THE Tory leadership have come under fire after their response to misogynistic smears about Angela Rayner was branded “disingenuous”.
Boris Johnson and Nadine Dorries tweeted identical statements expressing solidarity with the Labour deputy leader after Tories reportedly accused her of a “ploy” to distract the Prime Minister in the Commons.
According to the Mail on Sunday, Conservatives suspect Rayner of crossing and uncrossing her legs in a bid to put Johnson off when he’s at the ballot box.
After the comments were widely condemned as misogynistic, Johnson and Dorries joined other political leaders in showing their support for the Labour MP.
Shortly after 11am, the Prime Minister tweeted: “As much as I disagree with @AngelaRayner on almost every political issue I respect her as a parliamentarian and deplore the misogyny directed at her anonymously today.”
>>As much as I disagree with @AngelaRayner on almost every political issue I respect her as a parliamentarian and deplore the misogyny directed at her anonymously today.
>>
>>— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) [April 24, 2022](https://twitter.com/BorisJohnson/status/1518169693638561792)
Rayner replied: “Thank you.”
A few minutes later, Culture Secretary Dorries posted exactly the same message.
>>As much as I disagree with @AngelaRayner on almost every political issue I respect her as a parliamentarian and deplore the misogyny directed at her anonymously today.
>>
>>— Nadine Dorries (@NadineDorries) [April 24, 2022](https://twitter.com/NadineDorries/status/1518173739921334272)
After the identical posts were highlighted by Mirror reporter Pippa Crerar, Twitter users were quick to criticise the Tory leaders.
“Nothing says disingenuous like parroting a message without even bothering to put it into your own words,” author and academic Kit Yates commented.
Filmmaker Asif Kapadia wrote: “Tory ‘copy and paste’ disingenuous cult.”
Another person tweeted: “This is exactly why people question Boris Johnson’s sincerity when he says sorry! Pathetic absolutely pathetic.”
The Mail On Sunday reported that Conservatives had claimed Rayner enjoyed attempting to put Johnson “off his stride” during Prime Minister’s Questions by “crossing and uncrossing her legs”.
In a series of tweets, Rayner lashed out at the “lies” being briefed about her.
The Ashton-under-Lyne MP wrote: “Boris Johnson’s cheerleaders have resorted to spreading desperate, perverted smears in their doomed attempts to save his skin. They know exactly what they are doing. The lies they are telling.”
She said Johnson and his backers “clearly have a big problem with women in public life” and that they “should be ashamed of themselves”.
“I won’t be letting their vile lies deter me. Their attempts to harass and intimidate me will fail,” Rayner added.
>>Women in politics face sexism and misogyny every day – and I’m no different.
>>
>>This morning’s is the latest dose of gutter journalism courtesy of @MoS_Politics
>>
>> 🧵👇🏻1/9
>> — Angela Rayner 🌹 (@AngelaRayner) [April 24, 2022](https://twitter.com/AngelaRayner/status/1518126832272486400)
Keir Starmer said the sexism displayed by those briefing the Sunday paper was a “disgraceful new low from a party mired in scandal and chaos”.
Tulip Siddiq, the shadow economic secretary to the Treasury, said the accusations were “disgraceful”.
The Labour politician told Sky News’s Sophy Ridge On Sunday: “At the end of the day, Angela Rayner is an MP who was elected on merit.
“To talk about the fact she is using her legs or her posture to manipulate the Prime Minister is ridiculous and I’m really upset about it.”
One Tory MP is said to have told the MoS: “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.”
When asked on Sophy Ridge about the coverage, Tory chairman Oliver Dowden said he did not recognise the claims attributed to his party’s MPs.
Careful the totally not tories might accused you of bullying.
Lay off poor Nadine. I’ve no doubt we’re about to be told that it was her dyslexia that caused her to think that the statement which Central Office supplied for Boris Johnson to tweet out had actually been supplied for *her* to tweet out.
The tories are gaslighting. The identical messages aren’t in error. They are as deliberate as deliberate can be.
They pushed the message about Rayner then retracted it as insincerly as it was possible.
These tories are an outrage. The whole lot need pulling down and throwing in the nearest river.
They simply could not apoligise without trying to put the boot in first:
“**As much as I disagree with @AngelaRayner on almost every political issue** I respect her as a parliamentarian and deplore the misogyny directed at her anonymously today.”
