Making misogyny a hate crime is key to tackling “sexism, harassment and bullying” in Parliament.
That’s according to Scottish Liberal Democrat MP Christine Jardine who told GB News that not enough progress is being made on the matter.
Ms Jardine told presenter Alex Phillips: “Not long after I was first elected here, which was almost five years ago now, we talked about clamping down on the atmosphere and the sexism and the harassment and bullying that went on.
“And I’m worrying now that we’re not making the progress that we thought that we were making, that we wanted to make and that’s not good enough.
Scottish Liberal Liberal Democrat MP Christine Jardine
GB News
Angela Rayner hit back at claims reportedly made about her
Dominic Lipinski
“We have to look at our attitudes and in society as well, we have to have a better attitude, we have to attack things like domestic violence and key to that will be making misogyny a hate crime.”
Her comments come after Prime Minister Boris Johnson wrote to deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner to insist “misogynistic” claims reportedly made about her by an unidentified Tory MP were not in his name.
A report in the Mail on Sunday claimed that an unnamed Tory MP had told the newspaper Ms Rayner crossed and uncrossed her legs on the Labour front bench during Prime Minister’s Questions in an attempt to distract Mr Johnson.
But on Sunday, Ms Rayner called the story “desperate” and “perverted” and quickly received solidarity from across the House of Commons for the “smear”.
In a series of tweets, Ms Rayner said: “Boris Johnson’s cheerleaders have resorted to spreading desperate, perverted smears in their doomed attempts to save his skin.
“They know exactly what they are doing. The lies they are telling.”
She added that they “clearly have a big problem with women in public life” and that they “should be ashamed of themselves."
Ms Rayner concluded: “I won’t be letting their vile lies deter me. Their attempts to harass and intimidate me will fail.”