AMBER Rudd has accused Tory MPs of being SEXIST by rejecting Theresa Mays Brexit deal but vowing to vote for Boris Johnsons.
The former Home Secretary said there absolutely is a whiff of sexism in the decision of male MPs and accused them of machismo.
RUDDY HELL
Mrs Mays loathed withdrawal agreement was voted down three times in the Commons.
Ms Rudd told BBC Radio 5 Live : It is difficult to fillet out… how much is about a more trusting relationship that they clearly have with Boris Johnson, because he himself was very much part of that ERG group in terms of wanting a harder Brexit than the former Prime Minister wanted.
But I do feel as a woman who’s active in politics myself, that there is a whiff of sexism.”
Ms Rudd quit the Cabinet and the Tory party last month in protest over the expulsion of Remainer rebels who voted against the government over Brexit.
She now faces defeat in her Hastings and Rye constituency where she has a slim 346 majority.
MPS ‘MACHISMO’
Ms Rudd said: “There are certain behaviours that particularly men in politics want to see, that women don’t so much, that Boris did adopt, which has given the ERG members a lot of confidence.
“So, for instance, I was very opposed to the Prime Minister expelling 21 colleagues from the party.
“But he took a different view, and I thought that was a very aggressive thing to do, and unnecessary, and has had the effect of radicalising the 21 – which I have now joined.
“So that sort of aggressive behaviour, though, may be the sort of thing that a group of ERG men, particularly, wanted to see.”
She added: [There is] a sort of machismo about it.
“And, I mean, this is a long-running theme really at the moment in politics isn’t it?
That there’s a lot of international examples of machismo, and macho men, saying, this is the way I’m going to do it – youre either with me or against me.
“And in my experience, women tend to want to build consensus and compromise much more, although again I’ve got to put a caveat on that, because there are plenty of men in my camp who want to build compromise and consensus as well. But that overall characterisation I think is still valid in politics.
But head Steve Baker head of the ERG blasted Ms Rudds claims that Tory Brexiteers were motivated by sexism
He said: It all hinges on analysis of the legal text of a proposed deal and its effect. Eurosceptics tend to be tediously meticulous on this point.
“Gender is irrelevant.”
In her resignation letter, Ms Rudd said she joined the Cabinet in good faith accepting that No Deal had to be on the table to help clinch improved departure terms.
But she wrote: “However, I no longer believe that leaving with a deal is the Governments main objective.”
Upon announcing her resignation, Ms Rudd accused the PM of an “assault on democracy”.
