Penny Mordaunt takes swipe at Angela Rayner in blazing Commons attack on Labour


Penny Mordaunt took a swipe at Angela Rayner over the housing row as she tore into Labour in the Commons.

The Commons Leader said the Labour deputy leader “holds others to standards she does not think should apply to herself”.

Ms Mordaunt made the comment as she claimed “deepfake Labour” are being led by “catfish Keir”.

The Cabinet minister, speaking during business questions after updating MPs about the future debates in the Commons, said the Government has pledged to take action to improve online safety – including making it an offence to create a sexually explicit deepfake image.

She said: “The deepfake phenomenon is more widespread than you might think.

“The public may well be fooled into thinking that something is the case when it is not or that the person they know is manifestly different and we need to expose such scams.

“They might be tempted … to believe that the person is committed to this nation’s nuclear deterrent, but in reality note that the same person was content to serve in the cabinet of the last Labour leader (Jeremy Corbyn) and that six of his frontbench voted to end our nuclear deterrent.

“They might think that the Labour Party is the party of the NHS, but as we know they’re the only party that has cut the NHS budget.

“They might be tempted by the sound of secure economics only to discover that that is built on unfunded pledges and unspecified tax increases.

Ms Mordaunt went on to accuse Labour of failing to back up their pledges to protect pensioners and businesses before warning against being “tempted” and “fooled” by shadow cabinet members.

She said of Ms Rayner: “Or a shadow deputy prime minister who holds others to standards she does not think should apply to herself.”

Ms Mordaunt went on: “The Leader of the Opposition has spent four years in office posting pictures to his profile of Neil Kinnock, Tony Blair and Margaret Thatcher.

“Don’t be fooled. Behind that profile sits a man with no plan for this country, except the vested interests of militant unions, support for the arguments of those that would do this nation harm.

“It’s deepfake Labour led by catfish Keir, do not fall for it.”

Shadow Commons leader Lucy Powell had accused the Tories of putting “party before country” and having “given up on governing”.

It comes as Ms Rayner, who denies any wrongdoing, is facing a police investigation into allegations about her living arrangements from a decade ago.

But the Labour firebrand had previously called for Boris Johnson to quit as PM when he was probed by officers over partygate.

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