Angela Rayner has sparked a backlash from Labour MPs for a speech in which she attacked the Government’s immigration reforms and said the party was “running out of time” to deliver change.
Backbenchers accused her of “selfish” behaviour and being on leadership manoeuvres ahead of the crunch local elections on 7 May.
In a speech to Labour’s “soft left” Mainstream group on Tuesday night, the former deputy prime minister said that plans to double the time it takes for most migrant workers to qualify for permanent residence from five to 10 years are “un-British”.
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“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,” she said.
“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.”
Speech described as ‘selfish’
In the speech, Rayner also claimed that the “very survival of the Labour Party is at stake”, saying it “cannot just go through the motions in the face of decline”. “We’re running out of time,” she added.
The speech has reignited speculation that Rayner is burnishing her left-wing credentials in preparation for a future challenge to Sir Keir Starmer’s leadership.
Such a challenge could come after May’s elections across Scotland, Wales and a large swathe of English councils, in which Labour is expected to perform poorly.
However, Rayner’s comments have gone down badly among some Labour MPs.
One soft left MP told The i Paper that the speech was “selfish”.
The MP suggested that the intervention was counter-productive at a time when some polls suggest there has been a marginal improvement in Starmer’s approval rating with the public.
“All world leaders are unpopular right now, and electorates everywhere are more volatile than ever, but the polls are actually moving slowly back in our direction – both Labour’s and Keir’s”, they said.
“If people could just stop briefing out, stop obsessing about ourselves, and focus on delivering change, that trend would continue.”
Immigration policies are ‘popular’, Red Wall MPs claim
Another backbencher likened the speech to “old Momentum moaning”, a reference to the left-wing group that had supported former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn. The backbencher also said that it “couldn’t be more obvious” that the speech was a leadership play.
Rayner’s criticism of the immigration reforms being pushed by the Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, has gone down particularly badly with Labour MPs in so-called Red Wall seats across the North and Midlands, where Reform UK is polling strongly.
Luke Akehurst, the MP for North Durham, posted on X: “All the polling shows that the immigration changes the Government is proposing are popular with voters, including even those voting Green.
“Multiple factors are driving our weak poll numbers, [especially] cost of living. Being ‘too tough’ on immigration isn’t one of them, and being serious about controlling immigration is critical to holding ‘Red Wall’ seats vs Reform.”
Sharing Akehurst’s post, Jo White, the MP for Bassetlaw and chair of Labour’s Red Wall Caucus, said: “Without the Red Wall, Labour will be forever in opposition. My call to Government is to keep listening to my constituents and deliver on their priorities.
“We will not get the social and economic change we all desire from the benches on the other side.”
A third MP representing a Red Wall seat told The i Paper that Rayner’s comments were a “load of bollocks”.
Rayner was forced to resign last year as deputy prime minister, deputy Labour leader and housing secretary after admitting she had not paid enough tax on the purchase of a flat in Hove. She denied she was purposely avoiding tax and said it was a mistake based on legal advice.
She continues to have an HMRC investigation hanging over her, which could result in a fine. However, it has been reported that Rayner is on track to make more than enough from speaking engagements and an upcoming memoir to meet any such costs.
A Scottish Labour MP said of Tuesday’s speech: “She’s trying to make sure she stays relevant and has a seat at the table, which is fine.”
However, the MP added that they “honestly can’t see how she can be leader”, claiming that Labour politicians were not allowed to get away with underpaying tax. “That’s not a complaint, just how it is and, to an extent, I am glad we’re held to a higher standard,” they said.
‘We’d do well to listen to Angela’ – Burnham
While Rayner’s speech has come in for criticism, others in the party have voiced support for her arguments.
Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham – who is also widely seen as harbouring leadership ambitions – told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme he understood where Rayner was “coming from” and that Labour “would do well to listen to what Angela has to say”.
Later, speaking to The i Paper at an event to announce a £500m investment boost in Greater Manchester, Burnham said he was more than ready to take Reform on directly, arguing they bore “a large responsibility for an immigration system that had to change post-Brexit”.
Speaking about their performance in the region, where Reform were defeated in last month’s Gorton and Denton by-election, he said: “They were roundly rejected here because people can see that form of politics – the more divisive, polarised politics – it creates division, it creates arguments, it creates discord. Labour politics has helped build this place… I’m quite ready to take on anybody who’s going to try and drip poison in and break it apart.”
Maryam Eslamdoust, the general secretary of the Labour-affiliated TSSA union, said: “This is sound advice to the Prime Minister from Angela Rayner.
“The Labour government is definitely running out of time under Keir Starmer and is sleepwalking towards huge losses in May’s elections.
“Angela Rayner is right to criticise the government’s plan to make migrants wait so much longer for the right to remain.
“Instead of pandering to Farage and getting dragged into distant wars that create more refugees, Starmer should keep Britain out of conflicts abroad and focus on fixing the problems at home.”
Rayner allies push back
A Rayner ally pushed back on the idea that the speech was a leadership pitch, arguing that she had delivered home truths to the party.
They said the timing of the speech reflected Labour’s loss in the Gorton and Denton by-election and the fact that the party is six weeks away from crucial elections.
They pointed out that more than 100 Labour MPs had already signed a letter raising concerns about the immigration reforms, and said that Rayner had a track record of spotting problems coming down the track for the party.
Asked about Rayner’s comments on Wednesday, Starmer’s political spokesman said the Prime Minister “shares the impatience to deliver the change people voted for”.
“We’re making progress – restoring stability to the economy, cutting NHS waiting lists, and next month, we will begin lifting half a million children out of poverty,” he said.
The spokesman added that Starmer had said Rayner is “hugely talented, that he was really sad that we lost her, and he would like to see her return to the Cabinet”.