Nicola Sturgeon and Boris Johnson have joined in the condemnation of the sexist and misogynistic attacks on Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner.
Leading politicians from across the political divide expressed support for Rayner after degrading claims from anonymous Tory MPs accused her of deliberately trying to distract Boris Johnson by crossing and uncrossing her legs in the Commons.
Anger is mounting over a newspaper report that likened Labour’s deputy leader to Sharon Stone’s infamous scene in the 1992 film Basic Instinct.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon was among those expressing immediate support for Rayner against claims in a Mail on Sunday article that she used her looks to compensate for her working class background.
Sturgeon tweeted: “Solidarity from across the political divide to Angela Rayner on this. It’s a reminder of the deep misogyny women face every day.”
“Though the line about Johnson’s Oxford debating ‘skills’ is truly laughable - from what I’ve seen she can debate him out the park!”
The Prime Minister also joined in condemning the article although his twitter account comments were reproduced word for word by Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries.
In a sign that officials rather than the MPs were doing the writing, both tweeted: “As much as I disagree with Angela Rayner on almost every political issue, I respect her as a parliamentarian and I deplore the misogyny directed at her anonymously today.”
Tory MP Caroline Nokes, Chair of the Women and Equalities Committee, denounced the “dirty, little story” and echoed Rayner’s own comment that colleagues behind the story should “hang their heads in shame”.
SNP MP Hanna Bardell slammed the comments as “utter barrel scraping garbage”.
The report published in the Mail on Sunday claimed Rayner “likes to put Mr Johnson off his stride” in the Commons chamber when they clash at Prime Minister’s Questions.
An anonymous MP is quoted as saying: “She knows she can’t compete with Boris’s Oxford Union debating training, but she has other skills which he lacks.
“She has admitted as much when enjoying drinks with us on the [Commons] terrace.”
The report also makes references to the 42-year-old’s working-class background, and describes her as “a socialist grandmother who left school at 16 while pregnant and with no qualifications before becoming a care worker."
In her own defence Rayner hit back at the anonymous briefers.
She said: “I’m proud of my background, I’m proud of who I am and where I’m from - but it’s taken time. We need more people in politics with backgrounds like mine - and fewer as a hobby to help their mates.”
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