Ashton-under-Lyne MP and Deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner has apologised for her remarks at last month’s Labour Party Conference when she referred to the Tory Party as scum
The MP who has been away from Westminster over the last two weeks following the death of a loved one issued a lengthy statement on Facebook where she said she had used the time away from the “cut and thrust” of parliament to consider “our political debate and the threats and abuse that now seem to feature all too often”.
“I was angry about where our country is headed and policies that have made life harder for so many people I represent. But I would like to unreservedly apologise for the language I used, and I would not use it again.”
Earlier the MP for Ashton under Lyne I said that she wanted to thank the officers at GMP Tameside and at Greater Manchester Police for their work in this investigation which saw a man convicted yesterday for sending malicious communications to her and “for supporting me, my family and my staff during this time, which has been particularly difficult for my children.”
Benjamin Iliffe, 36, from Cambridgeshire, was given a suspended sentence at Huntington Magistrates’ Court today following an investigation carried out by GMP detectives and colleagues from Cambridgeshire Police.
The threatening email was sent on Saturday 16 October 2021 from Iliffe’s personal account where he told her to “watch your back and your kids”.
