Angela Rayner

The Scottish Conservative leader said he expected the anonymous Tories behind the claims to face punishment if their identities were ever revealed.

They should be ashamed of language like that. “It’s disgusting that someone thought of the story, disgusting that someone even wrote the story, disgusting that an editor thought it was okay to publish the story and disgusting that ever made it into print,” he told the PA news agency at the STUC Congress in Aberdeen. And Mr Ross, who is both an MP and MSP, said the comments were “completely unacceptable” and “disgusting”.

The Mail on Sunday has come under fire for publishing a story in which Angela Rayner was accused of 'distracting' Boris Johnson by crossing her legs in ...

“But I think all of us have got a responsibility not just to call this out but to renew our determination to change the culture in parliament because this is awful for Angela.” Please don’t run a story like that.’ Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has also hit out at the “disgusting” story which represented “rank sexism and rank misogyny”. However, she has said the public outcry over the article has left her “overwhelmed”, adding: “All I worry about when I’m at the despatch box is doing a good job and being able to do justice to my constituents and the work I’m doing, so I was just really crestfallen that somebody had said that to a paper and a paper was reporting that.” She has lambasted these claims as being “steeped in classism”, and said the article insinuated she must be “thick” because she went to a comprehensive school and she is “promiscuous” because she had a child when she was 16. An unamed Tory MP told reporters they believed Ms Rayner was attempting to “distract” Boris Johnson in the House of Commons by crossing and uncrossing her legs.

The deputy Labour leader said the Mail on Sunday reported the claims despite pleas that they were 'completely untrue'.

I would just ask that we are all a little kinder. She also said the article insinuated she must be “thick” because she went to a comprehensive school and she is “promiscuous” because she had a child when she was 16. Speaking on ITV’s Lorraine, Ms Rayner said: “I’ve been overwhelmed because when I heard the story was coming out and we rebutted it instantly… “We have got to teach our sons to be respectful of women and we’ve got to teach our women to be confident about themselves as well,” she said. “It wasn’t just about me as a woman, saying I was using the fact I’m a woman against the Prime Minister – which I think is quite condescending to the Prime Minister and shows you what his MPs think about his behaviour – but it was steeped in classism as well,” she added. She said that “all I worry about when I’m at the despatch box is doing a good job and being able to do justice to my constituents and the work I’m doing, so I was just really crestfallen that somebody had said that to a paper and a paper was reporting that”.

The Scottish Conservative leader said he expected the anonymous Tories behind the claims to face punishment if their identities were ever revealed.

Start your Independent Premium subscription today. “It’s disgusting that someone thought of the story, disgusting that someone even wrote the story, disgusting that an editor thought it was okay to publish the story and disgusting that ever made it into print,” he told the PA news agency at the STUC Congress in Aberdeen. They should be ashamed of language like that.

A story in the Mail on Sunday likened the Labour deputy leader's alleged ploy to a fully clothed equivalent of Sharon Stone's infamous scene in the film ...

I've been leafing through it, and it's got lots of good things in it, but it actually needs to deal with this as well." Labour's Harriet Harman said: "If people were in a workplace, a private company and one was briefing against another to the press that would be regarded as serious misconduct. We have to change it." We need to change it." He added: "We have got to change the culture. Angela Rayner has said a Mail on Sunday article that claimed Tory MPs had accused her of a Basic Instinct ploy to distract Boris Johnson was "misogynistic", "sexist" and "steeped in classism".

The Labour deputy leader gave her first interview after a Tory MP claimed she crossed and uncrossed her legs to distract the prime minister.

Which I felt was quite offensive for people from my background.” The senior Labour politician also said the story was “condescending” to the prime minister, adding: “It shows you what his MPs think about his behaviour, but it was also steeped in classism as well, about where I come from, how I grew up and that I must be thick and I must be stupid because I went to a comprehensive school. She added: “I felt really down about that, but I was overwhelmed by people’s response because I just thought ‘Is that what people expect and think about what I do?’”

A Government minister has slammed the "idiot" who told a newspaper that Angela Rayner crosses and uncrosses her legs in a bid to distract the Prime Minister ...

"The story is that there is misogyny alive and well and stalking the corridors of the House of Commons," Ms Harman told LBC. "They don't speak for me, they don't speak for the Conservative Party and frankly they don't speak for anyone in Parliament." Government minister has slammed the "idiot" who told a newspaper that Angela Rayner crosses and uncrosses her legs in a bid to distract the Prime Minister in the Commons.

Labour deputy says article was 'steeped in classism' that puts women off achieving in their careers.

