Jeremy Corbyn has waded into the Angela Rayner 'Tory scum' row insisting she was just 'saying it like it needs to be said'
Jeremy Corbyn has waded into the Angela Rayner 'Tory scum' row insisting she was just 'saying it like it needs to be said' as Keir Starmer faces open revolt from the hard-Left.
The former leader said Ms Rayner had 'nothing to apologise for' after she branded Boris Johnson and top ministers 'a bunch of scum, homophobic, racist, misogynistic' at Labour's conference.
The late-night tirade privately infuriated shadow cabinet colleagues who pointed out she was effectively insulting millions of voters, while Sir Keir Starmer issued a sharp rebuke by making clear he would not use such language.
However, he stopped short of ordering his deputy to apologise, amid signs she is manoeuvring for a tilt at his job.
Mr Corbyn, who is still suspended from the parliamentary party but in Brighton for the annual gathering, stirred the pot last night.
'Angela uses her own words. She is absolutely right to attack this government for the way it is treating people in our society,' he told LBC.
'I don't think she has anything to apologise for. She speaks from the heart.'
Mr Corbyn also took aim at Sir Keir over his changes to Labour's internal rules, seemingly designed to prevent a hard-Left figure becoming leader again.
The overhaul narrowly passed conference last night to the delight of moderates - although some elements had to be dropped beforehand.
Mr Corbyn said: 'Angela's right to go after the Tories. I wish this whole conference was going after the Tories not rule changes.'
Sir Keir and Ms Rayner put on an awkward show of unity on the conference stage last night, but their tensions were plain to see.
In her late-night rant on Saturday, Ms Rayner said she was 'sick of shouting from the sidelines' at 'a bunch of scum, homophobic, racist, misogynistic, absolute pile of... banana republic... Etonian... piece of scum'.
The 41-year-old former care worker doubled down on her claims yesterday, singling out Boris Johnson, Priti Patel and other members of the Cabinet who have 'said appalling things'.
Sir Keir and Ms Rayner put on an awkward show of unity on the conference stage last night, but their tensions were plain to see
Labour was branded the 'true nasty party' after Angela Rayner described the Tories as racist 'scum'
A defiant Mrs Rayner told Sky News her 'post-watershed' comments were designed to put 'fire in the belly' of party activists during a conference reception.
She claimed that her language was the kind 'you would hear very often in northern working-class towns, we even say it jovially to other people, we say 'it's a scummy thing to do' and that to me is my street language'.
And she refused to apologise unless the Prime Minister first said sorry for 'comments he has made that are homophobic, racist and
