Boris Johnson must “stop lying” and be honest with the public, Angela Rayner has said in an extraordinary letter to the new prime minister.
The correspondence, seen by HuffPost UK, sees the shadow education secretary accuse Johnson of “treating the public like mugs” and demand that he sign an honesty pledge.
Rayner also uses the letter to attack Johnson on a string of issues and claims Johnson was dishonest on seven occasions during his run for the Tory leadership.
In the two-page letter to No.10, Rayner said Johnson was sacked twice for dishonesty, first as a journalist at The Times when he fabricated a quote and then from the shadow frontbench by the then Tory leader Michael Howard when he lied about an affair.
Rayner writes: “The very least that we deserve is honesty. Treat the office of the prime minister with the respect it deserves and stop lying to us.”
She goes on to target the PM’s Brexit’s claims. Rayner says Johnson wrongly claimed the UK could continue trading with the EU via an obscure World Trade Organisation rule – known as GATT 24.
Johnson was forced to admit he could not negotiate a free trade deal with the EU until a withdrawal agreement was backed by MPs, Rayner points out.
Johnson also recently argued EU red tape forced kipper suppliers to keep their products cool with ice pillows when they were delivered.
Rayner writes: “Within hours this was proven to be completely false, as it is a UK Food Standard Agency requirement not a piece of EU regulation.”
She also attacks his refusal to back British diplomat Sir Kim Darroch and accuses him of having “watered down” an inquiry into Islamophobia in the Conservative Party.
In her letter, Rayner defended Sadiq Khan after Johnson claimed London’s Labour mayor spent £17m on the failed Garden Bridge project, adding it was in fact Johnson who signed a mayoral direction committing the cash.
She concludes: “As the most prominent figure in political life, and for the sake our parliamentary democracy, it is vital that you ensure the highest levels of honesty and integrity and maintained.”
It came as Johnson gave his first speech on the steps of Downing Street. Promising to deliver Brexit, level up schools spending, boost police officer recruitment and a plan to end the social care crisis.
His first address was widely seen as laying groundwork for a snap general election campaign as he embarked on a major reshuffle of his top team.
Johnson told TV cameras outside Number 10 on Wednesday that the new government he now leads “will fix the crisis in social care once and for all with a clear plan”.
He added: “My job is to make sure your kids get a superb education wherever they are in the country and that’s why we have already announced that we are going to level up per pupil funding in primary and secondary schools.
“And that is the work that begins immediately behind that black door and though I am today building a great team of men and women I will take personal responsibility for the change I want to see.”
Theresa May’s final PMQs sessions have been dominated by Corbyn’s failure to tackle the party’s anti-Semitism crisis, with the outgoing prime minister using her last Commons appearance to call on the Labour leader to resign.