They could have left it as:
“I respect Angela as a parliamentarian and deplore the misogyny directed at her anonymously today.”
Then to add insult to injury it looks like it is a bit of copy made up by the PR team at Conservative Campaign Headquarters, which they sent to every Tory MP for them to put on their social media
Of the many Tory MPs who got that PR copy sent from head office to post on their social media I found one who mixed it up a little:
>This is a truly poisonous story. I disagree with @AngelaRayner on almost everything but no one should be on the receiving end of this crap in politics. Typical of the baseless stories planted by drunk nonentities puffing up their egos on the terrace
>
>>[Image of Mail article](https://nitter.net/pic/media%2FFRGosBYWYAE5QON.jpg)
>
>— Conor Burns (@ConorBurnsUK) [April 24, 2022](https://nitter.net/ConorBurnsUK/status/1518180028684673024#m)
Miliband should cross and uncross his legs next pmq in the most mocking way. Maybe eating a bacon sandwich and looking suggestively at Boris.
What would the Tories say? Chaos…?
Johnson is a misogynist himself, I would never expect him to express genuine solidarity with Rayner, even if she were a Tory MP. Dorries is incapable of having an individual thought and will parrot anything Johnson says to suck up to him.
He is such a prick!
He had to add that he disagreed with her political views.
It shows how out of touch with reality these arseholes are.
The story was nothing to do with her political position and everything to do with some public schoolboy fan fiction published in the Tory rag.
Deflection from the issues of partygate and his unsuitability for the job.
This seriously is beyond parody. I guess it must be due to Nadine Dorries’ dyslexia…
This lot can’t help but stumble from one shambles to another…
Surely they can’t win another election right?… right?? 😟
Clearly, Nadine is learning on the job & hasn’t figured out how to retweet yet.
The stupid people that reply to these tweets. Do they really think that the politicians read them?
12 comments
THE Tory leadership have come under fire after their response to misogynistic smears about Angela Rayner was branded “disingenuous”.
Boris Johnson and Nadine Dorries tweeted identical statements expressing solidarity with the Labour deputy leader after Tories reportedly accused her of a “ploy” to distract the Prime Minister in the Commons.
According to the Mail on Sunday, Conservatives suspect Rayner of crossing and uncrossing her legs in a bid to put Johnson off when he’s at the ballot box.
After the comments were widely condemned as misogynistic, Johnson and Dorries joined other political leaders in showing their support for the Labour MP.
Shortly after 11am, the Prime Minister tweeted: “As much as I disagree with @AngelaRayner on almost every political issue I respect her as a parliamentarian and deplore the misogyny directed at her anonymously today.”
>>As much as I disagree with @AngelaRayner on almost every political issue I respect her as a parliamentarian and deplore the misogyny directed at her anonymously today.
>>
>>— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) [April 24, 2022](https://twitter.com/BorisJohnson/status/1518169693638561792)
Rayner replied: “Thank you.”
A few minutes later, Culture Secretary Dorries posted exactly the same message.
>>As much as I disagree with @AngelaRayner on almost every political issue I respect her as a parliamentarian and deplore the misogyny directed at her anonymously today.
>>
>>— Nadine Dorries (@NadineDorries) [April 24, 2022](https://twitter.com/NadineDorries/status/1518173739921334272)
After the identical posts were highlighted by Mirror reporter Pippa Crerar, Twitter users were quick to criticise the Tory leaders.
“Nothing says disingenuous like parroting a message without even bothering to put it into your own words,” author and academic Kit Yates commented.
Filmmaker Asif Kapadia wrote: “Tory ‘copy and paste’ disingenuous cult.”
>>Tory ‘copy and paste’ disingenuous cult
>>
>> — asifkapadia (@asifkapadia) [April 24, 2022](https://twitter.com/asifkapadia/status/1518192136134479872)
Another person tweeted: “This is exactly why people question Boris Johnson’s sincerity when he says sorry! Pathetic absolutely pathetic.”
The Mail On Sunday reported that Conservatives had claimed Rayner enjoyed attempting to put Johnson “off his stride” during Prime Minister’s Questions by “crossing and uncrossing her legs”.
In a series of tweets, Rayner lashed out at the “lies” being briefed about her.
