Angela Rayner rejects idea she ‘enjoys sexist slurs’ after calling Basic Instinct meme ‘mortifying’

Angela Rayner previously joked about a “mortifying” internet meme which compared her to Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct in an unearthed podcast episode.

Claims made a Tory MP in the Mail on Sunday that the Labour deputy leader had crossed and uncrossed her legs at PMQs to distract Boris Johnson have sparked outrage at Westminster.

The Daily Mail has now pointed to a January podcast with comedian Matt Forde in which Ms Rayner discussed the fact some people had made the comparison with the Basic Instinct scene.

However, Ms Rayner made clear that she deplored the “misogyny” of press scrutiny over the way she dressed. “Every time I do PMQs everybody has an opinion on what I wear.”

She said: “Did you see the meme about Sharon Stone like I was doing it at PMQs? I was mortified. They did this whole meme about me doing, you know, the whole … I was like, when did I do that?”

Mr Forde asked: “What was the theory, that you were doing it to distract Boris?” Ms Rayner replied: “Doesn’t take much, does it? I don’t need to do that.”

Tweeting about the appearance on Wednesday, Ms Rayner said she had told the comedian that “the sexist film parody about me was misogynistic and it still is now”.

The Labour deputy also said the latest report in the Daily Mail “implies today that I somehow enjoy being subjected to sexist slurs. I don’t. They are mortifying and deeply hurtful.”

She also said she hoped Mr Johnson would explain today what he would do to address the matter, following assurances “he would unleash ‘the terrors of the earth’ on Tory MPs spreading this vile sexism”.

It comes as the editor of the Mail on Sunday refused to attend a meeting with Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle over the paper’s controversial report.

Sir Lindsay told MPs on Monday he had arranged a meeting with David Dillon following an outcry over the claims made the Labour deputy leader.

In his response, Mr Dillon said he would not be attending as journalists should “not take instruction from officials of the House of Commons, however august they may be”.

In his letter, he said his paper “deplores sexism and misogyny in all its forms”, adding: “However journalists must be free to report what they are told by MPs about conversations which take place in the House of Commons, however unpalatable some may find them.”

Earlier, in a statement, Sir Lindsay said he wanted to use the meeting to ask that “we are all a little kinder”, issuing a plea to reporters to consider the feelings of MPs and their families when covering stories in parliament.

He made the point that he had only recently rejected calls to remove the parliamentary pass from another journalist after some MPs called for the newspaper’s political editor Glen Owen – who wrote the report about Ms Rayner – to have his pass removed.

“I firmly believe in the duty of reporters to cover parliament, but I would also make a plea – nothing more – for the feelings of all MPs and their families to be considered, and the impact on their safety, when articles are written,” said Sir Lindsay.

Appearing on ITV’s Lorraine programme on Tuesday, Ms Rayner said she had appealed to the paper not to run the story, based on claims by an unnamed Tory MP.