Angela Rayner condemns new Tory minister for repeating ‘disgraceful’ legs smear

A new Tory minister been criticised after repeating allegations Angela Rayner “opened her legs” to distract Boris Johnson in the Commons.

Levelling Up minister Lia Nici made the comment in an interview despite the Prime Minister having previously described it as “sexist, misogynistic tripe”.

Ms Nici, MP for Great Grimsby, told BBC Politics North on Saturday: “Let’s be honest here. We talk about honesty and integrity.

“The deputy shadow leader decided it would be amusing to open her legs in the chamber and then brag to everybody that actually it was male members of the opposite party who had been looking at her and she was drinking on the terrace and laughing about it.”

Naz Shah, the Labour Bradford West MP also appeared on the programme and described Ms Nici’s comments as “absolutely disgraceful”.

“I don’t what’s more disappointing Lia,” Ms Shah said.

“Listening to a fellow woman talk about another woman opening her legs in Parliament using that kind of misogynistic language, or the whataboutery to actually try and take it away from the failure of this government not just now, but for the last 12 years of austerity.”

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Ms Rayner said the Tory minister “should be ashamed of herself”.

“Boris Johnson promised to unleash “the terrors of the earth” on the Tory MPs spreading these vile smears,” she tweeted. “Instead he promoted them to ministerial office. They really are unfit to govern.”

The original claims first appeared in a Mail on Sunday article in April of this year, when an unnamed Tory MP accused Ms Rayner of deliberately distracting Mr Johnson by crossing and uncrossing her legs in the Commons.

Ms Rayner described the comments as “desperate, peverted smears” which showed the misogyny that women in politics faced every day.