Angela Rayner REFUSES to apologise for branding Tories ‘scum’

Angela Rayner today flatly refused to apologise for branding Tory ministers ‘racist, homophobic, scum’ – saying she was just using ‘street language’.

The deputy Labour leader launched the extraordinary attack on Conservatives during an event for activists at the Labour conference in Brighton last night.

But despite a furious reaction, Ms Rayner this morning insisted she was right to highlight ‘pretty scummy’ comments by Boris Johnson and others.

She told Sky News’ Trevor Phillips programme her onslaught came at a ‘post-watershed’ meeting with members to ‘fire them up’. 

Pressed on whether she regarded 14,000 Tory voters in her own Ashton-under-Lyne constituency as racist and homophobic, Ms Rayner said her remarks were about the PM. 

‘I am not saying anyone who voted for the Conservatives are racist or scummy,’ she added.

She made clear she would only apologise if the PM said sorry for his previous ‘racist’ comments. 

‘I’m not saying anyone voting for the Conservatives are racist scum,’ she said. ‘I’m saying the PM has said those things and acted in those way.’ 

Ms Rayner said: ‘Anyone who leaves children hungry during a pandemic and can give billions of pounds to their mates on WhatsApp, I think that was pretty scummy.’ 

Appearing on the same show afterwards, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said Ms Rayner should offer a full apology.

‘It is absolutely appalling,’ he said. ‘There is no place in public life for that sort of language, that sort of behaviour.’

He added: ‘It would be befitting if she just apologised rather than talking around the subject.’ 

Addressing a raucous meeting of North West activists last night, Ms Rayner said: ‘I’m sick of shouting from the sidelines, and i bet youse lot are too.

‘We cannot get any worse than a bunch of scum, homophobic, racist, mysoginistic, absolute pile …of banana republic…Etonian…piece of scum…and I held back a little…that I have ever seen in my life’

Government minister Amanda Milling described the Labour MP’s remarks as ‘shocking’. 

‘Shocking. Angela Rayner must apologise for these comments,’ she tweeted.

‘Don’t forget Rayner was Corbyn’s henchman when Labour became embroiled in antisemitism.

‘She failed to act. Rather than throwing around false accusations the Conservatives are focused on the people’s priorities.’

Fellow Foreign Office minister James Cleverly accused Ms Rayner of ‘talking crap’.

He said: ‘I’m sure this went down well in the room but when voters look at the party that has had both female PMs, with half of the great offices of state filled by women, half by BAME, most diverse government, more gay ministers than Labour ever had etc, they’ll know she’s talking crap.’

It isn’t the first time the outspoken MP has caused controversy by calling the Tories scum.

Last October, Tory backbencher Chris Clarkson demanded an apology from Angela Rayner in a public letter after he suggested that the Labour frontbench was viewing the pandemic as a ‘good crisis’ to be exploited.

However, the hard-Left Corbynite then heckled Mr Clarkson, who asked: ‘Excuse me, did the honourable lady just call me scum?’

The exchange prompted an intervention from a furious Commons Deputy Speaker Dame Eleanor Laing who said she would not accept such comments in the chamber ‘under any circumstances’.