Lucy Powell tells Starmer to soften on migration
Labour’s new deputy leader accuses PM of letting ‘Farage and his ilk run away’ with border control debate
Lucy Powell has immediately challenged Sir Keir Starmer to soften his stance on immigration after winning the Labour deputy leadership contest.
The new party number two used her victory speech to accuse the Prime Minister of having “let Farage and his ilk run away” with the debate on border controls.
In a combative address, in which repeatedly criticised Sir Keir’s approach, she said Labour must be more progressive and “won’t win by trying to out-Reform Reform”.
Ms Powell, the former leader of the Commons, was announced as the winner of the deputy leadership on Saturday morning with 54 per cent of the vote amongst some 160,000 members who cast a ballot.
She triumphed in a closer-than-expected race against Bridget Phillipson, the Education Secretary, who was widely seen as No 10’s preferred candidate.
Ms Powell will replace Angela Rayner, with whom she is politically close, in the role at the heart of the party, and her victory is a headache for Sir Keir.
Delivering her victory speech, Ms Powell criticised the Prime Minister for “not being bold enough in delivering the kind of change we promised”.
Describing the Labour Party and the country as fighting for their lives, she said voters were “looking around looking elsewhere for answers”.
“Division and hate are on the rise,” Ms Powell said. “Discontent and disillusionment are widespread. The desire for change is impatient and palpable.
“We as the Labour Party, as the party of government, have to step forward and take this on. We have this one big chance to show that progressive mainstream politics really can change people’s lives for the better.”
Ms Powell said that Downing Street must give a “stronger sense of our purpose whose side we’re on, and of our Labour values and beliefs”.
In a direct repudiation of Sir Keir’s tough talk on immigration, she added: “It starts with us wrestling back the political megaphone and setting the agenda more strongly.
“Because let’s be honest, we’ve let Farage and his ilk run away with it. He wants to blame immigration for all the country’s problems. We reject that.”
[…]
She later added: “We won’t win by trying to out-Reform Reform, but by building a broad progressive consensus…Her speech showed that her election is a serious challenge to the Prime Minister’s authority from the Left of the party.”
The Telegraph: continue reading
Featured image: Getty Images
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