UK PM Faces Labour Conference Turmoil as Ministers Clash on Migration

Andy Burnham is heading into a turbulent Labour conference, with Cabinet ministers divided over immigration and figures on the Left accusing the Prime Minister of cutting them out.

The Prime Minister is in Liverpool for his first party gathering since removing Keir Starmer, but growing signs of internal conflict suggest his leadership may face the same bitter factional battles.

The latest tensions erupted after Angela Rayner renewed her attack on Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood’s “un-British” proposals to make it more difficult for migrants to secure permanent residency in the UK.

Ms Rayner insisted this morning that there were “no splits”, while noting that Mr Burnham had called for ministers to “do politics differently” by speaking openly. “We’re not having an argument about immigration, we’re having a conversation – a national conversation,” she told Sky News.

However, MPs described the Housing Secretary’s intervention as a political “drive-by shooting”.

At the same time, left-wing critics have begun publicly challenging Mr Burnham’s leadership. Clive Lewis, once a prominent supporter who suggested he might resign to allow the former Manchester mayor to return to the Commons, said the Prime Minister had “left his allies behind” after entering No 10 and had behaved “terribly”.

Veteran campaigner Neal Lawson, previously tipped as a potential adviser to Mr Burnham in No 10, accused the Prime Minister of abandoning proposals for wealth taxes and rent controls while scaling back plans for wider nationalisation.

The Labour infighting comes as the Government faces an increasingly difficult economic outlook, with the crisis in the Middle East putting further strain on the public finances.

Chancellor John Healey acknowledged in an interview today that he may have to intervene over fuel duty, which is due to increase as motorists already contend with sharply higher prices at the pumps.

Markets have also been unsettled by the UK’s borrowing levels, leaving the Chancellor potentially needing to raise billions more through additional taxes or spending reductions. The latter option is expected to face strong opposition from Labour MPs.

With his first Budget scheduled for October 28, Mr Healey also signalled that he understood concerns over wealthy people leaving Britain. He said he wanted them to remain in the country to help create jobs and generate wealth.

Other developments at the Labour conference today include:

Ms Rayner opened the latest confrontation yesterday, arguing that the proposed visa restrictions would effectively “change the goalposts” for migrants already living in Britain, particularly those employed in the social care sector.

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy subsequently backed the Home Secretary during an appearance on Radio 4’s Today programme on Saturday. She said Ms Mahmood was “taking great care… and she has the support of the Cabinet in doing so”.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said: “If Andy Burnham’s Cabinet are already at war with each other over small changes to the immigration system, how can they ever be trusted to stop the boats?”

Speaking to The Guardian before the conference, Mr Burnham said he was confident he could pursue a radical programme of reform while keeping control of the public finances.

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He suggested the public would have ‘more respect for us if we go and grab something difficult … and say, ‘right, we’re going to do something here’, rather than constantly playing the political game before fixing the problems’.

He added: ‘It’s challenging, definitely, but there are still things that you can do. Always in politics, there are things that you can do. The question is sometimes, are you prepared to do them? Yeah, I am prepared to do them.’

In what could be the latest step to help households with the cost-of-living crisis, Mr Healey told the Sunday Times he was mulling over whether a planned fuel duty rise should go ahead.

‘I’m conscious of these pressures and I will take them into account when I make my Budget decisions,’ he said.

The Chancellor also gave a veiled hint that capital gains tax could rise at the Budget, saying it was currently the lowest of ‘any European G7 nation’. Cabinet colleagues Louise Haigh and Wes Streeting have backed such a move, but economists have warned it could backfire by driving out wealth creation.

Speaking on the Labour Left Podcast, Mr Lewis was asked whether Labour was on track for a ‘reset’.

The Norwich South MP replied: ‘I would say where we are at the moment: no.’

Mr Lewis said Mr Burnham’s admininstration was an ‘improvement’ but not ‘a government of all wings of the party’. 

‘The Left were firmly kept outside of it,’ he said.

He suggested Mr Burnham had been swept to the door of No10 by the Left, but then done a deal to take power without them. 

‘We’re kind of at the door banging: ‘Andy, are you coming back out?’ he said.

‘Is that a terrible thing? Yes, it is. He’s ghosted us. But at the end of the day, mission achieved. Starmer has gone.’

He added: ‘I might be crying into my soup in a couple of years’ time, bemoaning the fact of what we did, but at the moment there are options on the table for us.’

Writing in the Sunday Times, Mr Lawson said: ‘Of course, it’s only been two months, but there are grounds for concern. Ideas talked up on the summer’s march south, such as wealth taxes, rent control and the end of the MP whipping system, have been jettisoned. 

‘Suddenly, instead of the public ownership of water, it looks like he might settle for another failed version of regulated public control we already have.

‘And the opportunity has already been missed for Burnham to put his personal stamp on perhaps the biggest circuit breaker of all, the shift to proportional representation. 

‘When it was debated in parliament earlier this month, he let the moment pass.’