Rayn it in! Angela Rayner demands an end to No10 briefings against female Cabinet ministers as Deputy PM warns anonymous attacks are 'self-harm'
The Deputy Prime Minister criticised the targeting of herself and others, such as Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson and Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy.
Labour's turbulent first year in power has sparked speculation that Sir Keir Starmer will carry out a Cabinet reshuffle in a bid to get his Government back on track.
Both Ms Phillipson and Ms Nandy, who have endured some negative headlines, have been among those the Prime Minister has been tipped to sack.
But Ms Rayner launched a strident defence of herself and other female colleagues.
'Sometimes there are briefings and I don't know where these alleged sources are and who is the person that is saying this,' she told the Guardian's Politics Weekly podcast.
'That can be quite frustrating, because people will say it's No10's briefing or it's a source from No10. But in reality, it's like: 'Well, who said that?'
'We've had these briefings that my colleagues – Bridget, Lisa… I am being marginalised. I'm like, 'Where is that coming from?''
Labour's turbulent first year in power has sparked speculation that Sir Keir Starmer will carry out a Cabinet reshuffle in a bid to get his Government back on track
Ms Rayner added: 'It's not a good idea to do that, and it wouldn't be helpful to No10 to do that – it's not in No10's interest to brief that.
'So when anonymous sources are doing that, it's a matter of self–harm.
'When they do that, it's not the reality of how we work as a Cabinet and how our colleagues conduct themselves.'
As well as her warning to No10 officials, Ms Rayner also urged Downing Street to listen to Labour MPs more.
The PM was recently forced to abandon planned welfare cuts in the face of a major rebellion by his own MPs.
Ms Rayner led negotiations for the Government with senior Labour rebels.
'There wasn't enough work done, in terms of listening and responding to what [MPs] were saying,' she added.
'I felt that our colleagues felt that they didn't get the opportunity to be engaged in that process as much as they wanted.'
The Deputy PM suggested the Government had failed to properly explain why it was seeking to restrict access to disability benefits.
'Welfare is going up and it's going up a lot,' she said.
'So there was never a cut to welfare, it's flattening the curve of how much welfare is bringing people into the system at the moment. I don't think we articulated that.'
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