Rayner under fire for explosive comments to Labour activists in Brighton

Speaking at a late-night reception for Labour members at the ongoing Labour conference in Brighton, Angela Rayner reportedly described the Conservative party as “a bunch of scum, homophobic, racist [and] misogynistic”. 

In full, Rayner said: “I’m sick of shouting from the sidelines and I bet youse lot are as well. … We cannot get any worse than a bunch of scum, homophobic, racist, misogynistic, absolute vile Banana Republic, vile, nasty, Etonian piece of scum”.

To applause, she added she “held back a little” during the rant. 

These comments from Labour’s deputy leader have drawn extensive criticism. Government minister Amanda Milling described the Labour MP’s remarks as “shocking”, adding that “Angela Rayner must apologise for these comments”. 

Foreign Office minister James Cleverly accused Rayner of “talking crap”.

Pressed by Andrew Marr this morning, Labour leader Keir Starmer said “that is not language that I would use”, but refused to ask his deputy for an apology – adding “I will talk to Angela about it later on”. 

Starmer was keen to stress that he and his Deputy have “different approaches”.

This is not the first time Rayner has caused controversy like this. Last October, the MP provoked similar uproar in a heckle to the Tory backbencher Chris Clarkson. Clarkson responded to the seated Rayner: “Excuse me, did the honourable lady just call me scum?”.