She said she wanted other women from the same kinds of background to feel empowered about achieving more. “I felt really fearful of the story coming out thinking, that’s what people think of me,” she said. All I worry about when I’m at the dispatch box is doing a good job and being able to do justice to my constituents and the work that I’m doing. Speaking on ITV’s Lorraine, she said she had decided to wear a trouser suit for the interview in order not to be accused of anything further. They don’t want to see their mum portrayed that way and I felt really down about that.” Please don’t run a story like that … I was with my teenage sons … trying to prepare my children for seeing things online.

Labour deputy leader tells Lorraine Kelly she was 'really down' at having to warn her children about article.

“When I heard the story was coming out, we rebutted it instantly,” she said. Start your Independent Premium subscription today. She also said the comments suggested the Tory MPs believed she must be “thick” because she went to a comprehensive school and was “promiscuous” because she had a child when she was 16.

The deputy Labour leader said the Mail on Sunday reported the claims despite pleas that they were 'completely untrue'.

She also said the article insinuated she must be “thick” because she went to a comprehensive school and she is “promiscuous” because she had a child when she was 16. “We have got to teach our sons to be respectful of women and we’ve got to teach our women to be confident about themselves as well,” she said. Speaking on ITV’s Lorraine, Ms Rayner said: “I’ve been overwhelmed because when I heard the story was coming out and we rebutted it instantly… “It wasn’t just about me as a woman, saying I was using the fact I’m a woman against the Prime Minister – which I think is quite condescending to the Prime Minister and shows you what his MPs think about his behaviour – but it was steeped in classism as well,” she added. She said that “all I worry about when I’m at the despatch box is doing a good job and being able to do justice to my constituents and the work I’m doing, so I was just really crestfallen that somebody had said that to a paper and a paper was reporting that”. The Labour frontbencher said she was “really down” about the article and had to prepare her children for its claims.

Labour's deputy leader has said a “cultural shift” is needed following sexist comments made about her distracting the Prime Minister with her legs in the ...

She said the article was “steeped in classism”, insinuating she must be “thick” because she went to a comprehensive school and she is “promiscuous” because she had a child when she was young. Ms Rayner said she was “overwhelmed” when she heard the story was coming out. “We have got to teach our sons to be respectful of women and we’ve got to teach our women to be confident about themselves as well.”

David Dillon had been called to a meeting with Sir Lindsay Hoyle after running a story widely condemned as sexist.

The Mail claimed Dillon and the Mail on Sunday’s political editor Glen Owen, whose byline appeared next to the story, had rejected the Speaker’s invitation to a meeting on Wednesday “in the name of a free press”. But the Daily Mail appeared to double down on the piece, which quoted unnamed senior Tories claiming Labour’s deputy leader used her legs to “distract” the prime minister in the Commons and accused her of “a fully clothed parliamentary equivalent of Sharon Stone’s infamous scene in the 1992 film Basic Instinct”. The Mail on Sunday’s editor has rejected a meeting with the House of Commons speaker after a story that accused Angela Rayner of “distracting” Boris Johnson with her legs.

Sir Lindsay Hoyle had said he wanted to use the meeting to ask that "we are all a little kinder".

"When I heard the story was coming out and we rebutted it instantly... I would just ask that we are all a little kinder. However journalists must be free to report what they are told by MPs about conversations which take place in the House of Commons, however unpalatable some may find them."

Mrs Rayner (pictured on the podcast) has condemned the claims as 'desperate, perverted smears'. The PM has led Tory criticism, describing the suggestion as ...

She told Mr Forde: ‘Yeah, I think he has got a bit of a romance going on there somehow. You can’t beat a seal. It’s a bit like ohh, you know it’s like, you can’t beat a puppy. Every time I do a PMQs somebody has an opinion on what I wear. Did you see the meme about Sharon Stone like I was doing it at PMQs? I was mortified [laughs] I don’t need to do that.’ I think they try and, err, ‘if you can’t beat them, smooch them’. Do you know what I mean? AR: Like they did this whole like meme about me apparently doing the whole, you know whole, the old... It was a perfectly suitable Karen Millen – in the sale by the way [laughs] I don’t need to do that. MF: It’s quite interesting watching you go up against him because there seems to be, and I know you’re ideologically opposed, I’m sure you have some very strong opinions on what he’s been getting up to. [she and audience laugh] I was like when did I do that?

Mr Johnson said he respected Ms Rayner as a parliamentarian and "deplored the misogyny" in the piece, while Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer called it a " ...

Sir Lindsay earlier said he was a "staunch believer and protector of press freedom" and that he "firmly [believed] in the duty of reporters to cover Parliament". In a letter on Tuesday, Mr Dillon said he had initially intended to attend the meeting "to draw a line under matters", but that Sir Lindsay's comments in the Commons indicated that he had already "passed judgment on our article". Speaking in the House on Monday, Sir Lindsay called the story "misogynistic and offensive" and said he was arranging a meeting with Mr Dillon and the Mail on Sunday's political editor, Glen Owen, whose name appeared next to the story.

