Angela Rayner has warned Sir Keir Starmer that Labour is 'running out of time' to deliver the change voters demand, in a significant intervention that also saw her criticise the government's immigration plans as 'un-British'.
Speaking at a reception for the campaign group Mainstream on Tuesday evening, the former deputy prime minister said the party could not 'just go through the motions in the face of decline'. She argued that the public needed to see and feel the change they voted for, and that Labour must prove it can deliver.
Rayner took aim at the government's proposal to extend the qualifying period for indefinite leave to remain from five to ten years, calling it 'un-British' to move the goalposts. She said the change undermined fair play and urged a 'fair pathway forward' for those who have built lawful lives in the UK.
The Ashton-under-Lyne MP also condemned Reform UK and other opposition parties for stoking division and fear, accusing them of having 'promises but no plans' for the economy. Her remarks come amid speculation about her leadership ambitions, after an unfinished website apparently launching a Rayner campaign was briefly published in January.
