Emily Thornberry: 13 other politicians who wish they'd kept their mouths shut Dave Tollner An Australian MP faced a storm of criticism in August 2014 after calling a fellow MP's openly gay son a "pillow biter" and "shirt lifter." Dave Tollner, the deputy chief minister of Australia's Northern Territory, made the startling outburst against fellow Country Liberal MP Gary Higgins. He tried to save his job by claiming that his mother had been in a same-sex relationship for 27 years and that he had a gay nephew. But when pressure grew, he resigned days later. David Silvester A Ukip councillor caused outrage when he blamed recent stormy floods across Britain on the Government's decision to legalise gay marriage. David Silvester said the prime minister had acted "arrogantly against the Gospel." In the letter to the Henley Standard in February 2014 he wrote: "The scriptures make it abundantly clear that a Christian nation that abandons its faith and acts contrary to the Gospel (and in naked breach of a coronation oath) will be beset by natural disasters such as storms, disease, pestilence and war." Ukip said Mr Silvester's views were "not the party's belief" but defended his right to state his opinions. He was later thrown out of the party after calling on gay people to "repent." John Cherry A Conservative councillor resigned after suggesting immigrant school children would turn his village into a "sexual volcano." John Cherry said Pakistani children would fail to "rise to the top" and some nationalities were "uncertain" what hard work is about. The Chichester councillor was responding to plans in April 2013 to open an Eton-style boarding school in the West Sussex countryside. He warned the children would want to "escape into the forest - it will be a sexual volcano." But after being heavily criticised for the comments, Mr Cherry resigned from the Conservative Party and apologised. Collin Brewer A Cornwall councillor was forced to resign after telling a charity worker that disabled children should be "put down" because they cost his local authority too much money. Collin Brewer made the remarks to a disabilities charity at an event in February 2013 designed to allow councillors to meet equal opportunity organisations and understand the issues they face. Mr Brewer, an independent councillor, reportedly told a stall run by Disability Cornwall: "Disabled children cost the council too much money and should be put down." After a predictable outcry, he resigned. Godfrey Bloom Godfrey Bloom (PA) An outspoken Ukip politician lost his job for calling a room of women "sluts" because they did not clean behind the fridge. Godfrey Bloom was censured over remarks he made at a forum on women in politics during the first day of his party's annual conference in London in September 2013. "I think all of the girls said 'no, none of us clean behind the fridge' and I made a joke and said 'oh, well you're all sluts' and everybody laughed, including all the women," Bloom recalled when questioned afterwards. That same afternoon he confronted Channel 4's political correspondent Michael Crick. When the journalist questioned why there were no black people pictured on the cover of his party's conference brochure, a furious Bloom took the booklet and hit him over the head. Anthony Weiner Anthony Weiner (AP) Anthony Weiner, a US Congressman, was soon in hot water after he accidentally used his public Twitter account to send an explicit photo to a 21-year-old female college student . When the photo was circulated in May 2011, Weiner first suggested that someone had hacked into his account, but added he could not say "with certitude" that the photo was not of him. He suggested that the image might be doctored, saying, "Maybe it did start being a photo of mine and now looks something different or maybe it is from another account." Later, he accepted sending more explicit pictures to women and tearfully resigned. Lord Young Lord Young (PA) David Cameron's enterprise adviser Lord Young quit at the height of the recession in November 2010 after he claimed most Britons "had never had it so good." The Tory peer said many people had gained from low interest rates during this "so-called recession," remarks Mr Cameron said were "unacceptable." No 10 said Mr Cameron had accepted the peer's resignation from the unpaid advisory role he had only been in for a month. Frank McAveety Frank McAveety (PA) A Scottish MSP stepped down after being caught on camera lusting over a "dark and dusky" girl who turned out to be 15 years old. Frank McAveety was inadvertently picked up on TV ogling a girl in a public gallery of the Scottish parliament in June 2010. Speaking to his committee clerk, the married former Scottish culture minister was heard to say: "There's a very attractive girl in the second row. Dark and dusky. We'll maybe put a wee word out for her. She's very attractive, very nice, very slim. The heat's getting to me. She's got that Filipino look - the kind you'd see in a Gauguin painting. Gordon Brown speaking to Gillian Duffy, left, in Rochdale in 2010 (PA) Prime Minister Gordon Brown lurched into full-blown disaster mode when he was caught on microphone describing a voter he had just spoken to in Rochdale as a "bigoted woman." Sixty-five-year-old Gillian Duffy had challenged Mr Brown on a number of issues including immigration and crime during the election campaign in April 2010. As he went to get into his car, Mr Brown told her: "Very nice to meet you, very nice to meet you." But once inside, he was still wearing a broadcast microphone and told an aide: "That was a disaster - they should never have put me with that woman. Whose idea was that? It's just ridiculous... Asked what she had said, he replied: "Ugh everything! She's just a sort of bigoted woman that said she used to be Labour. I mean it's just ridiculous. Mr Brown later phoned Mrs Duffy to apologise after the tape was played to him during a BBC Radio 2 interview. After listening to the recording, with his head in his hands, he said: "I do apologise if I've said anything that has been hurtful." Professor David Nutt David Nutt (PA) Professor David Nutt, the government's chief drug adviser, was sacked a day after claiming that ecstasy and LSD were less dangerous than alcohol. Nutt incurred the wrath of the government in October 2009 when he claimed in a paper that alcohol and tobacco were more harmful than many illegal drugs, including LSD, ecstasy and cannabis. He had criticised politicians for "distorting" and "devaluing" the research evidence in the debate over illicit drugs. A Home Office spokesperson said home secretary Alan Johnson had asked Professor Nutt to resign. Matthew Barrett A US lawmaker quit his job after inadvertently flashing the image of a topless woman during a talk to a classroom of teenagers. State Rep. Matthew Barrett stepped down in April 2008 after the racy picture briefly appeared as Barrett gave a PowerPoint presentation to the startled children on how a bill becomes a law. A fellow politician later told the media that the photos were "not of his wife." Barrett told police and reporters that he had no idea how the image got on his flash drive, but later resigned. Jo Moore A Labour aide lost her job after advising the Government to use the attack on the World Trade Centre as "a good day to bury bad news." Jo Moore, who worked for Stephen Byers, the transport secretary, was widely condemned when her internal memo was leaked. Miss Moore's message, written at 2.55pm on September 11, when millions of people were transfixed by the terrible television images of the terrorist attack, said: "It is now a very good day to get out anything we want to bury. Councillors expenses? Edwina Currie Edwina Currie (PA) Health minister Edwina Currie famously provoked outrage by saying most of Britain's egg production was riddled with the salmonella bacteria. Mrs Currie, MP for south Derbyshire, made her remarks during a television interview in December 1988. "Most of the egg production in this country, sadly, is now affected with salmonella," she told reporters. She later resigned, and never quite shook off her 'Eggwina' nickname.