Angela Rayner defends calling Tory MPs ‘scum’
Angela Rayner has defended calling Conservative ministers “scum” during a reception at the Labour party conference in Brighton.
The deputy leader of the Opposition reportedly described the Tories as “a bunch of scum, homophobic, racist, misogynistic” during an event for Labour activists from northwest England on Saturday.
Defending her actions the following morning, she told Sky News: “That was post-watershed — what I was trying to get across… the anger and frustration when you have a prime minister who has said things that are racist, homophobic… at a time when they are cutting universal credit… we can’t sit on the sidelines here.
“If the PM wants to remove himself from those comments – the racist, misogynistic, homophobic comments – then I will apologise to him personally for calling him scum.”
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer is expected to ask the conference to back a watered-down shake-up of leadership rules, after an embarrassing defeat in his bid to scrap the voting system that elected Jeremy Corbyn.
The five-day event got off to the worst possible start for the Labour leader, who was forced into a U-turn that dented his authority and created a rift with his own deputy, Ms Rayner.
After the trade unions opposed the change – which would have seen the party return to an electoral college system, handing power from members to MPs – a set of diluted proposals will be put to delegates in Brighton on Sunday.
FBU general secretary calls for socialist Green New Deal
Matt Wrack, general secretary of the Fire Brigades Union (FBU), called for a socialist Green New Deal, arguing the climate emergency is already an “industrial issue”.
He told delegates in Brighton: “Conference, we see the climate catastrophe unfolding in front of our eyes every single day. Floods in Belgium and Germany that cost hundreds of lives. Wildfires across most of Europe. We see the climate catastrophe exposing the inequalities in society across the world.
“Workers killed in flash floods in unlawful basement flat apartments in New York City – one of the richest cities in the world.
“For us, in our union, this is already an industrial issue. Our members are out there tackling the impact of the climate catastrophe, here and now, and it has been growing over the past 20 years. I will give one example, which I used before but I don’t apologise: every year, colleagues of ours in the United States are killed doing their job.”
Chiara Giordano26 September 2021 12:00
Wrong to say that only women have a cervix, says Keir Starmer
Sir Keir Starmer has said Labour MP Rosie Duffield was wrong to say that only women have a cervix.
Ms Duffield has stayed away from Labour’s annual conference this week after receiving threats online from transgender rights campaigners who regard her comment as discriminatory.
Today Labour leader Sir Keir called for the the debate to be conducted in a “respectful” way, while deputy leader Angela Rayner said she was “concerned” about the level of abuse directed at female MPs.
Our political editor Andrew Woodcock has more on this:
Chiara Giordano26 September 2021 11:42
Ed Miliband says he wants Labour to become the party of ‘green and red together’
Shadow business secretary Ed Miliband said he wanted Labour to become the party of “green and red together”.
Mr Miliband told the Labour conference he had “come back” to the front benches to fight for “climate and economic justice together”, and told party members there had to be a fair transition towards a green economy.
He said: “About workers in oil and gas, let me say to those people, including in this hall: I get your worries. I grew up in the 1980s. I am an MP in Doncaster – a former mining constituency.
“We remember what the Tories did. I know our responsibility – this climate transition must leave no worker, no family, no community behind.
“Let’s lay to rest the idea that these Tories can somehow manage a just or fair green transition. A couple of months back Boris Johnson was challenged on Tory credentials on climate change.
“He joked that Mrs Thatcher closed the pits and gave us a head start. This guy laughing about people losing their jobs, communities losing their lifeblood, generations losing hope. How dare he?”
Chiara Giordano26 September 2021 11:11
Labour private schools policy will see more money pumped into state system, says Starmer
Sir Keir Starmer said Labour’s policy of ending the charitable status of England’s private schools would allow more money to be pumped into the state system.
“This is a political choice to take that money and switch it to our state schools so that children and young people in our state schools have the best chance they can have to come out of schools ready for life, ready for work,” he told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show.
Chiara Giordano26 September 2021 11:00
Labour government would require every business to reveal carbon footprint, says Miliband
Ed Miliband, Labour’s shadow business secretary, said a Labour government “would require every business to tell us their carbon footprint and how it’s consistent with net zero”.
Chiara Giordano26 September 2021 10:57
Ed Miliband says Labour would ‘end Tory offshoring of jobs in offshore wind’
Shadow business secretary Ed Miliband has said a Labour government would “end Tory offshoring of jobs in offshore wind”.
He told the Labour party conference: “People say, including in this hall, that under the Tories the low carbon jobs hasn’t been delivered.
“They’re right and we’d change it. That’s why we’d increase the investment in our ports and it’s time our world-leading status in offshore wind generation finally led to jobs for workers in the UK.
“So we will raise the requirement for domestic content so we can buy, make and sell British and end the Tory offshoring of jobs in offshore wind. That’s what we mean about delivery climate justice and economic justice together.”
Chiara Giordano26 September 2021 10:49
Ed Miliband announces £3bn plan to ‘save’ steel industry
Announcing a £3bn plan to “save” the steel industry, shadow business secretary Ed Miliband told the Labour party conference: “We are making an unprecedented 10-year commitment for the steel industry to go green, investing £3bn in collaboration with business over the coming decade.
“We will make the steel industry not simply a proud industry of our past and our present but a proud industry of our future.”
“The Tories are losing the global race for electric car manufacturing – that’s why a Labour government would help fund the investment in the gigafactories we need, not just subsidy, public equity stakes taken by government to ensure a people’s dividend from the green transition,” he said.
“That’s what the British people have a right to expect.”
He added: “The green industrial revolution is about now worker being left behind.”
Chiara Giordano26 September 2021 10:44
Starmer happy with package of party reforms put to conference
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said he was happy with the package of party reforms being put to the conference, despite being forced to water down efforts to change the way leadership elections are decided.
“I have got a package of rule changes that does what I wanted them to do, which is to ensure that the Labour Party can focus on the country, and some of those rules were holding us back,” he told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show.
“So I’m very happy with the situation we find ourselves in. It’s a strong package, it went through the executive committee yesterday, it’s going to the floor of conference today.”
The rules will make it easier for sitting MPs to be reselected to stand in their seats.
Chiara Giordano26 September 2021 10:40
Keir Starmer does not rule out raising income tax as prime minister
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer did not rule out raising income tax if he became prime minister.
He told The Andrew Marr Show on BBC One: “We are looking at tax – nothing is off the table, but we don’t know what the state of the national finances will be as we go to the election.
“What Rachel Reeves (shadow chancellor) said is she’s not currently considering income tax and that is fine, but what I’m saying is as we go into the election we will apply the principles we have set out to the situation as it arises.
“What we don’t want to do – whether it’s income tax or any other sort of tax, national insurance – is unfairly to hit working families, which is what this government is doing.”
He did not say whether he is looking at a wealth tax, but added: “Look at the choice the government is making – under their provision, under their tax they announced the other week, those with many properties as landlords don’t pay a penny more, their working tenants do.”
Chiara Giordano26 September 2021 10:25
Keir Starmer refuses to say Angela Rayner should apologise for ‘scum’ comments
Sir Keir Starmer has refused to say Angela Rayner should apologise for calling Tory ministers “scum” during a reception at the party’s conference in Brighton.
The Labour leader told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show: “Angela and I take different approaches and that’s not language that I would use.”
Asked if she should apologise, he said: “That’s a matter for Angela… but I would not have used those words.
“I will talk to Angela about it later on.”
Chiara Giordano26 September 2021 10:10
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