On Wednesday neither Boris Johnson or Keir Starmer were at PMQs, so as is customary their deputies stood in for them. With Angela Rayner at the helm for Labour it was perhaps inevitable that something dramatic might happen. And deputy PMQs didn't disappoint with lively exchanges between Rayner and Dominic Raab.
A few minutes in Raab was responding to Rayner when he gave a cheeky wink towards the Labour front bench. The moment drove woke Twitter into meltdown as leftists immediately took the moral high ground and accused him of misogyny, sexism and 'toxic masculinity' towards Rayner. Labour's Toby Perkins was among those who took umbrage...
Of course Ange made it all about her, but if you watch the clip back (see below) you may notice that when Raab makes the gesture he is not looking straight ahead. In fact he clearly glances off to his right - to Rayner's left - where shadow Scottish secretary Ian Murray was sitting. Murray had been in boistrous mood during the session and was personally reprimanded by the Speaker for being noisy. Raab later confirmed that it was Murray to whom he had made the gesture, in response to one of the MP's outbursts.
Despite Raab's perfectly reasonable explanation, most media outlets have maintained the Rayner angle as it supports their 'misogynist' narrative.
The media also failed to pick upon an early gaffe as Rayner made her opening statement during the session. Referring to the two recent Tory by-election losses, she pronounced the Devon town of Tiverton as 'Tiverwington'. No wonder Labour lost their deposit there.
For the full PMQs session click here.
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