LONDON — An anonymously sourced report by one of Britain’s freewheeling tabloid newspapers has sparked a debate over both tabloid journalistic ethics and sexism in Parliament, leading some to question whether the institution is capable shedding its fusty reputation and becoming an inclusive workplace.
Over the weekend the tabloid, The Mail on Sunday, reported an anonymous claim by a Conservative lawmaker that Angela Rayner, deputy leader of the opposition Labour Party, had tried distracting Prime Minister Boris Johnson in Parliament by crossing and uncrossing her legs, comparing her to Sharon Stone’s character in the film “Basic Instinct.”
Ms. Rayner said the article had left her “crestfallen.” It was dismissed by Mr. Johnson as “sexist, misogynist, tripe,” and prompted more than 5,500 complaints, according to the independent regulator of most of Britain’s newspapers and magazines. The Speaker of the House of Commons, Lindsay Hoyle, summoned the newspaper’s editor, David Dillon, and its political editor, Glen Owen, to a meeting on Wednesday.
“The story is that there is misogyny alive and well and stalking the corridors of the House of Commons,” said Harriet Harman, the longest-serving female lawmaker and a lifelong champion of women’s rights. It was, she told LBC Radio, symptomatic of “the backlash you always get when women are making progress,” adding that “there are some men that feel they’ve got to put them back.”
The House of Commons and House of Lords have 454 and 963 women, respectively. Many female politicians stated that harassment and abuse had forced them out of politics prior to the 2019 general elections. Many rights groups are concerned that the culture of Parliament has discouraged others from running.
Repeated phone calls and emails to The Mail on Sunday went without an answer.
Jemima Olchawski, the chief officer of the Fawcett Society, a leading British charity that supports gender equality and women’s rights said in a statement, “This behavior cannot be tolerated — as a nation we cannot and should not accept this.” She noted that her organization had long campaigned for “systemic changes to fix Parliament’s culture and make it a more inclusive and diverse workplace.”
Aside from its sexist tone and content, the article also contrasted Ms. Rayner’s start in life with Mr. Johnson’s elite education and his public speaking skills honed at the Oxford Union, the university’s famous debating society. Born working class, she is now a young single mother who has achieved one of the most prominent positions in British politics.
Ms. Rayner has also won praise for her debating style while standing in at several sessions of Prime Minister’s questions, the weekly verbal duel between party leaders in Parliament.
In a TV interview on Tuesday Ms. Rayner described how, when contacted by The Mail on Sunday, she told the paper the claim was untrue, asked them not to publish it and was “crestfallen” about the impact it might have on her teenage sons.
The article was steeped in class bias, she told ITV, focusing on “where I come from and how I grew up,” and suggesting that, because of her standard, state-school education she was “stupid.”
“They talk about my background because I had a child when I was young as if to say I am promiscuous — that was the insinuation, which I felt was quite offensive,” Ms. Rayner added.
After the article’s publication, several lawmakers expressed support for Ms. Rayner and voiced fears about damage to the reputation of a Parliament that has faced several scandals in recent years. The Sunday Times of London reported that 56 lawmakers were facing allegations of bullying harassment and sexual misconduct. The Sunday Mail on Sunday had written about Ms. Rayner on Sunday.
Jane Merrick, policy editor at the i newspaper — who was among those named as person of the year by Time magazine in 2017 for talking publicly about sexual abuse and harassment in Parliament — criticized the article, pointing out that Ms. Rayner often outperformed Mr. Johnson in debate. “To reduce this to what she’s wearing and how she behaves, I think is ludicrous, but also completely steeped in misogyny,” she said.
Ms. Merrick said that Parliament’s workplace culture had improved since she started there over 20 years ago, but it was sad that more work needed to be done.
“I think there was a kind of a rush of optimism when Me Too happened that we would suddenly change people’s behavior, and, of course, that never happened,” she said.
Mandu Reid, the leader of the Women’s Equality Party, a feminist political party, said the story raised broader issues.
“This wouldn’t be a story at all if Westminster and the wider political system in the U.K. weren’t riddled with misogyny,” she said in a statement. She also pointed to “the misogyny of the media, which both deters women from involvement and misrepresents and undersells their achievements when they do engage.”
Many have long criticised the culture of Parliament in which the number of female legislators is not representative of the communities they represent.
Speaking on Monday, Mr. Johnson said he had offered Ms. Rayner his support and had promised that if the source of the article were uncovered, then the “terrors of the earth” would be unleashed upon them.
He said that the person was not authorized to give a briefing.
James Heappey, a junior defense minister, on Tuesday told the BBC that he worried about the damage to the reputation of a Parliament that was “in a bad place right now,” and described the incident as “offensive and ridiculous.”
As for his anonymous fellow Conservative lawmaker who inspired the report, Mr. Heappey described them as an “idiot of a colleague.”
Source: NY Times