The deputy Labour leader said the Mail on Sunday reported the claims despite pleas that they were 'completely untrue'.

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Angela Rayner has said that the Mail on Sunday (MoS) story printed about her, which accused her of a 'Basic Instinct' ploy to distract Boris Johnson, ...

Can you help by chipping in as little as £1 a week to help us survive? Please don’t run a story like that … I was with my teenage sons … trying to prepare my children for seeing things online. Upon learning that the MoS was intending to run the story, Rayner says she told them: “This is disgusting.

Mail on Sunday article could put women off going into politics, say gender equality campaigners.

We must address it in every sphere, so that fear of misogyny is no longer a barrier to women in politics.” “Which is damaging for all of us,” she added. The story that we all should be more worried about is the one about abusive MPs.” Or the fact his fly is undone and so we imagine him without underpants. Dr Proudman, an award-winning family law lawyer, told The Independent: “It stinks of sexism and classism. “Men are never held up to the same standards.

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And that is to say nothing of the equally troubling inference n such stories. There are some at Westminster who continue to peddle the absurd idea that this is simply the price women must pay for embarking upon a career in politics. For all the performative condemnation he has offered up, Mr Johnson has made no such efforts. Is it really? ‘Never mind Brexit, who won Legs-it!’ the headline roared like a drunk uncle at a wedding. The backlash so far has been fierce.

Labour deputy leader said she had appealed to the newspaper not to run the claim, based on a briefing by an unnamed Tory MP.

Appearing on ITV’s Lorraine programme on Tuesday, Rayner said: “When I heard the story was coming out and we rebutted it instantly… I would just ask that we are all a little kinder. However journalists must be free to report what they are told by MPs about conversations which take place in the House of Commons, however unpalatable some may find them.”

Labour's deputy leader said she holds her own against Boris Johnson and doesn't need to distraction techniques to debate the Eton-educated prime minister.

"I've always felt quite intimidated. "I'm so affronted by it because it reflects badly by all of us that are in Westminster and worse still, it risks putting women off from coming into public life." She also said the article was "steeped in classism", insinuating she must be "thick" because she went to a comprehensive school and she is "promiscuous" because she had a child when she was young. "We have got to teach our sons to be respectful of women and we've got to teach our women to be confident about themselves as well," she said. Ms Rayner told Lorraine she was "overwhelmed" by the outpouring of support for her but said "there's still so much more for us to do" to change the landscape for women. Mr Spencer told the Commons Committee on Standards that he believed those speaking to the newspaper breached "lots" of the principles of public life, including "leadership" and "integrity".

Polly Hudson says Boris Johnson is free to flash his flesh when he goes for a run, but women are commonly undermined across all industries, ...

It’s the common thread for female workers from the highest to the lowest paid and everywhere in-between. When Theresa May and Nicola Sturgeon – both leaders of their respective governments at the time – met for Scottish referendum talks in 2017 the least interesting thing about it was that they both happened to be in skirts. As former Deputy Labour Leader Harriet Harman told ITV’s Good Morning Britain today: “It’s a way of undermining senior women in politics. Boris is well aware that none of his political opponents will be able to concentrate on boring old matters of state after this. Any achievements can’t possibly be down to hard work, talent, or intellect – we must have used our bodies. I’m pathetically grateful, stunned and delighted, that there’s outrage over something undeniably outrageous.

Sir Lindsay told MPs on Monday he had arranged a meeting with David Dillon following an outcry over claims the Labour deputy leader crossed and uncrossed her ...

“When I heard the story was coming out and we rebutted it instantly… However journalists must be free to report what they are told by MPs about conversations which take place in the House of Commons, however unpalatable some may find them.” I would just ask that we are all a little kinder.

Latest updates: policy of discharging patients from hospitals to care homes failed to take into account risk to residents of Covid.

And he says new evidence has come to light to show that Rayner herself was the original source of the story, because she had been joking about the notion of using Basic Instinct tactics at PMQs in a conversation with Tory MPs on the Commons terrace. He says Hoyle’s comment to MPs on Monday implied he had already taken a decision on the merits of the article, without having heard the paper’s side of the story. Dominic Raab, the justice secretary, was doing the morning interview round this morning, and he tried to avoid taking sides. I try to monitor the comments below the line (BTL) but it is impossible to read them all. It was not entirely clear what Hoyle was planning to say to Dillon at the meeting, which had originally been scheduled for today. Nor is it a point on which any of the expert committees had advised that no guidance was required. Fitzhenry’s decision states: “The ministers also argued that a claim to confidentiality in legal proceedings could be maintained because the withheld information was only shared between the Scottish government and its legal advisers. In a statement last night, after David Dillon, the editor, said he would not be attending, Hoyle said: Nor is it a point on which any of the expert committees had advised that no guidance was required. However, we are clear the Scottish government has acted lawfully in its application of freedom of information legislation. He also said that the delays “wouldn’t be there at all if it hadn’t been for an entirely unnecessary strike at DVLA”. - Shapps said that he would change the rules to allow new recruits in the aviation industry to start training before they have completed security checks.

