Ex-Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner has warned Labour will not defeat Nigel Farage with “caution,” urging the party to take bold action against Reform UK. In a lecture at the New Economics Foundation (NEF) on Wednesday evening, the Labour heavyweight called for tackling the “rigged” system rather than tinkering around the edges.
Rayner: Avoid feeding populist narrative
Ms Rayner said avoiding bold action would risk feeding into the “right wing populists’ narrative that ‘the establishment can only do more of the same’.” She stated: “Let’s be honest, we have too often left the impression that we found ourselves defending the status quo rather than challenging it. Leaving the seeds of anger, frustration, and resentment to be harvested by those promising something far more toxic.”
She added: “Those who will agree the system is rigged, but then take the side of those who rigged it. Take my Employment Rights Act. Nigel Farage claims to speak for working people. But never forget that he voted against new rights for workers - every step of the way. But we will not defeat him with caution. This is a time for boldness—a time for courage.”
Support for Burnham's rewiring vision
Ms Rayner, tipped to return to government later this month in Andy Burnham’s Cabinet, backed the ex-Greater Manchester mayor’s vision to rewire the country. In a major speech earlier this week, Mr Burnham pledged to establish a “No10 North” based in Manchester as the “nerve centre of a rewired Britain.” He also plans to hand more powers to mayors and local leaders, stating: “It is time for Whitehall to accept that growth cannot be ordered from the top down. Instead, it can only be nurtured from the bottom up.”
Addressing the NEF’s 40th anniversary, Ms Rayner called for “real devolution” for regional leaders, rejecting the “begging-bowl culture of the past, where regional politicians came to Whitehall with their caps in hand, asking permission to run their own bus routes.” She told the audience: “Whitehall empires hoard their own power. And layers of governance and bureaucracy, developed with the best of intentions, too often end with the triumph of process over purpose.”
Restoring purpose for growth
Ms Rayner emphasised the need to restore purpose: “To truly get growth in every corner of the country and put more money into people’s pockets, we must rewire England by devolving power and money to the country as a whole.” She concluded: “This week Andy Burnham put forward a vision of good growth in every British postcode - and hope in every heart. Power in the hands of those who know their communities best. An economy that serves people, their places and our planet—not the other way around. That was the founding vision of NEF forty years ago. It is still the right vision. And today, more than ever, it is the one worth fighting for.”
