Angela Rayner MOCKED at conference as Conservatives proudly sport ‘Tory scum’ badges
Angela Rayner brutally shamed for 'Tory Scum' attack
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Chief executive of ConservativeHome Mark Wallace tweeted that he had an “exclusive supply” of “Tory scum” badges, inviting followers to “find me, say Hi and you might get one”. The badge was first seen being sported by Tory MP Dehena Davidson on GB News on Sunday.
The MP for Bishop Auckland said: “I get so sick of some of the derogatory language that she used about politicians but particularly about anyone on the right, about Conservatives and I want to reclaim it!
“If you want to call me ‘Tory scum’, that is absolutely fine – I’m a Conservative, I am proud to be a Conservative.”
She added: “And besides, Angela Rayner assured us that scum is a jovial comment that you would make towards one of your friends.
“So clearly it was a compliment all along.”
According to the Daily Mirror, the Labour Deputy Leader addressed a fringe event at their own conference in Brighton last week, referring to Boris Johnson and his top ministers.
She said: “We cannot get any worse than a bunch of scum, homophobic, racist, misogynistic, absolute vile… banana republic, vile, nasty, Etonian… piece of scum.”
Ms Rayner reportedly added that she had “held back a little”.
Later, the MP for Ashton-under-Lyme refused to apologise for her earlier remarks.
She told Sky News that she was trying to convey in a “passionate way” the “anger and frustration that people feel when you have a prime minister – who has said things and not apologised – that are racist, that are misogynistic, that are homophobic, that has given billions of pounds of taxpayers’ money to their mates and literally wasted that money.”
Ms Rayner added: “I think anyone who leaves children hungry during a pandemic and can give billions of pounds for their mates on WhatsApp, I think that was pretty scummy.
“It’s a phrase you would hear very often in northern working class towns, that we’d even say it jovially to other people, we say it’s a scummy thing to do.”
However, she stressed that she was not referring to Tory voters as “scum”, just that the Prime Minister “has said those things and acted in that way”.
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Meanwhile, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show it was “not language that I would use”.
Her comments drew the ire of many high-ranking Conservative politicians.
Conservative chairman Oliver Dowden said: “At a time when the country is trying to pull together to recover from Covid, the last thing we need is the deputy leader of the Labour Party calling people ‘scum’ and yelling insults.
“We need to make politics better, not drag it into the gutter.”
Foreign Office minister James Cleverly said that the public knew Ms Rayner was “talking crap”.
Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Michael Gove suggested Ms Rayner’s upbringing had lead her to make such remarks.
Speaking at the Conservative Party conference, he said: “I like Angela Rayner, so I won’t see anything unmanly about her.”
Mr Gove added: “If you consider the circumstances under which she’s had to grow up, and what she’s achieved, then anyone can make a mistake.”
However, Health Secretary Sajid Javid also chose to make light of Ms Rayner’s remarks.
He told a Conservative Party conference fringe event on Sunday night: “It’s nice to be with so many friends in person – or ‘Tory scum’, as Angela Rayner [put it].”
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