A minister today hinted there will be an internal Tory investigation to try to find the Conservative MP who made anonymous "misogynistic" claims about Angela Rayner's conduct at Prime Minister's Questions.

       MPs on both sides of the Commons have condemned the claims, reportedly made by a Tory MP to The Mail on Sunday, that Ms Rayner had crossed and uncrossed her legs on the Labour front bench in an attempt to distract Boris Johnson.

       The newspaper likened the claims to a scene from Basic Instinct, the 1992 erotic thriller, while Ms Rayner described them as "desperate" and "perverted" and suggested that they could discourage women from a career in Westminster.

       Chris Philp, the technology minister, said he was "appalled" at the briefing as he suggested Tory whips will seek to discover who made the comments and discipline them.

       He told Sky News: "I think if it ever comes out who said that then I imagine they would be subject to discipline, yes.”

       Told that the nature of the comments should demand an investigation be launched by the whips, Mr Philp said: “I think they will be looking at whether they know who said this. I have got no idea who said it. No one has ever said anything like that to me or even hinted at it and I think everybody is appalled by the misogynistic sentiment.”

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       It emerged last week that Jacob Rees-Mogg has been carrying out spot checks on government office buildings to make sure more civil servants are returning to Whitehall and ditching working from home (you can read the full story here) .

       A report in The Times has now suggested the push by the minister for Brexit opportunities to get more staff back to their desks has caused a Cabinet row.

       Nadine Dorries, the Culture Secretary, is said to have objected to Mr Rees-Mogg's approach, telling a recent Cabinet meeting the focus should be on productivity rather than location.

       She reportedly said: "There's a whiff of something Dickensian about it. Why are we measuring bodies behind desks? Why aren't we measuring productivity?"

       Tony Blair, the former prime minister, has congratulated Emmanuel Macron on his victory in the French presidential election.

       Mr Blair said in a statement: "Many congratulations to President Macron. His victory is immense for Western democracy and Western politics.

       "A huge tribute both to his personal leadership and the importance of the political centre.”

       Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor, was asked this morning during an interview on Times Radio if she believed Jeremy Corbyn would have made a bad prime minister.

       She said: “Yes, I’m pleased that he’s not prime minister, but I don’t like the prime minister we’ve got either, and that’s why I’m campaigning for Keir Starmer to be the next prime minister – a Labour prime minister.”

       Her comments came after Sir Keir said it was "difficult" to see how Mr Corbyn, his predecessor as Labour leader, could have the whip restored following his recent remarks about NATO.

       Mr Corbyn last week suggested military alliances could build up "greater danger" in the world and should ultimately be disbanded.

       Chris Philp, the technology minister, said if the Tory MP responsible for misogynistic comments about Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner is identified they will face “serious consequences”.

       Mr Philp said he expects "efforts will be made to identify who is responsible for those views" but suggested the chances of success were low.

       He told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme: “I think that if anyone is identified having views like those that were expressed, which are just outrageous and misogynistic, then I would expect serious consequences to follow."

       The shadow chancellor told the BBC: “I just think this is a wider issue about what Parliament is like today and I think that all parties need to ensure that their MPs behave with dignity and respect towards other colleagues in Parliament, whether that is other MPs or staff members.

       “To be honest I am sick and tired of the way that female MPs and women are treated in Parliament and if this story and this outrageous slur on Angela [Rayner] gets change, that would be a good thing.”

       Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor, has said the Conservative Party should talk "long and hard to their MPs" about what they brief to journalists in the wake of the Angela Rayner furore.

       Ms Reeves told the BBC: “I would say to the Conservative Party ‘your MPs are briefing newspapers that Angela and perhaps other MPs are using their sex to get an advantage in politics'.

       “It is absolutely outrageous.”

       She added: “I think what the Conservative Party should be doing is talking long and hard to their MPs about what sort of things that they should be saying and briefing to journalists.”

       Labour today announced it is reviving a pledge to abolish non-dom tax status.

       Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor, claimed the move could generate hundreds of millions of pounds in extra revenue for the Treasury.

       She told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: “We are in the middle of a cost of living crisis at the moment and the Conservatives are increasing taxes for working people.

