Really fascinating to see people in the replies saying that they know this fake quote isn't a fake quote because they saw him say it. Funny how memory works. https://twitter.com/NAJ562/status/1359827101004816386

He did say something in 1981 with the same structure, but not as punchy (and not even about the Tories). There's a good investigation of the origins of the joke, which is literally older than Dennis Skinner, here: https://quoteinvestigator.com/2014/04/19/half-fools/

Here's another good piece about the fake quote: https://clioseyeroll.wordpress.com/2016/12/03/dennis-skinner-did-not-call-half-the-tories-crooks-and-how-to-verify-other-quotes-from-parliament/ - worth reading the comments, in which people angrily assert that they saw Skinner say it, and then angrily complain the video must have been maliciously deleted, for reasons they are unable to explain.