Dominic Raab insists he did NOT wink at Angela Rayner at PMQs

Dominic Raab insists he did NOT wink at Angela Rayner but at her ‘braying’ colleague Ian Murray in PMQs encounter – after Labour complains he targeted its deputy leader ‘like a dirty old man’

Raab was caught on camera making the gesture at the opposition front bench
He and Rayner stood in for their party leaders at Prime Minister’s Questions
Allies of Raab insisted that the wink was not directed at his female opponent
Said he was winking at her ‘braying’ frontbench colleague Ian Murray

Dominic Raab has denied winking at Labour’s Angela Rayner in the Commons after being accused of acting like a ‘dirty old man’.

The Deputy Prime Minister was caught on camera making the gesture at the opposition front bench as the pair stood in for their respective party leaders at Prime Minister’s Questions.

But allies of Mr Raab have insisted that the wink was not directed at his female opponent.

Instead they said he was winking at her frontbench colleague, Labour’s shadow Scottish secretary Ian Murray, telling the Times he had been ‘braying loudly’ next to her.

However, Labour rejected the claim today, with a party source saying: ‘The Deputy Prime Minister winking like a dirty old man at Ian? I doubt it.’

The Deputy Prime Minister was caught on camera making the gesture at the opposition front bench as the pair stood in for their respective party leaders at Prime Minister’s Questions.

Allies of Mr Raab have insisted that the wink was not directed at his female opponent. Instead they said he was winking at shadow Scottish secretary Ian Murray (bottom left)

In the rowdy session in the Commons Mr Rabb also sparked a snobbery row when he accused his opposite number – raised in poverty in Manchester – of being a ‘champagne socialist’ for enjoying posh fizz and opera at Glyndebourne.

Raab v Rayner: the best bits

I KNOW KUNG FU

Even before PMQs Ms Rayner was getting herself in the zone. Tweeting a pic of her panda shoe-clad feet she tweeted: ‘I know Dominic Raab is a karate black belt and everything – but I’ve got my kung fu pandas on and I’m ready!’

BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY

Dominic Raab accused deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner of being a champagne socialist for attending an opera festival.

After she attacked his views on food banks he hit back over the RMT rail strikes, saying while they were on she was ‘at the Glyndebourne music festival sipping champagne, listening to opera. Champagne socialism is back in the Labour Party.’

HOME AND AWAY

The pair were taking PMQs because Boris Johnson is on an eight-day diplomatic tour that has taken him from Rwanda to Spain, via Germany.

Ms Rayner told the Commons: ‘This week the Government lost two by-elections in one day, the first in three decades. It’s no wonder that the Prime Minister has fled the country and left the honourable member to carry the can.’

Mr Raab hit back: ‘I gently point out to her that we want this Prime Minister going a lot longer than she wants the leader of Labour Party…’

The Deputy Prime Minister was standing in for Boris Johnson – who was at a Nato meeting in Madrid – and tore into Ms Rayner over Labour’s attitude towards last week’s rail strikes.

He accused Ms Rayner of having ‘flip-flopped’ in her position on the strikes that hobbled the rail network last week.

After the wink, Labour MP Toby Perkins tweeted: ‘I will never unsee Dominic Raab’s wink from the despatch box at Angela Rayner. I feel soiled.’ To which she replied: ‘Imagine how I feel.’

Boris Johnson’s spokesman was later forced to say ‘everybody should be able to enjoy arts and culture and other such things across the UK’.

Ms Rayner later referenced the row, tweeting: ‘Dominic Raab won’t approve but I did indeed go the opera last week (it cost me £62).

‘Tom Eisner, a working-class lad from Buxton near where I grew up kindly invited me. He’s been playing violin at Glyndebourne for 36 years. Never let anyone tell you you’re not good enough.’

Mr Raab and Ms Rayner usually make the most of their time to step up in the absence of their party leaders. And today was no different, with with Mr Johnson away at a Nato summit in Spain.

For her part, Ms Rayner also set the scene, boasting beforehand that she was reading to take on the ‘karate black belt’ Tory by wearing ‘Kung Fu Panda’ heels – posting a picture of her Irregular Choice footwear on Twitter.

Ms Rayner kicked off asking if Raab believed the Cabinet will prop the Prime Minister up until the 2030s.

She told the Commons: ‘This week the Government lost two by-elections in one day, the first in three decades. It’s no wonder that the Prime Minister has fled the country and left the honourable member to carry the can.

‘The people of Wakefield and Tiverton held their own vote of no confidence. The Prime Minister isn’t just losing the room, he is losing their country. But instead of showing some humility, he intends to limp on until the 2030s. So, does he think the Cabinet will prop him up for this long?’

The Deputy Prime Minister got a rousing reception when he replied: ‘I gently point out to her that we want this Prime Minister going a lot longer than she wants the leader of Labour Party…’

He noted ‘we have got a working majority of 75’ and ‘we are focusing on delivering for the British people’.

He added: ‘We will protect the public from these damaging rail strikes when we have got the scene of Labour frontbenchers joining the picket lines.’

He said: ‘She talks about working people. Where was she when the comrades were on the picket line last Thursday? Where was she when the Labour frontbench were joining them rather than standing up for the public?

‘She was at the Glyndebourne music festival sipping champagne, listening to opera. Champagne socialism is back in the Labour Party.’

Ms Rayner hit back saying Britain cannot ‘stomach’ Boris Johnson for another eight years.

‘The truth is what I want for my honourable friend the Leader of this Opposition is not to be the Leader of the Opposition, but to be the prime minister of this country,’ she said.

‘To be honest, it could not come quick enough. Britain can’t stomach this Prime Minister for another eight years. His own backbenchers can’t stomach him for another eight minutes. And if they continue to prop him up, I doubt the voters will stomach him for even eight seconds in the ballot.’

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