Labor has rejected a Conservative claim that deputy leader Angela Rayner told a Tory MP she crossed and uncrossed her legs in the Commons in an effort to distract Boris Johnson.
The Conservative Party launched an internal inquiry after the Mail on Sunday reported the story last week.
A senior party source told the BBC this had found Ms Rayner herself had “made the comments”.
But a Labour source said she had been subjected to “vile sexist smears”.
MPs across the political spectrum, including several Conservatives, have called the Mail on Sunday’s reporting on Ms Rayner sexist, while the unnamed Tory MP quoted in the newspaper was accused of cowardice.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson described the coverage as “misogynist tripe” and threatened to unleash the “terrors of the earth” on the anonymous source, when they were found.
