UK women slam sexism of ‘Basic Instinct’ slur on lawmaker

By JILL LAWLESS
Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — Women from across British politics called Monday for action to tackle misogyny after a newspaper ran a story accusing the deputy opposition leader of trying to “distract” the prime minister during debates by crossing and uncrossing her legs. The Mail on Sunday quoted an anonymous Conservative lawmaker as saying Labour Party Deputy Leader Angela Rayner tried to throw Prime Minister Boris Johnson “off his stride” as she sat across from him in the House of Commons. The article likened it to a scene in the 1992 thriller “Basic Instinct.” Rayner accused “Boris Johnson’s cheerleaders” of using “desperate, perverted smears.” Johnson condemned the article, saying he deplored “the misogyny directed at her anonymously today.”