PERHAPS the former Conservative Party leadership challenger David Davis could push for more humane rhetoric among some of his colleagues on rough sleeping.

He revealed this week that he isn’t somebody who just walks on, with a startling anecdote about how he had saved a man experiencing homelessness from being beaten up in Great Peter Street, close to the Houses of Parliament, on Tuesday.

The 74-year-old, who trained with the SAS as a younger man, said: “Two guys were kicking seven bells out of a third, and I just saw one boot connect with his head, and a spray of blood, real Hollywood fashion.

“One of the attackers backed off and one of them was stunned for a second because I was very aggressive.

“And then he sort of recovered a bit of his composure and took two swings at me, neither of them connected, which meant I had to manhandle him a little bit to stop that.”

In an incident first reported by the Evening Standard, Mr Davis said he later took the victim to his flat and then to A&E when the bleeding would not stop.

The MP said he had never forgotten the case of a man who died near his old home in south London after being attacked many years ago.

“Ever since then I’ve never been able to walk away from a fight like this.

“I’ve had my nose broken, and my teeth broken, but this time I got away with nothing, so I’m all right.”