Angela Rayner makes vow to Brits in first interview since dropping Deputy PM job
The former Deputy Labour Leader slapped down the infighting that engulfed Labour this week, condemning it as ‘arrogant tittle tattle’, and called for a focus on the issues
Angela Rayner has vowed to “keep fighting” for ordinary people in her first interview since stepping down as Deputy Prime Minister.
Ms Rayner slapped down the infighting that engulfed Labour this week, condemning it as “arrogant tittle tattle”, and called instead for a focus on who MPs were in parliament to represent.
Speaking during a visit to the Hurst Hall Care Centre in her Ashton-under-Lyne constituency, the former carer praised the heroes looking after our most vulnerable, and accused Reform UK of threatening to strip away their hard-earned rights.
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Asked if she would return to frontline politics, after Wes Streeting suggested he’d love to see her back, Ms Rayner insisted she’d “not gone away”.
She said: “I’m really humbled and I always have been, the people of Ashton-under-Lyne have always supported me.
“The 10 years that I’ve been in government I’ve had quite a number of front bench positions, and I’ve always brought it back to the people that I was there to represent and having this opportunity now, to be more in the constituency and to champion those views is something that I’m humbled to do and I’m looking forward to the challenge.
“I’ve got a lot of interests like child poverty, the fair pay agreement, and making sure the Employment Rights Bill is carried out in full.”
It comes amid a self-inflicted row about Keir Starmer’s leadership, which saw the Health Secretary Mr Streeting declare there was a “toxic culture in Downing Street that needs to change”.
Asked about his comments, Ms Rayner said: “I think Wes has clearly set out his stall after what was clearly a very turbulent couple of days and I think being around here for the last hour just shows you actually that that tittle tattle in Westminster it almost looks arrogant when you’ve got real challenges that real people are facing and that’s what we really need to be focusing on.”
In a call for party unity, Ms Rayner reminded colleagues Labour should be focusing on changing lives to deliver for Britain after 14 long years of Tory rule.
She said: “I think the party should always be together, I’ve always been of that nature and the way in which I’ve worked within our movement is, our movement has many different views and we should always look to bind ourselves within that and the the risk that we have is actually 14 years of chaos from the Tories, we’ve got an opportunity to change people’s lives.
“We’ve already delivered free breakfast clubs for kids in schools, rolling out more free meals for kids at lunch time, more police on the street, bringing down NHS waiting lists. These are things that we’re really delivering, we’ve got the renters rights act as well.
“These are good material things that are going to make a difference, we can’t be drowning that out with tittle tattle in Westminster. We’ve got to be focused on the people we’re there to represent.”
The former Deputy Labour Leader spent the morning of the interview speaking with carers, care home residents, and helping out those on shift.
Stressing the importance of care workers, Ms Rayner explained it was their stories that motivated her to deliver Labour’s landmark Employment Rights Bill, that includes a legally binding pledge that sets minimum pay and employment terms for care workers in England and improves the standard of care.
She said: “I feel a bit angry because care workers, they’re almost forgotten, and everyone values them. If you’ve got an elderly relative, or you’re going to be hopefully elderly one day yourself, then getting that support early on actually saves money.
“We’ve just been here for the last hour, you’ve seen them having to assess people who have got complex care needs, using the hoist, making sure that people have got the right dietary requirements, making sure people have the right medication.
“All these things are complex care packages for people who have got challenges of multiple needs. You see the end result of people feeling happy and valued. I can’t put a price on seeing Brian’s face smiling after he’s lost his wife after over 50 years together and the heartbreak of having to move into a care home, to feel that sense of value because of the way in which the staff responds to his needs. That’s why I fought so hard in Government to really get this Employment Rights Bill and to say this is not luxury.”
The bill is currently being held up in the House of Lords, with both the Lib Dems and Tories criticised for “shenanigans” over causing delays to legislation, while Nigel Farage ’s Reform UK has vowed to scrap the legislation.
In a defiant pledge to fight for it, Ms Rayner said: “The Deputy leader of Reform in the last 24 hours came out saying we should scrap the whole employment rights bill, which is totally unacceptable, bring it on.
“This has been my life’s work, I was a care worker, I’ve been here today to see the tremendous work that care workers are doing and they deserve to know they’ve got regular hours, that they can protect and support their families, they’ve got security so that they can provide the best care for people here, and they’ve got the training that they deserve. So I’ll take Reform on, I’ll take the Tories on and I’ll take the Lib Dems on as well if they want to frustrate it.
“The message from me being here is that this is what it’s about. It’s not about the argy-bargy of whether you want to score or land a blow on the Government, this is about real people’s lives, it’s about providing services, and that’s why I came here today to tell them that this is what I fought for in Government, and this is what I’m fighting for now as a backbencher.”
