The Speaker of the UK House of Commons has summoned the editor of the Mail on Sunday over claims about Angela Rayner made by an anonymous Conservative MP which Westminster deems to be “misogynistic”.
Sir Lindsay Hoyle informed MPs on Monday that he had requested a meeting with David Dillon, and the chairman of the Commons press gallery, "to discuss the issue affecting our parliamentary community" and will also separately meet Rayner, reported The Guardian.
The outcry had been triggered by an article in the national newspaper that claimed the Labour party’s deputy leader, Angela Rayner, liked to put the Tory Prime Minister “off his stride” during Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs), by adopting a tactic made famous in the film 'Basic Instinct'.
In the 1992 thriller, the character played by Sharon Stone - who wears nothing under her skirt - uncrosses and crosses her legs, “flashing” a policeman during questioning.
An anonymous source was reported as saying:
"She knows she can't compete with Boris's Oxford Union debating training, but she has other skills which he lacks."
The “desperate” and “perverted” attack on her was denounced by Rayner, who said that the Prime Minister’s “cheerleaders” were spreading “smears in their doomed attempts to save his skin”.
As Caroline Nokes, the Conservative chair of the Women and Equalities Committee, wrote to Sir Lindsay Hoyle, asking him to consider revoking the parliamentary pass of the article’s author, Glen Owen, the Speaker stated in Parliament:
“I share the views expressed by a wide range of members … that yesterday’s article was reporting unsubstantial claims [that were] misogynistic and offensive. Those are what we believe. In being demeaning, offensive to women in Parliament, it can only deter women who might considering standing for election, to the detriment of us all.”
As the incident prompted many female MPs to speak out about their own experiences of sexism in Westminster, the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO) revealed it had received more than 5,000 complaints about the Rayner story.
Boris Johnson rushed to commiserate with Angela Rayner about the demeaning remarks on 24 April, tweeting that although he disagreed with the Labour politician “on almost every political issue”, he respected her and deplored “the misogyny directed at her anonymously”.
His post was retweeted by Chief Secretary to the Treasury Simon Clarke, Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries and Health Secretary Sajid Javid.
The Prime Minister subsequently wrote a private letter to Rayner - MP for Ashton-under-Lyne in Greater Manchester - to assure her that the “misogynistic” remarks targeting her were “not in his name”, according to the Daily Telegraph.
As pressure grows to identify who was responsible for the offensive remarks, a parliamentary source was cited as saying:
“Questions are being asked around the palace and if the anonymous source is identified, action will be taken.”
Technology minister Chris Philp was cited by Sky News as confirming that Tory whips will be "looking at whether they know" who made the comments. If the person behind the claims against Angela Rayner was unmasked, he or she would be probably be "subject to discipline," he added.
Boris Johnson, while visiting Bury in Greater Manchester on Monday, was asked whether there was a “misogynist" culture in Parliament, as Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer had earlier claimed.
"It's hard to say on the basis of that particular story. But 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. 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. It's totally intolerable, that kind of thing," responded Johnson.