25 June 2013updated 27 Sep 2015 5:33am

Ladbrokes pays out £10,000 after Labour MP calls Osborne “Jeffrey”

After taking bets that Obama's error would be repeated in the Commons, the bookmaker pays out a record amount for a novelty political bet.

By George Eaton

While George Osborne and Ed Balls slugged it out over the deficit, Labour MP Anas Sarwar offered some light relief at today’s Treasury questions when he addressed the Chancellor as “Jeffrey” (albeit with all the force of a dead sheep).

After it was reported that Barack Obama had repeatedly called Osborne by that name at the G8 (confusing him with his favourite R&B singer), Ladbrokes offered odds of 3-1 (later cut to 6-4) that “Jeffrey” would be used in the House of Commons at some point this year. Today, the bookmaker has paid out £10,000, its largest ever sum for a novelty political bet.