Ms Rayner said in January 2022: “He shouldn’t be waiting until the Met police bang on his door, it’s pretty simple. Did you do it, yes or no? If you did it, then you shouldn’t be in your job.”
On Wednesday, she told the Tories in the Commons: “Now instead of obsessing over my house, when will he get a grip and show the same obsession with ending no fault evictions?”
Attacking Mr Dowden over the progress of the Renters’ Reform Bill, to be voted on by MPs later on Wednesday, she said: “I know the party opposite is desperate to talk about my living arrangements, but the public wants to know what this Government is going to do about theirs.”
The deputy prime minister joked in response: “Well, to begin with, it is a pleasure to have another exchange with the Right Honourable lady in this house, our fifth in 12 months. Any more of these and she’ll be claiming it as her principal residence.”
Ms Rayner accused Mr Dowden of stabbing Mr Johnson “in the back” in order to make Rishi Sunak prime minister.
She said: “Has he finally realised that when he stabbed Boris Johnson in the back to get his mate into Number 10, he was ditching their biggest election winner for a pint-sized loser?”
But the jibe was described as “unbecoming” by the Conservatives, with party deputy chairman Angela Richardson saying: “This is typical of Labour’s deputy, using unbecoming language to distract from the scandal of her own making.
“She should sort out her own affairs and publish the advice that supposedly exonerates her instead of insulting other politicians on their size.”
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