The man who appeared to have been punched by Labour MP Mike Amesbury in an altercation caught on CCTV has been named.
The MP for Runcorn and Helsby was “administratively suspended” from the Labour Party on Monday evening after CCTV footage appeared to show him punching a man to the ground in his Cheshire constituency at 2:15am on Saturday.
Bystander footage had emerged the previous day in which Mr Amesbury appeared to stand over a man shouting: “You won’t threaten the MP ever again, will you?”
The former shadow minister said in a statement on on Sunday that he had contacted Cheshire Police to report what had happened after he was “involved in an incident that took place after I felt threatened on the street following an evening with friends”.
Cheshire Police said they were called to reports of an assault in Frodsham in the early hours of Saturday, and confirmed that a 55-year-old man had been voluntarily interviewed under caution in relation to the incident, having since been released pending further inquiries.
The man apparently punched by Mr Amesbury has now been named as 42-year-old Paul Fellows by The Times, which quoted a witness as saying that the pair had been arguing about Labour cutting the winter fuel allowance, and the temporary closure of a local bridge.
The witness claimed the men had been talking about locally contentious plans to close the Sutton Weaver Swing Bridge for 33 days at the start of next year for engineering works, in a conversation which had grown “heated”.
Mr Amesbury had said last week that the proposed closure of the bridge, which carries the A56 close to Frodsham and the M56, was “unacceptable”.
The CCTV footage appeared to show Mr Amesbury knock the man to the ground before throwing several more punches.
Asked about the footage on Monday, Sir Keir Starmer described it as “shocking” and said the party had “moved very swiftly” to respond, adding: “There is now a police investigation and in the circumstances you’ll appreciate there’s not much more I can say about that.”
The incident has sparked calls for Mr Amesbury to resign, with former Labour adviser Matthew Torbitt saying: “I know Mike quite well and when I heard the news on Saturday morning I was devastated to be honest with you, because I cannot put into words how out of character this is.
“He’s gentle, he’s very kind, he’s very laid back. I spoke to him over the weekend. I won’t divulge private conversations. From what I can gather from other people, there was a sustained wind-up, a personal attack that evening by said individual in the videos.
“He’s probably ruined his life in one semi-drunken decision.”
Mr Torbitt told GB News: “My advice, unless it was to ensure he can get as much money out of it for his family as possible, was to resign this morning, not let it drag on.”
The Independent has approached Mr Amesbury and Mr Fellows for comment.
