In May 2004, he got into trouble because of his jokes in the aftermath of the death of Chinese cockle pickers in Morecambe Bay.
He appeared as counsel for the prosecution in the trial that followed the 2004 Morecambe Bay cockling disaster.
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For this criticism of the Deputy Prime Minister's behavior, as well as for her defence of the Chinese Cockle Pickers rights in her Morecambe constituency, Richard Littlejohn described her as a "heroic MP" on the BBC's Question Time programme on 4 May 2006.