London (AP) — Deputy leader of Britain’s major opposition refused to apologize on Sunday for calling the governing conservatives a “scum.”

Labor lawmaker Angela Rayner called members of the government “a bunch of homosexuality, racism, and misogyny scum” at a reception at the party’s annual meeting on Saturday. The comment elicited rebuke from Labor leader Kiel Starmer. He didn’t use such words, saying, “I’ll talk to Angela about it later.”

Conservative chairman Oliver Dowden said politicians “should not drag politics into the ditch, but make it better.” Let’s see if we apologize. ”

But Reiner defended his comment, saying he used “street language” to convey dissatisfaction with Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s conservative government.

“Anyone who can leave kids hungry during a pandemic and give their peers billions of pounds on WhatsApp, I think it’s pretty weird,” she told Sky News, poor. He mentioned the controversy over family support and the awarding of contracts with the government. Pandemic.

Reiner said he would only apologize if Johnson said “sorry” for his past comments.

Johnson has a long record of unpleasant comments, including calling Papua New Guinea’s cannibals and comparing Muslim women with face-covering veils to “letterboxing.” ..

The Central Left Labor Party hosts its annual convention in the British seaside city of Brighton, looking for ways to return to power after more than a decade of opposition.

Starmer was elected leader in April 2020 and succeeded left-wing Jeremy Corbyn, who led the Labor Party to two big defeats. Starmer, the party’s central left-wing lawyer, struggled to influence while national attention was being consumed by the coronavirus pandemic.

He is now sandwiched between the two wings of a painstaking party. Corbyn supporters want him to stick to his predecessor’s socialist policies of nationalization and spending increases. However, many Labor lawmakers believe that the party must go to the center to win, as it did under former Prime Minister Tony Blair, who won three consecutive elections.

The Labor Party has been absent since 2010, and in the last decade, three Conservative Prime Ministers, David Cameron, Theresa May, and Johnson, have been brought to the country.

Starmer’s conference speech on Wednesday is considered an important moment for the leader to unite the party-or face an ever-increasing call for his removal.