A Tory MP who attacked free school meals campaigner Marcus Rashford can "f*** off", says Rachel Reeves.
The Shadow Chancellor blasted Natalie Elphicke, who last year said the England forward should spend "more time perfecting his game and less time playing politics”.
Ms Reeves told Matt Forde's Political Party podcast: "There is nothing that works better today than it did 12 and a half years ago, when the Tories came into government.
“Whether it's our schools, our hospitals, our trains, our buses, our prisons, getting a driving licence or a passport...
“The MP for Dover, Natalie Elphicke - when Rashford missed a penalty her tweet was 'if he spent more time on football rather than trying to get free school meals for our kids maybe he'd be better'? F*** off!"
Ms Reeves furiously stood by Labour ’s pledge to raise £1.7billion by slapping VAT on private school fees - despite Tory claims it would drive tens of thousands of kids into state schools.
She blasted: “Aspiration is wanting kids from whatever background to do well… My mum and dad ‘weren’t aspirational’ for me because they sent me to the local comp?
“I’m not aspirational for my kids because I send them to the local state school? ‘I couldn’t give a s*** about their education, just send them to the local state school’?
“It’s just so insulting, it really is. But that seems what [ Rishi Sunak ] and his party believe. I’m not for the 7%, I’m for the 93%, and I want the money to go to those schools.”
Ex-economist Ms Reeves said she had long wanted to be Chancellor - and was such a Labour geek that university friends bought her a framed photo of Gordon Brown.
But she warned if Labour wins the 2024 election, it will not be able to right Tory “wrongs” as fast as 1997 when the economy was growing.
“It looks likely we’re going to inherit both public services on their knees and an economy that is on its knees as well.
“And I think that is a tougher inheritance than what Tony and Gordon had in 1997.”
She added: “I think the scale of our ambition is there.
“But does it mean we can put right all the wrongs the Tories have created in the last 12 and a half years straight away? No, sadly it doesn’t mean that.
“But politics is about priorities and I think we’ve made pretty clear our priorities.”
She also recalled starting at the Bank of England as a new graduate two decades ago - on the same day as "toadying" I'm a Celebrity MP Matt Hancock.
"He used to always sit in the front row for all the training sessions and was the first one to put his hand up,” she said. “It was really tedious."
Asked if she thought he was bright, she paused, laughed and said: "If I say yes, that makes me look like an idiot!”
She added: “We always got on fine, but he had very… he was a sort of traditional Conservative, people should know their place, a bit stuck up."
- Matt Forde’s fortnightly West End residency continues with upcoming guests including Yvette Cooper and Emily Thornberry for the Christmas Special on 19th Dec and Emily Maitlis and Jon Sopel on the 23rd January. Tickets at mattforde.com.
