NADINE DORRIES: I’m disgusted by Raynor’s excuse for poor behaviour

‘I’m working class – I like a dance.’ That was Angela Rayner’s defence a few weeks ago when she was filmed raving to techno music in an Ibiza ‘DJ booth’ at 4am, hours after her boss Keir Starmer had sombrely warned the country that the upcoming budget would be ‘painful’ for families across Britain.

It was a shoddy defence. Plenty of working-class people prefer to work hard and better themselves rather than partying in nightclubs well into their 40s. (The hard-drinking, vape-puffing Deputy Prime Minister has boasted of her fondness for a cocktail called Venom: ‘A bottle of Absolut vodka, a bottle of Southern Comfort, ten bottles of Blue WKD and a litre of pure orange juice.’)

This week, Rayner has been trying to justify another deeply questionable decision: going on a free New Year holiday to a £2.5million Manhattan penthouse owned by Labour’s lavish benefactor Lord Alli.

She tried to explain this away by saying that Alli was a friend and the trip had been ‘personal’ (very personal, it would appear, as she sneaked her on-off boyfriend, ex-Corbynista Labour MP Sam Tarry, into the apartment, too).

Hilariously, Rayner even tried to claim that she had been ‘overly transparent’ in declaring the five-night jolly, insisting that – strictly speaking – she had been under no obligation to report it in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests.

Pressed last weekend by the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg on this and the many other recent examples of Labour frontbenchers gobbling up lavish freebies, Rayner said: ‘Gifts and donations have been a factor in our political life for some time. We could have a debate about that. I was from a very working-class background, to stand as deputy leader, to get that position, I had to accept donations.’

It’s one thing to argue that you need a bit of money to run your campaign. It’s quite another to suggest that you need a luxury jaunt to the Big Apple because you grew up poorer than some.

Yes, Rayner comes from a Stockport council estate, had a baby at 16 and left school without any qualifications. She spent some time as a care worker and then rose through the ranks at the trade-union giant Unison.

She’s never actually achieved anything concrete beyond advancing her own career – but she’s clearly made a success of herself. Why can’t she be satisfied with that?

And now we learn – thanks to Andrew Pierce’s brilliant scoop in yesterday’s Mail – that ‘Ange’ has hired a personal photographer, on a £68,000 taxpayer-funded salary, to boost her online image.

Since the election, whispers have swirled in Labour circles that Rayner is being increasingly marginalised by No 10. She has been kept away from some of the serious meetings where the most important decisions are made and is increasingly outshone by Chancellor Rachel Reeves and big beasts such as Home Secretary Yvette Cooper.

In the most humiliating snub of all, Rayner has been denied the use of Dorneywood, the magnificent grace-and-favour country residence traditionally given to the Deputy Prime Minister, which has been awarded to Reeves instead.

A word of advice: no amount of clever camerawork will change a thing, love, as long as you continue to bungle your way from one crisis to the next, blaming your working-class background whenever anyone calls you out.

As someone who worked my way up from abject poverty, I am disgusted by the way Rayner weaponises her roots to excuse her poor behaviour. The community I grew up in worked hard and abided by every rule and convention. We didn’t accept owt for nowt.

The last thing I would do is try to use my background as an excuse for bad behaviour.

My achievements can’t be attributed to union backers protecting me every step of the way or a habit of making crude, attention-grabbing statements. They were based on a commitment to hard work.

It’s because of my working class background that I’ve achieved: as a nurse, as a businesswoman, as a politician and as an author who has sold 3 million books.

Can anyone imagine Margaret Thatcher, who grew up above a shop, taking freebies or making crass remarks in public? Nor can I.

A real working-class background instils pride through achievement. Aand that’s why I have no time for grifters who, by their actions, give working-class people a bad name.

Madonna causes a stir at the Dolce & Gabbana show in Milan – partly because of her outfit and partly because of her face. The pop legend’s appearance seems to change every week: currently, it’s impossibly taut skin, huge lips and so much cheek-filler that it’s a miracle she can eat anything. 

As for the racy lingerie sported by the mother-of-six, it looked to me like the net curtains my mum used to buy down at St John’s Market in Liverpool. In her endless quest to perfect her appearance, the 66-year-old, who has had health problems recently, reminds me of no one more than Michael Jackson. I hope she’s OK.

Do we need yet another dramatisation of Prince Andrew’s infamous interview with Emily Maitlis – which ended his career as a working Royal? I would think not – though it’s clear Emily enjoys replaying this well-worn record whenever the opportunity arises in a desperate bid to stay relevant. 

At the Cliveden Literary Festival last weekend, Rachel Weisz (Mrs Daniel Craig) was interviewed by La Maitlis herself – and revealed that she had felt ‘terribly’ for Prince Andrew after watching the new Amazon series A Very Royal Scandal, starring Michael Sheen. However, the facts are that Andrew consorted with a convicted paedophile and his career in public life is over. Having to live with the consequences of our actions can be a painful lesson indeed.

Saturday night’s Strictly may have had the lowest viewing figures ever for the show during opening week – just 6.7 million tuning in. But the magic was still there: The waltz from JLS star JB Gill with his partner Amy Dowden to Leo Sayer’s When I Need You stole the show. And you might have noticed how closely Claudia Winkleman’s flowing cream-coloured dress and new hairstyle resembled Princess Leia in Star Wars. 

Strictly is filmed on the George Lucas Stage at Elstree Studios in Hertfordshire — named after the creator of that hugely successful franchise. Was clever Claudia trying to give her opening show a little extra push on social media? 

Judging by these ratings, she’ll need the Force to be with her during the next few weeks — but the early signs are promising that she will. 

As pensioners face a miserable winter without the fuel allowance snatched from them by Rachel Reeves – who was happy to accept £7,500 for new clothes from Labour donor Juliet Rosenfeld – spare a thought for MPs on £91,000 a year who are now moaning about their chilly Westminster offices and demanding new electric heaters. 

It’s true that the rooms closer to the river in the draughty Victorian building can be perishingly cold, so here’s an idea. Maybe the Speaker’s Office should determine which MPs get the new heaters according to how those MPs voted on the winter fuel allowance. Those who had hoped to keep pensioners warm can get them – while those who think old people should shiver in the cold should maybe learn how it feels.