Angela Rayner says she was 'crestfallen' after the Mail on Sunday published sexist claims about her, made by an unnamed Tory MP. The article, which crudely suggested the Labour deputy leader had been trying to distract Boris Johnson by crossing and uncrossing her legs in the House of Commons, has been widely condemned.
Speaking to Lorraine Kelly this morning (April 26), the Ashton-under-Lyne MP said she had to prepare her children for the article's publication over the weekend once she knew it was going to be published. She told ITV’s Lorraine: “I’ve been overwhelmed because, when I heard the story was coming out and we rebutted it instantly, and was like ‘This is disgusting, it’s completely untrue. Please don’t run a story like that.’
“I felt really sad … I was trying to prepare my children for seeing things online that they don’t want to see their mum portrayed that way. 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?’
“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.” Ms Rayner also claimed the article was 'steeped in classism'.
She suggested the piece insinuated she must be 'thick' because she went to a comprehensive school and she is 'promiscuous' because she had a child when she was young. The 42-year-old, who grew up in Stockport, insists a wider 'cultural shift' is needed following the row.
“There’s still so much more for us to do,” she said. “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.”
Ms Rayner told ITV's Lorraine that she wore a trouser suit for her appearance this morning because she did not want to be 'judged for what I wear'. She added: “I wanted to be defiant as well, because I don’t think that women should be told how to dress – but I didn’t want to distract from the fact that, actually, it’s not about my legs.
“I didn’t want people at home thinking ‘Let’s have a look to see what her legs are like and how short her skirt is or not’. Because I feel like I’m being judged for what I wear, rather than what I’m saying to you and how I come across.”
Appearing at Bury's Gigg Lane stadium yesterday, the Prime Minister condemned ‘the most appalling load of sexist, misogynist tripe’ described in the Mail on Sunday article. "I immediately got in touch with Angela and we had a very friendly exchange," Mr Johnson added.
Press regulator Ipso confirmed it had received more than 5,500 complaints over the article. It said it would now explore whether the article had breached the Editor’s Code of Practice for accuracy, harassment and discrimination.
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