Boris Johnson has threatened to unleash “the terrors of the Earth” on the Conservative politician who made misogynistic claims about deputy Labour leader, Angela Rayner, if they are ever identified.
The prime minister hit out at the “sexist, misogynistic tripe” in the Mail on Sunday, which ran claims from an anonymous Tory MP that Rayner deliberately tried to distract Johnson in the House of Commons by crossing and uncrossing her legs.
As the Independent Press Standards Organisation (Ipso) received more than 5,000 complaints about the article, Johnson suggested his party would investigate who was responsible for the claims.
Asked whether there was a cultural problem in parliament, Johnson told reporters in Bury: “It’s hard to say on the basis of that particular story. But I have to say I thought it was the most appalling load of sexist, misogynist tripe.
“I immediately got in touch with Angela and we had a very friendly exchange.”
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In a reference to Shakespeare’s King Lear, he threatened to unleash “the terrors of the Earth” on the source behind the comments if they were ever identified.
“If we ever find who is responsible for it, I don’t know what we will do, but they will be the terrors of the earth. It’s totally intolerable, that kind of thing.”
The Conservatives have not confirmed whether they have launched an inquiry into the anonymous comments. But technology minister Chris Philp said he expected government whips would investigate who had made the comments, and that if their identity emerged he would “imagine they would be subject to discipline”.
Asked why Johnson and the culture secretary, Nadine Dorries, had posted identical tweets denouncing the claims, Philp said this was “nothing surprising” because they had “reached the same view and they have used the same words”.
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Johnson also wrote directly to Rayner. The contents of the letter have not been shared, except for one quote reported by the Telegraph that stated: “The comments were not in my name.”
Interviewed on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, the shadow chancellor, Rachel Reeves, did not push for those responsible for making the claims to be identified and declined to say whether Labour would complain to the Independent Press Standards Organisation.
She said the Conservative party should be “talking long and hard to their MPs about what sort of things they should be saying and briefing to journalists”.
She added that the “outrageous” claims about Rayner “shines a spotlight” on other female MPs’ experiences of sexism and misogyny.
“I am sick and tired of the way that female MPs and women are treated in parliament, and if this story, this outrageous slur on Angela gets change, that would be a good thing,” she said.
Speaking to BBC Breakfast, Reeves said the slur against Rayner was “the sort of thing that happens day in, day out in parliament”. She added that Rayner was a “fantastic politician” who “brilliantly” substitutes for Keir Starmer when he is unavailable.
She said: “She doesn’t need to use her sex to win an argument or put the prime minister off, or whatever was suggested in that article. She does it by the strength of her argument, and to suggest otherwise. It’s just disgusting and it doesn’t do justice to the brilliant women we have in parliament from all sides.”