Former deputy PM Angela Rayner said the party had come to be seen to represent ‘the Establishment, not working people’ and called for a change of course from the Government
Angela Rayner has warned Labour is “running out of time” to deliver change in a critical speech that has been considered a challenge to Keir Starmer’s leadership.
Addressing an event by campaign group Mainstream, the former deputy PM said the party had come to be seen to represent “the Establishment, not working people” and called for a change of course.
Ms Rayner, who was forced to resign over a tax scandal in September, also launched a searing attack on the Government’s immigration plans. She said suggested changes to indefinite leave to remain (ILR) for people already living in Britain would be a “breach of trust”.
It comes after Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood earlier this month set out plans to remove support for thousands of asylum seekers and double the time people qualify for ILR from five to 10 years.
In an apparent attack on Ms Mahmood’s proposals, Ms Rayner said: “Many people came here to Britain – on the understanding that if they worked in the sectors where we needed them, obeyed the law and paid their taxes, they could stay.
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“If we suddenly change that, it pulls the rug from under those who have planned their lives and commitments and are contributing to our economy and to our society.
“That would be not just bad policy but a breach of trust. The people already in the system – who made a huge investment – now fear for their future, they do not have stability and do not know what will happen.
“We cannot talk about earning a settlement if we keep moving the goalposts, because moving the goalposts undermines our sense of fair play. It’s un-British.”
She continued: “As a party, and as a movement, we cannot hide, we cannot just go through the motions in the face of decline. There’s no safe ground and we’re running out of time. The change that people wanted so desperately needs to be seen, it needs to be felt, and we have to show that it is a Labour government that will deliver it.”
Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham, asked about Ms Rayner saying Labour is “running out of time” to deliver change, said: “I certainly know where she’s coming from and the party would always do well to listen to what Angela has got to say.”
“But to be fair, there was a big sign of a response yesterday from the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who I thought made an excellent speech and signalled a radical shift away from the status quo by putting forward a plan for fiscal devolution.” On immigration, Mr Burnham added that the government needs to tell its story “more effectively”.
Ms Rayner spoke at Mainstream after Tony Vaughan, who has co-ordinated a letter said to have been signed by more than 100 Labour parliamentarians urging the Government to rethink its immigration proposals.
In September, the Labour MP for Ashton-under-Lyne resigned as Housing Secretary and deputy PM after admitting not paying enough stamp duty on her seaside home in Hove. She currently faces an HMRC probe.
Many across Labour favour her as a successor to Mr Starmer, who has faced serious challenges to his leadership in recent months. Locals elections in May are seen as a crunch point for the PM, with Labour on track to suffer huge loses.
Ms Mahmood has argued that her plans fit in with Labour values and warned that failure to tackle small boats could pave the way for a Nigel Farage “nightmare”.
In a speech earlier this month, the Home Secretary said: “Restoring order and control at our border is not a betrayal of Labour values, it is an embodiment of them, and it is the necessary condition for a Labour Government to achieve anything it hopes to.”
A minister has said the Government shares Angela Rayner’s “impatience with the pace of change” after the former deputy prime minister gave a speech appearing to challenge Sir Keir Starmer’s leadership.
In response to Ms Rayner’s comments, Cabinet office minister Nick Thomas-Symonds told Sky News: “I think where I would agree, and I think everybody across Government would agree, is sharing an impatience with the pace of change, and that applies to every single one of us.
“And I get the sense, I haven’t read the full context of Angela’s remarks, but I get the sense that that frustration is actually what is running through her remarks. It absolutely runs through every Government minister as well.”
He defended Shabana Mahmood’s immigration reforms as “balancing up fairness, but also security at our borders” when asked about Ms Rayner’s criticism of them. He declined repeatedly to say whether he thought Ms Rayner would make a good party leader, stressing that there is “no vacancy” for the role.