Angela Rayner has ignited the first revolt against Andy Burnham by attacking Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood's immigration crackdown on the eve of the Labour Party conference in Liverpool. The Housing Secretary repeated her criticism of plans to make foreign care workers wait 15 years for permanent residence, saying Labour had "changed the goalposts".
Rayner takes on Mahmood
Rayner's intervention comes as the Labour Party conference begins in Liverpool today, and it is set to be very different from the last one. A year ago, Andy Burnham was persona non grata, with ministers sneering at his ambitions to become PM while pledging loyalty to Sir Keir Starmer. Today, few Starmer loyalists remain, although some still mutter old mantras about "difficult decisions".
Behind the smiles, frustrations are growing and knives are being sharpened. Rayner has targeted the most toxic subject of the lot: immigration, using it to attack a senior member of Burnham's cabinet – Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood.
Support for Rayner's stance
It is not the first time Rayner has lunged for Mahmood. Rayner knows she has plenty of support, which only makes it worse. More than 100 Labour MPs have opposed Mahmood's reforms, while trade unions are also campaigning against them. Unison is holding a migrant care worker rally in Liverpool on Monday.
Many will sympathise with Rayner's complaint that it is unfair to recruit care workers from overseas, then tighten settlement rules later. But this is a tough area, and Mahmood has to make tough decisions. She does not deserve to have Rayner exploit the issue to milk applause from the left.
Burnham's challenges
It is the last thing Andy Burnham needs as well. He has shied away from toxic issues like this one, hoping to treat the nation to some feel-good political fun. Then up steps Rayner at the worst possible time.
When it comes to stepping on the toes of other cabinet ministers, Rayner has form. Remember how she handed a list of tax demands to former chancellor Rachel Reeves? While doing incoherent things with her own tax return.
Rayner will not be the only Labour delegate involved in a bit of red-on-red brutality in Liverpool. Starmer's former business secretary Peter Kyle is arguing for a more vigorous approach to wealth creation. That will not win friends on the backbenches. They only want to tax wealth, not generate it.
Other tensions at conference
Starmer's former chief secretary Darren Jones, the man who pointed out that Burnham's plan to cut VAT on electricity bills was not properly funded, may also be willing to speak a bit of truth to the new power. Business secretary Jonathan Reynolds has even argued that the EU is not the answer to all Britain's problems, which will have delegates blocking their ears.
Then there will be the usual rabble of leftie activists, ranting on about Gaza, demanding Burnham nationalises the water companies, berating North Sea drilling and, of course, having a pop at Mahmood. Plus there will be some real crackpots who are still furious that Burnham did not make Ed Miliband chancellor and destroy British capitalism for good. Instead, they have got boring old John Healey, banging on about sticking to fiscal rules. None of the faithful flocking to Liverpool wants to hear that.
Meet the new Labour Party, increasingly similar to the old one. Angela Rayner has not changed her spots at all.
