91Èȱ¬

Labour has rejected a Conservative claim that deputy leader Angela Rayner told a Tory MP she crossed and uncrossed her legs in the Commons in an effort to distract Boris Johnson.

The Conservative Party launched an internal inquiry after the Mail on Sunday reported the story last week.

A senior party source told the 91Èȱ¬ this had found Ms Rayner herself had "made the comments".

But a Labour source said she had been subjected to "vile sexist smears".

MPs across the political spectrum, including several Conservatives, have called the Mail on Sunday's reporting on Ms Rayner sexist, while the unnamed Tory MP quoted in the newspaper was accused of cowardice.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson described the coverage as "misogynist tripe" and threatened to unleash the "terrors of the earth" on the anonymous source, when they were found.

A Conservative Party internal inquiry has now ended and a senior source told the 91Èȱ¬: "Following the Mail on Sunday Rayner story, queries were made about who the Conservative MP was that supposedly made the comments."

They added: "During those queries it was found that Rayner had made the comments [to the MP] herself."

But, asked about this, a Labour source replied: "The idea that Angela initiated these vile sexist smears shows just how far Conservative MPs will go to avoid talking about tackling the cost of living."

Ms Rayner has also that the Mail on Sunday's sister newspaper, the Daily Mail, had itself first made reference to what she called the "vile Sharon Stone smear" in a column it published in January.

It reported that, when replacing party leader Sir Keir Starmer at Prime Minister's Questions, she had worn a "chic dress that showed off her thighs".

The column added that she was "channelling her inner Sharon Stone" - a reference to a 1992 film in which the American actress is shown crossing and uncrossing her legs.

Ms Rayner said these references were published "before Tory MPs' dishonestly claimed conversations".

The Mail on Sunday's story, published on 24 April, quoted an unnamed Conservative MP saying: "[Ms Rayner] knows she can't compete with Boris's Oxford Union debating training, but she has other skills which he lacks.

"She has admitted as much when enjoying drinks with us on the [Commons] terrace."

The newspaper also said: "Conservative MPs suggested Ms Rayner likes to distract the prime minister when he is at the despatch box by deploying a parliamentary equivalent of Sharon Stone's infamous scene in... Basic Instinct."

Ms Rayner has repeatedly denied making the comments attributed to her by the Mail on Sunday, saying she feels "crestfallen".

"I won't be letting their vile lies deter me," she said after the article was published. "Their attempts to harass and intimidate me will fail."

House of Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle asked the Mail on Sunday's editor to a meeting to discuss the article, but he declined the invitation.