Nice guy Andy Burnham has a nasty problem. And he’s just made it worse.
Angela Rayner sniffs blood and this won’t be the end of it (Image: Getty)
Predecessor Keir Starmer had a similar problem. His attempts to solve it only made things worse too. This is one of those issues that simply won’t go away. It has a name. Angela Rayner. Now she’s stirring up chaos again, while all Burnham does is dither. I confidently predict this is only the start of his problems. Especially after hearing his weak-kneed response.
Angela Rayner just sank her teeth into a cabinet colleague, and drew blood. Lots of it. The PM should have put Rayner straight back in her box, the one marked Housing, Communities and Local Government Secretary, which is her actual job. Instead, he’s let her take a big and bloody chunk out of a far more senior colleague, with a far more difficult and important brief: Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood. If I was Mahmood, I’d be gnashing my own teeth, and hungrily searching for ways to bite back.
Being Home Secretary is arguably the toughest cabinet job of the lot. Years ago, the home office was declared “unfit for purpose”, and little has changed since. It’s an even tougher role today, given concerns over immigration, and the small boats crisis. Yet Mahmood has handled it well. Don’t get me wrong, she’s not perfect, the French are still pocketing our billions while the boats keep coming, but she’s gone as far as any Labour politician dares in trying to get a grip on the crisis.
And what’s her reward? On the eve of the Labour Party conference, the first under the new boss, Rayner spearheads a revolt against Mahmood’s flagship immigration reforms, which will double the default wait for indefinite leave to remain (ILR) from five to 10 years.
As Mahmood battles with an impossible brief, the last thing she needs is a fellow cabinet member indulging in a bout of virtue signalling, while whipping up her union mates. But that’s what she’s got.
Rayner is concerned about the impact of the immigration crackdown on the so-called ‘Boriswave’ of care workers. She even called the reforms “un-British”. Imagine if Reform or the Tories had accused Mahmood of that? Rayner did, and has been rewarded with a win.
Mahmood has just signalled a humiliating U-turn. She was standing firm but with Rayner baring her teeth, she’s been forced to weaken her settlement rules. She’d have faced a public roasting at conference otherwise.
This isn’t the first time Red Ange has tried to push her colleagues around. Rayner even forced Starmer into a humiliating climbdown over her workers’ rights package. Then she rudely handed former chancellor Rachel Reeves a list of taxes to hike, at the same time as she was being “careless” with her own tax return. Starmer and Reeves were ultimately forced out, but Rayner is back and even bossier than before. Now she’s openly shoving Mahmood about.
So how did nice guy Burnham respond? Talking on LBC Radio, the PM rejected suggestions he would need to choose between “team Mahmood” and “team Rayner”. Pathetically, he replied: “I’m both of them. I’m team Angela and Shabana.”
We all know Burnham wants to be liked. We’ve also learned he ducks tough decisions. In practice, he’s handed victory to Rayner, and left Mahmood with visible flesh wounds.
Burnham did mutter that he disagreed with Rayner’s description of the reforms as “un-British”. By his standards, that’s brave. It won’t cower Red Ange though. Nothing will. I just hope Mahmood survives this, and Rayner finds another colleague to boss around. Now she’s seen how weak her boss is, it won’t be long.