Labour must unite behind Starmer or risk losses to Reform, deputy leader says
Labour must unite behind Keir Starmer or risk defeat by Reform UK at the local elections next year, Lucy Powell has warned.
The deputy leader cautioned against “navel-gazing” or “throwing bricks from the sidelines” and said the party must come together to get its message across before next May.
Her intervention comes after a difficult few weeks for government dominated by speculation about a challenge to the Prime Minister’s leadership and pressure surrounding the Chancellor’s November budget.
Writing for the Mirror, Powell said the autumn statement had been “unashamedly Labour”, citing the decision to lift the two-child benefit cap and impose a so-called “mansion tax” on high-value homes.
“A Labour government, led by Keir Starmer, for the many, not just the few,” she said.
“I get as frustrated as the next person when this isn’t the story people get to hear. But cutting through the noise and sharing our message is made all the harder when we hang out our dirty washing for all to see.”
Powell denied she had been talking about “any particular groups” within the party when asked about her comments on Saturday.
“This is not a personal issue, what I’m setting out here is that we have got a big argument to make,” she told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
“This is a very contested space. What Reform and our political opponents are offering I think is the wrong direction for this country.
“It’s the wrong diagnosis of what’s wrong, it’s pitting neighbourhoods and communities against each other instead of addressing these big, fundamental issues that we face.”
Labour ‘must give confidence’
Powell dismissed suggestions that the government was alienating its voters but accepted that she had heard from members who “worry about some of the language” on immigration.
Asked whether No 10 was listening to concerns about a stricter asylum policy, Powell said: “I do hear that from members as well who worry about the language and worry about whether we are setting the agenda on some of these issues.
“I think what we all absolutely agree on is Reform’s analysis of the situation is wrong.”
She defended Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood’s policies, which she said would make good on the promise of safe refuge for people “genuinely” fleeing persecution or terror.
“I think we’ve got to give people confidence that we can control our borders,” Powell said.
Earlier this week, Wes Streeting voiced frustration with the Labour leadership’s “technocratic approach” and said the Government risks presenting itself as “the maintenance department for the country”, just weeks after he was accused of plotting to unseat Starmer.
The Cabinet minister later said he was not singling out the Prime Minister for criticism but referring to a broader challenge, and ruled out the prospect of a tilt at the leadership.
Asked whether she agreed with Streeting’s diagnosis, Powell said: “We’ve definitely got a big repair job to do so I would agree with him about that in terms of the maintenance department.
“It’s a big repair job, and we do have to tell our story more strongly.”
By Nina Lloyd, Press Association Political Correspondent