Labour Ministers Clash Over Migration and Economic Policy

Labour descended into an increasingly bitter internal battle over immigration and the economy on Saturday night, casting a shadow over Andy Burnham’s first party conference as Prime Minister.

Cabinet ministers clashed over proposed restrictions on migrant visas, while a senior Labour figure accused the leadership of placing union demands above the need to deliver economic growth.

The highly public disputes risk derailing Mr Burnham’s hopes of staging a triumphant conference, which begins in Liverpool on Sunday.

Those ambitions suffered a setback after Angela Rayner repeated her criticism of Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood’s proposals to make it more difficult for migrants to secure permanent residence in the UK. Ms Rayner had previously described the plans as ‘un-British’.

One Labour MP branded the former deputy prime minister’s renewed intervention a ‘drive-by shooting’, while a senior party official told The Mail on Sunday: ‘It’s quite mad she’s chosen this moment to attack.’

The dispute intensified on Saturday when fellow Cabinet minister Lisa Nandy publicly rebuked Ms Rayner and voiced her support for Ms Mahmood’s approach.

Another Labour MP suggested that Mr Burnham should ‘remind [Rayner] of the benefits of keeping her mouth closed’.

A separate confrontation emerged when former business secretary Peter Kyle accused the Prime Minister of failing to move quickly enough to revive economic growth.

Mr Kyle said Mr Burnham needed to act with ‘more urgency’ and consider postponing proposed workers’ rights reforms backed by Labour’s trade union supporters, warning that the measures could burden businesses with additional red tape.

The former business secretary, a close ally of Sir Keir Starmer, likened Britain’s struggling economy to a car travelling ‘on a motorway driving in the right direction but only at 30mph’. He added: ‘Why wouldn’t we put our foot down and get there quicker?’

The bitter divisions within Labour come as:

Housing Secretary Ms Rayner opened the latest front in Labour’s internal conflict by arguing that the proposed visa restrictions would effectively ‘change the goalposts’ for migrants already living in Britain, particularly people employed in social care.

A senior Labour official claimed Ms Rayner’s intervention was intended to rebuild her support among the party’s grassroots, after her influence appeared to wane following Louise Haigh’s emergence as de facto deputy prime minister in July.

The well-placed insider said: ‘She’s unhappy that she doesn’t have as much support as she did in her last stint – obviously because she isn’t DPM and that hasn’t sunk in. Her nose is out of joint with all the influence Lou has.’

Culture Secretary Ms Nandy 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’.

EXPLORE MORE: 8 People Who Should Not Drink Beer And Why – NewsFinale

As Labour’s internal tensions intensified, Tory 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?’

Meanwhile, Labour peer Lord Glasman, who founded the party’s Blue Labour movement, called on the party to end its public infighting.

He said: ‘I would expect all ministers to act within the framework of collective responsibility. It is clear that Shabana Mahmood’s approach is the right one.

‘People are rightfully concerned about illegal migration as well as the scale of legal migration. This government’s fate lies in whether it has the courage to confront that.’

But privately some party insiders expressed doubt that Mr Burnham has the resolve to back Ms Mahmood’s reforms. One said: ‘I’m afraid the Prime Minister strikes me as utterly confused.’

Further exposing divisions in the party, Ms Rayner received public support from Folkestone MP Tony Vaughan. He said she was ‘right’ to object to the changes, which would see new arrivals to the UK have to wait ten, or even 15, years to be granted indefinite leave to remain, up from the current five.

He said: ‘Why should workers on health and social care visas who have come here to look after our loved ones have to wait 15 years for settlement? It is economically and morally wrong and will damage our health and social care system.’

Mr Kyle’s critical comments on Mr Burnham’s economic agenda marked his first public intervention since leaving government.

He said that while Labour had ‘inherited a growth emergency’ from the Tories, he believes ‘that emergency persists’ two years on.

Mr Kyle said the Government must be willing to take decisions that involve ‘short-term’ pain in return for longer-term economic gain – including delaying the planned expansion of workers’ rights championed by Ms Rayner.

He argued: ‘We might need to look and have honest conversations with unions about how we sequence some of the rights… to make sure that we get growth into the economy in the shorter term.’

One of Labour’s big plans for an economic boost hit a major setback on Saturday night as it was announced that Heathrow’s third runway is likely to be delayed until 2039, four years later than first planned.

Mr Burnham hoped to get his first conference as Labour leader back on track on Saturday night, with a new pledge to help people on to the property ladder.

The Prime Minister said October’s Budget will introduce a new equity loan scheme for first-time buyers, which mean they will require just a 2.5 per cent deposit.

The plan, akin to the Tories’ Help to Buy scheme, will provide a 20 per cent equity loan on new-build homes, with an initial interest-free period. The funding, Labour say, will come from ‘reprioritising existing government budgets’.

On an average first-time home costing £230,000, a buyer could put down a deposit of £5,750 and access a loan of up to £46,000.