2010 Mr Joyce resigned as shadow Northern Ireland minister after pleading guilty to failing to provide a breath test.
He lost his licence for a year and was fined £400.
Mr Joyce is one of the rare breed of soldiers-turned-MPs in the House of Commons.
He arrived at Westminster in 2000 shortly after quitting the Army Education Corps amid controversy over his outspoken claims of snobbery, sexism and racism in the forces.
But Mr Joyce, 51, has served only briefly on the frontbenches, acting as a Northern Ireland spokesman following the 2010 election defeat until forced to resign later that year when he lost his driving licence for failing to provide a breath test.
Eric Joyce was a major in the Army Education Corps before he became a politician
Born in Perth, he signed up as a private in the Black Watch when still a teenager, but took a sabbatical to earn a religious studies degree from the University of Stirling and later attended Sandhurst to gain an officer's commission.
He rose to the rank of major in the Royal Army Educational Corps, but ruffled feathers when he started an Armed Forces Journal magazine where service personnel could voice concerns about military life.
A series of articles and media interviews in which he accused the Army of private school bias put him on a collision course with the top brass, and he quit in 1999.
After working for the Commission for Racial Equality Scotland for some months, he was elected to Parliament as Labour MP for Falkirk West in a by-election.
He increased his majority in the general elections of 2001 and 2005 - when the constituency was renamed Falkirk after constituency changes - and held on by a comfortable margin in 2010.
From 2003, he worked as parliamentary private secretary to a number of ministers but resigned as aide to defence secretary Bob Ainsworth in 2009 because of concerns over the situation in Afghanistan.
He also served as a parliamentary aide to John Hutton – when he was defence secretary – Mike O'Brien and Margaret Hodge.
In Parliament, he has developed an interest in Africa and international development alongside his defence concerns. He is also known as one of the most enthusiastic Westminster users of social networking tools like Twitter and is vice-chair of the Parliamentary Internet Communications and Technology Forum.
From 2003 Mr Joyce served as a Parliamentary Private Secretary to a number of government ministers. In 2010 he resigned as shadow Northern Ireland minister.
He quit as the PPS to then defence secretary Bob Ainsworth in 2009 due to concerns over the war in Afghanistan.
Mr Joyce set an extraordinary record by claiming more than £200,000 expenses in a single year in 2010.
He billed the taxpayer a staggering £200,986, despite having previously pledged to curb his spending.
Nicknamed 'Airmiles Eric', Mr Joyce clocked up £45,411 in travel costs. The figure is equal to nearly £1,600 for every week Parliament sits.
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