UK PM Faces Labour Conference Chaos as Ministers Clash on Migration

Andy Burnham is heading into a turbulent Labour conference, with Cabinet ministers divided over immigration and figures on the party’s Left accusing him of shutting them out.

The Prime Minister is in Liverpool for his first conference since removing Keir Starmer, but signs are growing that the bitter internal disputes that marked the previous leadership could continue under his premiership.

The latest row erupted after Angela Rayner repeated her attack on Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood’s plans, which would make it more difficult for migrants to secure permanent residency in the UK. Rayner described the proposals as “un-British”.

MPs likened the Housing Secretary’s intervention to a “drive-by shooting”, warning that it had exposed one of Labour’s most sensitive internal divisions.

At the same time, left-wing critics have begun targeting Mr Burnham’s leadership style. Clive Lewis, once a strong supporter who suggested he might step aside to allow the former Manchester mayor to return to the Commons, accused the Prime Minister of abandoning his allies after entering No 10 and said he had behaved “terribly”.

Neal Lawson, the veteran campaigner once tipped as a possible adviser to Mr Burnham in No 10, said the Prime Minister had abandoned proposals for wealth taxes and rent controls while scaling back plans for wider nationalisation.

The Labour infighting comes as the Government faces an increasingly difficult economic picture, with the crisis in the Middle East adding further pressure to the public finances.

Chancellor John Healey acknowledged in an interview that he may have to intervene over fuel duty. The planned increase comes as motorists are already being hit by sharply rising prices at petrol stations.

Financial markets have also been unsettled by the UK’s borrowing levels, leaving the Chancellor facing pressure to raise billions more through tax increases or spending reductions. Any cuts would be likely to provoke strong opposition from Labour MPs.

Ahead of his first Budget on October 28, Mr Healey indicated that he recognised concerns about wealthy people leaving Britain. He said he wanted them to remain in the country so they could help generate jobs and economic growth.

Other developments at the Labour conference today include:

Angela Rayner has unveiled plans to give local leaders greater powers to take control of vacant and derelict properties, with the aim of bringing them back into use.

Ms Rayner opened the latest phase of Labour’s internal dispute yesterday, arguing that the proposed visa restrictions would “change the goalposts” for migrants already living in Britain, particularly people employed in social care.

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy subsequently backed the Home Secretary during an appearance on Radio 4’s Today programme on Saturday. She said Ms Mahmood was “taking great care” over the policy and had the full support of the Cabinet.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said: “If Andy Burnham’s Cabinet is already divided over relatively small changes to the immigration system, how can it be trusted to stop the boats?”

Speaking to the Guardian before the conference, Mr Burnham said he could pursue an ambitious programme of reform without putting the public finances at risk.

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He argued that voters would have “more respect for us” if the Government tackled difficult issues directly and demonstrated that it was prepared to act, rather than focusing on political manoeuvring before addressing the country’s problems.

He added: ‘It’s challenging, definitely, but there are still things that you can do. Always in politics, there are things that you can do. The question is sometimes, are you prepared to do them? Yeah, I am prepared to do them.’

In what could be the latest step to help households with the cost-of-living crisis, Mr Healey told the Sunday Times he was mulling over whether a planned fuel duty rise should go ahead.

‘I’m conscious of these pressures and I will take them into account when I make my Budget decisions,’ he said.

The Chancellor also gave a veiled hint that capital gains tax could rise at the Budget, saying it was currently the lowest of ‘any European G7 nation’. Cabinet colleagues Louise Haigh and Wes Streeting have backed such a move, but economists have warned it could backfire by driving out wealth creation.

Speaking on the Labour Left Podcast, Mr Lewis was asked whether Labour was on track for a ‘reset’.

The Norwich South MP replied: ‘I would say where we are at the moment: no.’

Mr Lewis said Mr Burnham’s admininstration was an ‘improvement’ but not ‘a government of all wings of the party’. 

‘The Left were firmly kept outside of it,’ he said.

He suggested Mr Burnham had been swept to the door of No10 by the Left, but then done a deal to take power without them. 

‘We’re kind of at the door banging: ‘Andy, are you coming back out?’ he said.

‘Is that a terrible thing? Yes, it is. He’s ghosted us. But at the end of the day, mission achieved. Starmer has gone.’

He added: ‘I might be crying into my soup in a couple of years’ time, bemoaning the fact of what we did, but at the moment there are options on the table for us.’

Writing in the Sunday Times, Mr Lawson said: ‘Of course, it’s only been two months, but there are grounds for concern. Ideas talked up on the summer’s march south, such as wealth taxes, rent control and the end of the MP whipping system, have been jettisoned. 

‘Suddenly, instead of the public ownership of water, it looks like he might settle for another failed version of regulated public control we already have.

‘And the opportunity has already been missed for Burnham to put his personal stamp on perhaps the biggest circuit breaker of all, the shift to proportional representation. 

‘When it was debated in parliament earlier this month, he let the moment pass.’