       “What we are saying is the Government should do much more to crackdown on some of the loopholes which mean some of the wealthiest in our society aren’t paying their fair share of tax.

       “If you make Britain your home you should be paying your taxes here which is why we would abolish the non-dom status to ensure that that actually happens.”

       Emmanuel Macron yesterday secured a second term as French President as he defeated his rival Marine Le Pen to hold onto power.

       The contest saw Ms Le Pen secure the highest score for the hard-Right in French political history.

       Chris Philp, the technology minister, was asked if the strong showing for Ms Le Pen was a cause for concern.

       He replied: “I think across Western democracies it is important that leaders listen. I think electorates across the Western world, in America, across Europe, have concerns about issues like the cost of living, like immigration, and it is important that elected governments listen to those concerns and respond to them.

       “That applies in many different countries. As far as the French election is concerned we are looking forward to working with President Macron to meet the global challenges that we as free Western countries face together.”

       Chris Philp, the technology minister, refused to be drawn on the claim that the Sue Gray report into "partygate" could be so damning Boris Johnson may have no choice but to resign (see the post below at 08.30).

       Mr Philp told Sky News: “I am not going to speculate about what this report may or may not say.

       “We will obviously I am sure debate it very amply when it gets published.”

       Senior Whitehall officials believe Boris Johnson could be forced to quit when the Sue Gray report into "partygate" is published because its findings are "excoriating" and directly critical of the Prime Minister, according to a report in The Times this morning.

       Ms Gray's update, published at the end of January this year, concluded "there were failures of leadership and judgment by different parts of No 10 and the Cabinet Office at different times".

       But the full report will apparently be much worse for Mr Johnson and will take aim at his leadership.

       An official familiar with the contents of the report told the newspaper: "Sue's report is excoriating. It will make things incredibly difficult for the Prime Minister."

       The official said they believed the report "could be enough to end" Mr Johnson's premiership.

       Boris Johnson and Nadine Dorries both published word-for-word identical tweets in support of Angela Rayner. Chris Philp, the technology minister, was grilled this morning on how that could possibly happen.

       It was put to him that the Culture Secretary may have copy and pasted the PM's message or someone had sent her the words to post.

       Mr Philp said: “They share the same view. They are colleagues in government.”

       Pushed on how two Cabinet ministers could end up with identical tweets, Mr Philp said: “I have heard Nadine talk about this kind of issue in private quite a lot and I can tell you the sentiments being expressed there are sentiments I have heard her express countless times over the last nine months that I have worked with her so it doesn’t surprise me at all that she is expressing herself so strongly but nor does it surprise me that she and the PM are saying exactly the same thing.”

       Chris Philp, the technology minister, said he was "appalled" at the "offensive" claims made about Angela Rayner.

       He told Sky News: “I was appalled. I was appalled that that sentiment was being expressed. It is offensive. It is misogynistic.

       “The Prime Minister and Cabinet ministers have been absolutely right to roundly condemn that sentiment and to offer support to Angela Rayner on this issue.

       “I have never heard anyone say anything like that or even hint at it and if I did I would be disgusted and appalled. Nobody should have to suffer the kind of misogynistic abuse which that sentiment amounts to.”

       Chris Philp, the technology minister, has suggested there will be an internal Tory investigation to try to find out which Conservative MP reportedly briefed “misogynistic” claims about Angela Rayner (you can read the overnight story here).

       Asked on Sky News if Tory whips will be looking into the matter and disciplining the person accordingly, Mr Philp said: “I think if it ever comes out who said that then I imagine they would be subject to discipline, yes.”

       Told that the nature of the comments should demand an investigation be launched by the whips, Mr Philp said: “I think they will be looking at whether they know who said this.

       "I have got no idea who said it. No one has ever said anything like that to me or even hinted at it and I think everybody is appalled by the misogynistic sentiment.”

       Good morning and welcome to today's politics live blog.

       Boris Johnson will this week try to stabilise his premiership after last week was dominated by the "partygate" row.

       The Prime Minister is expected to undertake a series of visits across England in the coming days as he campaigns ahead of the local elections on May 5.

       Meanwhile, Westminster continues to react to "misogynistic" claims about Angela Rayner's conduct at Prime Minister's Questions.

       I will guide you through the key developments.

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