“Nasty party is back”: Rayner criticises Tory MP’s “sneering” Rashford comment

Angela Rayner has criticised Natalie Elphicke after the Conservative MP suggested in a WhatsApp message that England footballer Marcus Rashford “should have spent more time perfecting his game and less time playing politics”.

After England’s Euros defeat against Italy on Sunday, which saw the national team lose on penalties, Labour’s deputy leader defended the young footballer as it emerged Elphicke had criticised him in an exchange with colleagues.

“While the country was commiserating our great team, Tory MPs were sneering at an inspirational player who stepped up to feed hungry kids when they voted to leave them without food,” Rayner said.

“Whether it’s their failure to support the vulnerable, or booing our boys after they have done our whole country proud, the nasty party is back. The question every Conservative MP needs to answer is: did they call out these appalling comments?

“And after his failure to support our players in their stance against racism, Boris Johnson must publicly condemn these disgraceful messages. Whose side is he on, the lion hearts on the pitch or the Tory MPs who attack them?”

Elphicke argued that the comment “shared the frustration and heartbreak of millions of other England fans” but added that she regrets the “rash reaction about Marcus Rashford’s missed penalty” and apologised to the footballer.

Rashford received widespread praise after he launched his campaign to push the government to provide funding for free school meals last year, and recently started a book club to encourage schoolchildren to read more.

But following the final on Sunday, he and team mates Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka received racist abuse after the three missed penalties in the 3-2 shootout loss. Boris Johnson has described the abuse as “appalling” this morning.

Keir Starmer tweeted: “The entire England team have brought us together and given us memories that will last a life time. They represent the best of us. Anyone racially abusing them is a disgrace and doesn’t represent us at all. More can and must be done to stop online abuse.”

Ministers have today said that the government’s online harms bill would protect people from this kind of abuse. But Labour has described the legislation as “watered down” and warned that it would not put a stop to such conduct.

Shadow cabinet member Jo Stevens has called on the government to “urgently review” its approach and ensure that social media companies are properly incentivised to tackle the hatred that has “become endemic” on their platforms.

“Social media companies’ self-regulation has to end and instead we need tough new laws,” she said. Labour has proposed including criminal sanctions for senior tech executives who repeatedly fail to enforce the rules in the bill.

England’s players took the knee before games throughout the Euros to highlight the fight against racism. Early in the tournament, the Prime Minister refused to condemn fans who jeered when the squad took the knee during warm-up games.

Johnson instead said that he wanted to see fans “getting behind the team to cheer them on”. The Labour leader criticised the Prime Minister at the time for his silence, saying he did not have “the guts to call it out”.