'Utter disgrace': David Lammy's fury at mystery Tory MP who made Rayner 'legs' claim
25 April 2022, 19:09 | Updated: 20 October 2022, 11:57
David Lammy has condemned the 'absolutely horrendous' comments from an anonymous Tory MP who suggested Angela Rayner uncrosses her legs in the Commons to distract the Prime Minister.
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It comes after The Mail on Sunday reported that an anonymous Conservative MP claimed Angela Rayner attempts to distract Boris Johnson and put him "off his stride" by crossing and uncrossing her legs when they clash at Prime Minister’s Questions.
Speaking on Tonight with Andrew Marr, the Shadow Foreign Secretary branded the comments as an "utter disgrace" warning they have the power to "put women off politics".
When asked what he thought about the allegations, the Labour MP said: "It's a disgrace. It's an utter utter disgrace, puts women off politics, should never in my view have made the newspaper in the first place.
"The MP's around it should be identified, and found frankly. It was horrendous, absolutely horrendous.
"And I felt in total solidarity with Angela for finding herself in that situation.
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'It's a disgrace': David Lammy reacts to article about Angela Rayner
When questioned on whether or not politicians should tell journalist how to report parliament, Mr Lammy replied: "I think politicians are entitled to express strong opinion and I think that that if its something that unites the house, its something that should be listened to.
"I the end, freedom of the press means that you are free to report what you want, but I hope the public, given that there have been 5,000 complaints, I would sense the public are pretty turned off by this stuff as well."
On Monday the PM said he he will "of course" attempt to find out the identity of the unnamed MP but stressed that it was an "anonymous source" and he had "no idea" who was behind it.
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PM: Comments made about Angela Rayner 'sexist, misogynist tripe'
Boris Johnson condemned the "misogynistic tripe" directed at the deputy Labour leader which was compared to Sharon Stone's infamous scene in the film Basic Instinct.
The Mail on Sunday report sparked outrage across the political spectrum, and included a quote from one MP that Ms Rayner "knows she can't compete with Boris's Oxford Union debating training, but she has other skills which he lacks".
Mr Johnson told reporters: "I have to say I thought it was the most appalling load of sexist, misogynist tripe.
"I immediately got in touch with Angela and we had a very friendly exchange."
In a King Lear reference, he threatened to unleash "the terrors of the earth" on the source behind the comments if they were ever identified.
"If we ever find who is responsible for it, I don't know what we will do, but they will be the terrors of the earth," he said.
"It's totally intolerable, that kind of thing."
In an update this afternoon, Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle described the article as "offensive" and said he is going to meet with the editor of the Mail on Sunday.
The Prime Minister earlier attempted to distance himself from the widely-condemned newspaper reports, which have been criticised by the deputy Labour leader as being "desperate, perverted smears".
