Labour conference infighting has erupted around Prime Minister Andy Burnham, with ministers divided over migration policy and figures on the Left accusing him of abandoning the allies who helped bring him to power.
Mr Burnham is attending his first Labour gathering since ousting Keir Starmer, but tensions have quickly resurfaced. Angela Rayner has renewed her opposition to Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood’s proposals to make it harder for migrants to obtain permanent residence in the UK.
Ms Rayner said the proposed visa clampdown would “change the goalposts” for people already living in Britain, particularly those working in social care. Her intervention was described by MPs as a “drive-by shooting” that had reopened a sensitive divide within the party.
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy, however, backed Ms Mahmood during an appearance on Radio 4’s Today programme. She said the Home Secretary was “taking great care” over the policy and had “the support of the Cabinet in doing so”.
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch seized on the dispute, saying: “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?”
The Prime Minister is also facing criticism from Labour’s Left over the direction of his government. Norwich South MP Clive Lewis said Mr Burnham had “left his allies behind” after entering Downing Street and had behaved “terribly”.
Mr Lewis said the new administration was an improvement, but not “a government of all wings of the party”. He claimed the Left had been kept outside it after helping Mr Burnham reach the door of No 10.
“We’re kind of at the door banging: ‘Andy, are you coming back out?’” Mr Lewis said on the Labour Left Podcast. “Is that a terrible thing? Yes, it is. He’s ghosted us. But at the end of the day, mission achieved. Starmer has gone.”
Neal Lawson, a veteran campaigner who had previously been tipped to advise Mr Burnham, has also questioned the Government’s priorities. He said proposals discussed during the leadership campaign, including wealth taxes, rent controls and ending the MP whipping system, had been “jettisoned”.
Mr Lawson also criticised the apparent retreat from public ownership of water and said Mr Burnham had missed an opportunity to support proportional representation when it was debated in Parliament earlier this month.
Mr Burnham has insisted that he remains prepared to pursue difficult reforms while keeping control of the public finances. “The question is sometimes, are you prepared to do them? Yeah, I am prepared to do them,” he said.
The internal disputes come as the Government faces pressure over the economy and the impact of the Middle East crisis on public finances. Chancellor John Healey has warned that he may need to reconsider a planned rise in fuel duty as petrol prices climb.
Mr Healey said he was “conscious of these pressures” and would take them into account when making decisions for his Budget on October 28. He also suggested that capital gains tax could rise, pointing out that it was lower than in any other European G7 nation.
The Chancellor said he wanted wealthy individuals to remain in the UK to create jobs and wealth, amid concerns that further tax rises could encourage an exodus.
At the conference, Ms Rayner has announced plans to give local leaders stronger powers to seize empty and derelict homes and return them to use. Mr Burnham has also said he will not leave office without tackling social care reform, following the death of his father, Roy, who had Alzheimer’s disease.
Speculation about a snap election continues despite Mr Burnham declaring the idea “dead”. The slogan for his first Labour conference is “hope again”.
