'Absolute b*****ks' WAS said in Commons - despite being struck from the record

The official record of a parliamentary debate on the Armed Forces was rewritten last week after Defence Minister Bob Ainsworth strenuously denied using the "unparliamentary phrase".

He was backed by Commons Speaker Michael Martin, who ruled that audio and visual tapes of the proceedings were unclear and had not picked up the words – despite Hansard reporters sitting in the Press Gallery recording them.

Scroll down for more...

But The Mail on Sunday's own examination of a DVD of the debate – provided by the Parliamentary Recording Unit – shows the comment was made.

Conservative MP Tony Baldry can also be heard asking: "Is absolute bollocks a parliamentary phrase?" in response to the comment, which was made from the Labour benches.

In the original Official Report of the January 10 debate, Hansard reporters record how Mr Ainsworth dismissed Conservative attacks.

As Tory MP John Baron warned British troops were facing life-threatening equipment shortages, with many being forced to go without body armour and satellite phones, Mr Ainsworth was quoted as saying: "Absolute bollocks."

Nobody challenged the account until this newspaper revealed the incident last week.

Mr Baron was so angry about the comment, he asked the Speaker to act.

However, Mr Martin responded by telling MPs that, following checks of the tapes, it was not possible to establish what had been said.

In the circumstances, the remarks would "be removed from the permanent record", Mr Martin ruled.

All references to the expletive – and Mr Baldry's response – have now been struck from the online edition of Hansard and will not appear in bound copies of parliamentary debates.

Instead, the new version simply records that an "interruption" took place, although Mr Baron is still recorded as saying: "I shall move on."

Close study of the recordings also appears to show that Mr Baldry used the term in an attempt to highlight that Mr Ainsworth had said it first.

Liberal Democrat MP Willie Rennie, who was sitting across from Mr Ainsworth, said: "Bob is a quietly-spoken person but he definitively did say it."

But other MPs insisted Mr Ainsworth was innocent.

Last night Mr Ainsworth denied using the phrase, adding: "I have said what I have said. There is nothing to add."