ANGELA Rayner has warned Labour is "running out of time" to deliver real change, placing further pressure on Keir Starmer's leadership.
In a speech made at an event held by Mainstream – the Labour group founded by Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham and others – the former deputy prime minister said the party had started to represent "the establishment, not working people" and called for a change of course.
She slammed Labour's approach to governance, saying they "cannot just go through the motions in the face of decline".
"There's no safe ground and we're running out of time," Rayner went on.
"The change that people wanted so desperately needs to be seen, it needs to be felt, and we have to show that it is a Labour government that will deliver it."
She also criticised the party's immigration plans, calling the planned changes to indefinite leave to remain (which would double the time needed to qualify from five to 10 years) a "breach of trust" for people already living in the UK.
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Rayner said: "Many people came here to Britain on the understanding that if they worked in the sectors where we needed them, obeyed the law and paid their taxes, they could stay.
"If we suddenly change that, it pulls the rug from under those who have planned their lives and commitments and are contributing to our economy and to our society.
"That would be not just a bad policy but a breach of trust. The people already in the system – who made a huge investment – now fear for their future, they do not have stability and do not know what will happen.
"We cannot talk about earning a settlement if we keep moving the goalposts, because moving the goalpost undermines our sense of fair play. It's un-British."
Speaking on BBC Radio 4 on Wednesday, Manchester mayor Burnham, who was recently blocked from standing in a Westminster by-election that could have opened the door for him to launch a leadership bid against Starmer, said he understands the "frustration people feel" with the Labour Government.
He said: “I understand the frustration people feel. We heard that at the by-election, and of course, Angela is reflecting some of that.
“But what I do feel that the signs are becoming really clear that there is a higher ambition, particularly for the north of England.”
Nick Thomas-Symonds, a Cabinet office minister, also told Sky News that others in Government are frustrated with the "pace of change".
Asked if he agreed with Rayner that Labour is going “through the motions in the face of decline”, he said: “I think where I would agree, and I think everybody across Government would agree, is sharing an impatience with the pace of change, and that applies to every single one of us.
“And I get the sense, I haven’t read the full context of Angela’s remarks, but I get the sense that that frustration is actually what is running through her remarks. It absolutely runs through every Government minister as well.”
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He defended Shabana Mahmood’s immigration reforms as “balancing up fairness, but also security at our borders” when asked about Rayner’s criticism of them.
Rayner spoke at Mainstream after Tony Vaughan, who has co-ordinated a letter said to have been signed by more than 100 Labour parliamentarians urging the Government to rethink its immigration proposals.
In September, the Labour MP for Ashton-under-Lyne resigned as housing secretary and deputy prime minister after admitting not paying enough stamp duty on her seaside home in Hove. She currently faces an HMRC probe.
Many across Labour favour her as a successor to Starmer, who has faced questions over his leadership in recent months.
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