British MP Mark Field has been suspended as a Foreign Office minister after he was accused of manhandling a woman at London’s Mansion House as climate protesters disrupted an official dinner.
Mr Field accosted the female activist as she walked towards finance minister Phillip Hammond, pushing her against a column before frogmarching her out of the room.
Prime Minister Theresa May's office said it had suspended the junior Foreign Office minister.
"The prime minister has seen the footage and she found it very concerning," Downing Street said.
"He will be suspended as a minister while investigations take place.
Mr Field told ITV that he "deeply" regretted his actions, saying that "in the confusion, many guests understandably felt threatened and when one protester rushed past me towards the top table".
"There was no security present and I was for a split-second genuinely worried she might have been armed."
The Conservative politician has referred himself to the Cabinet Office for investigation.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan called Field's actions "unacceptable" and urged him to "consider his position".
Labour MP Jess Phillips called the footage "so, so awful" while fellow Labour MP Dawn Butler said it was "horrific" and called for Field to be sacked or suspended.
But Tory MP Peter Bottomley argued that "the woman clearly was trying to create a fuss" and that "most viewers would say it's good that she didn't succeed".
Police are investigating the incident, which erupted when up to 40 Greenpeace activists gatecrashed the City of London event.
Most of the group were dressed in red evening dresses with sashes that read “climate emergency.”
Footage from the dinner shows them disrupting a speech given by government Chancellor Philip Hammond.
The City of London Police confirmed it was investigating an assault at the event.
“We have received a small number of third-party reports,” the police statement read.
“These reports are being looked into by police.”
Police escorted the protesters from the premises and no arrests were made.
Greenpeace UK said they were behind the demonstration.
Greenpeace activist Areeba Hamid said she was "shocked at the footage of an elected MP and government minister assaulting one of our peaceful protesters".
“Our climate is breaking down. Business, as usual, is over,” the environmental group tweeted.
"Instead of assaulting peaceful women protesters, @MarkFieldUK would be better off spending his time tackling the #ClimateEmergency."
British Labour MP Dawn Butler described the scene as ‘horrific’ saying immediate action should be taken.
“This appears to be assault. He must be immediately suspended or sacked,” she tweeted.
British Liberal Democrat Sir Edward Davey too raised concerns over what took place.
“Clearly violent and criminal incident,” he said.
“Her only crime was to try to draw attention to the #ClimateChange catastrophe.”
The protesters were removed after several minutes and the Chancellor’s speech addressing the ongoing political impasse over Brexit resumed.
"The irony is that this is a government that has just led the world by committing to a zero carbon economy by 2050," Mr Hammond said.
In May, Britain’s parliament approved a motion to declare a climate emergency following weeks of protests in London.
