Yahoo News Why a teacher called Eileen was the centre of attention at PMQs - thanks to Jeremy Corbyn and John Bercow
'Come on Eileen' hasn't topped the charts for decades but it was on the mind of many MPs this week at PMQs.
The Speaker John Bercow had to rebuke Members of Parliament for shouting 'Come on Eileen' and 'What about Eileen?' at Jeremy Corbyn as he used the plight of a teacher with that name to skewer Theresa May over school funding cuts.
"She wrote to me to say: ‘Teachers are purchasing items such as pens. out of their own pockets- this is disgraceful’, says Eileen. Does the Prime Minister agree with Eileen?" He asked.
However, many found the comedy value of the name too much of a hoot to focus on the important issue at hand.
PM says she has protected schools Budget... Corbyn cites a schoolteacher - Eileen ... MPs shout "what about Eileen?"
— Faisal Islam (@faisalislam) March 22, 2017
Come on Eileen. At this moment, you mean everything.
— Ian Dunt (@IanDunt) March 22, 2017
Jeremy Corbyn reads out a letter from a primary teacher called Eileen. Tory and Labour MPs now shouting "Come on Eileen." #PMQs
— JOHN NICOLSON M.P. (@MrJohnNicolson) March 22, 2017
Cue shouts of "what about Eileen" from the Labour benches - Speaker Bercow has to intervene to shhh them so PM can be heard #PMQs
— kateferguson (@kateferguson4) March 22, 2017
Eileen lyrics work for Labour: "people round here/Wear beaten-down eyes sunk in smoke-dried faces/They're so resigned to what their fate is
— Harry Cole (@MrHarryCole) 22 March 2017
Mr Bercow admonished the MPs, saying: "You shouldn't keep yelling 'what about Eileen'.
"The Prime Minister is giving her response, including the references to Eileen!"
