What the papers say – December 20

More drama in the House of Commons leads many of the papers on Thursday.

The Times reports that Jeremy Corbyn was forced to deny he had called Theresa May a “stupid woman”.

The Daily Telegraph says the Labour leader was accused of sexism as a Commons session descended into farce, with Parliament spending more than an hour arguing over whether he had uttered the phrase.

The i describes it as “panto politics”, with the incident coming after Mrs May had mocked Mr Corbyn over his no-confidence motion.

Mr Corbyn claimed he had said “stupid people”, the Daily Mail says, while the Metro reports that some lip readers backed him while other experts disagreed.

The Sun leads on the same story, describing it as a “sexism storm”.

Meanwhile, The Guardian reports that rebellious ministers believe Theresa May will be forced to back down over migrant curbs.

In other news, the Daily Express leads on the story of a widow who told how yobs robbed her as she laid flowers on her husband’s grave.

The Financial Times says GlaxoSmithKline unveiled a plan to split the group into two to create a new £9.8 billion consumer health business through a joint venture with US rival Pfizer.

And the Daily Mirror leads on its campaign to protect free TV licences for the over-75s, reporting that Royle Family star Ricky Tomlinson has backed it.

Elsewhere, the Daily Star reports that police will not stop the hunt for Madeleine McCann even though cash is tight.