The majority of Britons think Jeremy Corbyn's alleged "stupid woman" comment was not sexist but say he should apologise, a Sky Data poll reveals.
The Labour leader has denied allegations he branded Mrs May a "stupid woman" – something which provoked uproar during prime minister's questions on Wednesday.
He insisted he instead referred to "stupid people" in a comment about those "seeking to turn a debate about the national crisis facing our country into a pantomime".
While six in ten (60%) believe Mr Corbyn did call the prime minister a "stupid woman", most of the public – 56% – think that using the phrase is not sexist.
Some 38% of respondents think it is misogynistic.
Meanwhile, 71% believe Mr Corbyn should apologise if he called the prime minister a "stupid woman", while 25% think he should not.
Lip-readers from 121 Captions have studied the footage of Mr Corbyn and disagreed with the politician's explanation, insisting that homophenes – bits of words – used in "woman" and "people" are "completely different".
Since denying that he said "stupid woman", Mr Corbyn has accused the media of being "utterly obsessed" with the incident.
Asked whether the language he used was "respectful", he replied: "I muttered it to myself, actually, in Parliament
and you and your colleagues in the media seem utterly obsessed with this.
"The fact that a homeless man died outside Parliament has got no coverage whatsoever, and it should."
Mr Corbyn added: "The respectful nature of Parliament is important and a whole load of Tory MPs turning the issue of a no-deal Brexit into a pantomime, that is serious."
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Sky Data interviewed a nationally representative sample of 1,038 Sky customers via SMS on 20 December 2018. Data are weighted to the profile of the population. Sky Data is a member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules.
For full Sky Data tables, please click here.
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