Commons speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle has issued a plea to reporters to “be kinder” following a newspaper report accusing Angela Rayner of using her legs to distract Boris Johnson.
It comes after the deputy Labour leader condemned “disgusting” claims by Tory MPs, published by the Mail On Sunday.
Sir Lindsay said he would ask journalists to consider the feelings of MPs and their families when covering stories in parliament in a meeting with the newspaper’s editor David Dillon and political editor Glen Owen on Wednesday.
“I am a staunch believer and protector of press freedom, which is why when an MP asked me to remove the pass of a sketch writer last week for something he had written, I said ‘no’,” he said.
“I firmly believe in the duty of reporters to cover parliament, but I would also make a plea – nothing more – for the feelings of all MPs and their families to be considered, and the impact on their safety, when articles are written. I would just ask that we are all a little kinder.
“That is what I wanted to talk about at tomorrow’s meeting.”
Rayner said she was “crestfallen” that a Tory MP made sexist comments about her to the Mail on Sunday.
And she said it was a thinly-veiled attack on the fact she went to a comprehensive school and had a child when she was young.
According to the paper, they accused her of using the ploy from the Sharon Stone film Basic Instinct during their clashes at prime minister’s questions.