The Ashton-under-Lyne MP wrote: “Boris Johnson’s cheerleaders have resorted to spreading desperate, perverted smears in their doomed attempts to save his skin. They know exactly what they are doing. The lies they are telling.”
READ MORE: Nicola Sturgeon backs Angela Rayner after Tory ‘Basic Instinct’ smear
She said Johnson and his backers “clearly have a big problem with women in public life” and that they “should be ashamed of themselves”.
“I won’t be letting their vile lies deter me. Their attempts to harass and intimidate me will fail,” Rayner added.
>>Women in politics face sexism and misogyny every day – and I’m no different.
>>
>>This morning’s is the latest dose of gutter journalism courtesy of @MoS_Politics
>>
>> 🧵👇🏻1/9
>> — Angela Rayner 🌹 (@AngelaRayner) [April 24, 2022](https://twitter.com/AngelaRayner/status/1518126832272486400)
Keir Starmer said the sexism displayed by those briefing the Sunday paper was a “disgraceful new low from a party mired in scandal and chaos”.
Tulip Siddiq, the shadow economic secretary to the Treasury, said the accusations were “disgraceful”.
The Labour politician told Sky News’s Sophy Ridge On Sunday: “At the end of the day, Angela Rayner is an MP who was elected on merit.
“To talk about the fact she is using her legs or her posture to manipulate the Prime Minister is ridiculous and I’m really upset about it.”
One Tory MP is said to have told the MoS: “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.”
When asked on Sophy Ridge about the coverage, Tory chairman Oliver Dowden said he did not recognise the claims attributed to his party’s MPs.
Careful the totally not tories might accused you of bullying.
Lay off poor Nadine. I’ve no doubt we’re about to be told that it was her dyslexia that caused her to think that the statement which Central Office supplied for Boris Johnson to tweet out had actually been supplied for *her* to tweet out.
The tories are gaslighting. The identical messages aren’t in error. They are as deliberate as deliberate can be.
They pushed the message about Rayner then retracted it as insincerly as it was possible.
These tories are an outrage. The whole lot need pulling down and throwing in the nearest river.
They simply could not apoligise without trying to put the boot in first:
“**As much as I disagree with @AngelaRayner on almost every political issue** I respect her as a parliamentarian and deplore the misogyny directed at her anonymously today.”
They could have left it as:
“I respect Angela as a parliamentarian and deplore the misogyny directed at her anonymously today.”
Then to add insult to injury it looks like it is a bit of copy made up by the PR team at Conservative Campaign Headquarters, which they sent to every Tory MP for them to put on their social media
The excuse is now officially classed as a meme:
>https://nitter.net/search?f=tweets&q=disagree+with+%40AngelaRayner&since=&until=&near=
–
Of the many Tory MPs who got that PR copy sent from head office to post on their social media I found one who mixed it up a little:
>This is a truly poisonous story. I disagree with @AngelaRayner on almost everything but no one should be on the receiving end of this crap in politics. Typical of the baseless stories planted by drunk nonentities puffing up their egos on the terrace
>
>>[Image of Mail article](https://nitter.net/pic/media%2FFRGosBYWYAE5QON.jpg)
>
>— Conor Burns (@ConorBurnsUK) [April 24, 2022](https://nitter.net/ConorBurnsUK/status/1518180028684673024#m)
Miliband should cross and uncross his legs next pmq in the most mocking way. Maybe eating a bacon sandwich and looking suggestively at Boris.
What would the Tories say? Chaos…?
Johnson is a misogynist himself, I would never expect him to express genuine solidarity with Rayner, even if she were a Tory MP. Dorries is incapable of having an individual thought and will parrot anything Johnson says to suck up to him.
He is such a prick!
He had to add that he disagreed with her political views.
It shows how out of touch with reality these arseholes are.
The story was nothing to do with her political position and everything to do with some public schoolboy fan fiction published in the Tory rag.
Deflection from the issues of partygate and his unsuitability for the job.
This seriously is beyond parody. I guess it must be due to Nadine Dorries’ dyslexia…
This lot can’t help but stumble from one shambles to another…
Surely they can’t win another election right?… right?? 😟
Clearly, Nadine is learning on the job & hasn’t figured out how to retweet yet.
The stupid people that reply to these tweets. Do they really think that the politicians read them?