The Conversation (0)
Liam O'Dell
Jun 30, 2022
Dominic Raab criticises ‘champagne socialist’ Angela Rayner for going to opera
ParliamentLive.TV
Prime Minister’s Questions is a hellscape most of the time, as the theatrical nature of it means we spend more time discussing whether Angela Rayner crossed her legs to “distract” Boris Johnson, or whether the Tory leader called Jeremy Corbyn a “big girl’s blouse”.
Now it’s deputy prime minister and justice secretary Dominic Raab who’s doing a great job of boosting PMQs… by appearing to wink at Ms Rayner during this week’s clash.
The incident is believed to have occurred after Mr Raab asked her “where was she when the comrades were on the picket line last Thursday”, in reference to the week of rail strikes last week.
He went on to answer his own question and added: “She was at the Glyndebourne music festival, sipping champagne, listening to opera.”
Cue the Esher and Walton MP claiming “champagne socialism is back in the Labour party”, and a wink across the dispatch box which we’re still trying to erase from our memory.
In a statement issued after PMQs, Ms Rayner hit back and said: “My advice to the deputy prime minister is to cut out the snobbery and brush up on his opera.
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“The Marriage of Figaro is the story of a working-class woman who gets the better of a privileged but dim-witted villain.”
Ouch.
As the internet continues to recoil over the wink, allies of Mr Raab have told The Times he was in fact directing the gesture at Ian Murray MP, Labour’s shadow secretary of state for Scotland, who was “braying loudly”.
\u201cWINKGATE LATEST\n\nSources close to Raab insist he was winking at Ian Murray who was \u201cbraying loudly\u201d about Angela Rayner\u2019s leadership potential.\n\nLabour sources say Raab was being \u201cweird and creepy\u201d throughout PMQs like a \u201cdirty old man\u201d and insist wink was directed at Rayner.\u201d— George Grylls (@George Grylls) 1656523319
Mr Murray himself casted doubt on the comment, tweeting on Wednesday that “to claim he was winking at me is more than hilarious”.
\u201cThis is a hilarious deflection from Raab. He clearly winked at @AngelaRayner. tTo claim he was winking at me is more than hilarious. For the record I shouted \u201cshe was good wasn\u2019t she and you\u2019re struggling\u201d or something along those lines. They can\u2019t even get a heckle right.\u201d— Ian Murray MP (@Ian Murray MP) 1656526153
Meanwhile, a Labour Party source rubbished the excuse, as per the Daily Mail, and said: “The deputy prime minister winking like a dirty old man at Ian? I doubt it.”
Whether you think Raab aimed it at Ms Rayner or Mr Murray, we’re of the opinion that winking shouldn’t be appearing in UK politics at all.
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