Claims made a Tory MP in the Mail on Sunday that the Labour deputy leader had crossed and uncrossed her legs at PMQs to distract Boris Johnson have sparked ...

She said: “Did you see the meme about Sharon Stone like I was doing it at PMQs? I was mortified. I don’t need to do that.” “Every time I do PMQs everybody has an opinion on what I wear.”

Labour deputy says comments are 'mortifying and hurtful', as Mail on Sunday rebuffs Speaker's request to meet.

Rayner tweeted in response on Wednesday: “I said to (Forde) in January that the sexist film parody about me was misogynistic and it still is now. I would just ask that we are all a little kinder.” Did you see the meme on Sharon Stone like I was doing it at the last PMQs? I was mortified.” But it can’t be women’s responsibility to call it out every time. I don’t need to do that.” I don’t need anyone to explain sexism to me – I experience it every day.

Sir Lindsay Hoyle told MPs on Monday he had called for a meeting with David Dillon after the newspaper published claims accusing the Labour deputy leader of " ...

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If only more attention would be given to the reported 56 MPs – including, allegedly, three Cabinet ministers and two members of the Shadow Cabinet – who are ...

If this figure is accurate, it is an extraordinary rap sheet for Westminster five years on from the Me Too movement. Ms Rayner’s denial of the allegation should have been more prominent. The anonymous MP must be feeling very proud of themselves, to have muted Ms Rayner both in voice and in dress.

Like Angela Rayner, I started wearing trousers to avoid humiliating accusations of unprofessionalism. The impact of this harassment runs deep.

But she made it crystal clear that my physical appearance – in its current form – was preventing the CEO from getting on with his very important work. The scandal has brought up memories of when, as an eager-to-please 23-year-old early in my career, I was pulled into a meeting room by a senior female colleague. Beneath the surface, this is a calculated smear against Johnson’s strongest female opponent.

But why can't she both ridicule the original false accusation levelled at her and be outraged that Tory MPs would weaponise that accusation by claiming it was ...

The PM himself has both defended the right to a free media while calling out the misogyny against Rayner. Similarly, she should be allowed to ridicule a false claim about her while also pointing out that it is false. It’s clear that she felt the original warped meme was beneath contempt and ridiculed it for that very reason. The Mail On Sunday had every right to report the story, and threats to remove Parliamentary passes should be strongly resisted. The issue of media freedom is a very different one. One of the most refreshing things about Rayner is that she talks like many ordinary voters. On the key point of putting Johnson off his stride, she said: “It don’t take much does it?

Press Gazette has been reporting on British journalism without fear or favour since 1965. Our mission is to provide a news and information service which ...

where the alleged breach of the Code is significant and there is a public interest in doing so”. On other clauses, an individual has to be directly affected by the article. And Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves said: “It’s a great sadness that I’m not surprised. She has admitted as much when enjoying drinks with us on the [Commons] terrace.” TalkTV political editor Kate McCann said: “You see all those female MPs and journalists tweeting their rage at this story? This sort of sexism and misogyny is the sort of rubbish that female MPs and also female staffers in the House of Commons have to put up with every single day.

Matthew Steeples suggests faux outrage over 'Mail on Sunday's' Angela Rayner 'Sharon Stone' article is simply a use of 'distraction technique' by Boris ...

Angela Rayner might do well to take a gander now also and, if she has any sense, she’ll chuck it right back at the rotten-to-his-core ‘leader’ and the ragbag of rubbish that surround him. Neither of these ploys are examples of the use of true facts, rather of false facts given to the media to chew on, much as a dog chews on a bone.” It gives him a chance to show his authority and the chance to distract from the true issues at hand.

Letters: Paul McGilchrist, Nick Sinclair, Ian Ferguson and Neil Hutton on the misogyny and contempt revealed by a newspaper report about Labour's deputy ...

Heaven forbid that talented and capable women like Rayner should be valued for their contribution to the workplace. As if insulting Rayner and people who didn’t go to Oxford or Cambridge is not enough for the MoS, the article also insults Boris Johnson himself. She has admitted as much when enjoying drinks with us on the [Commons] terrace.”