Labour may have to keep “lots of bad policies” from the Tories if it wins the general election, a shadow cabinet ally of Sir Keir Starmer has suggested.
Sir Keir is facing a huge rebellion from his own MPs over his plan to uphold the Tories’ two-child benefit cap, exposing a massive rift in the party ahead of crucial by-elections.
Four Labour mayors, including London’s Sadiq Khan, are understood to be opposing Starmer’s plan alongside Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar.
Despite unease among frontbenchers, shadow culture secretary Lucy Powell defended the leader’s stance – insisting: “There is no money left, the government has absolutely tanked the economy.”
Told that her shadow cabinet colleague Jonathan Ashworth has called the cap “heinous”, Ms Powell said: “Both can be true at the same time, that things can be a bad policy, they can be bad politics, but the economic reality is what we’re now faced with.”
She told Sky News: “There are lots of bad policies ... we’re not implementing them, it’s about not reversing.”
Ms Powell added: “We’ve got a whole range of policies that are going to transform this country but we can’t do everything that we would want to do because the economic reality of what we’re going to inherit is so dire.”
The U-turn has received a huge backlash among both left-wing Labour backbenchers and those loyal to Sir Keir, with deputy leader Angela Rayner given a tough time at last night’s PLP meeting.
The phrase ‘Sir Kid Starver’ has been trending on Twitter – a fact highlighted by left-wing North Tyne mayor Jamie Driscoll, who has quit the party and lashed out “so many broken promises”.
Keir Starmer under pressure from his own MPs to ditch two-child cap— (EPA)
Mr Khan, the Liverpool city region mayor Steve Rotheram, West Yorkshire Mayor Tracy Brabin and Bristol mayor Marvin Rees all think the cap should be ditched, Bloomberg reported.
Despite unease, not one shadow cabinet minister spoke out against the new policy on the two-child limit at the meeting this morning, according to The Times. Sir Keir is, however, expected to be challenged over the plan to uphold the hated cap at this week’s national policy forum (NPF).
“Multiple” amendments to ditch the two-child benefit cap – which prevents parents from claiming benefits for any third or subsequent child born after April 2017 – have reportedly been tabled in a bid to shape the manifesto.
One shadow minister told The Independent that the move was “extremely disheartening” and said “a lot of lobbying” was going on to force a rethink.
Another frontbencher said they were “not happy” with the U-turn. Reports suggests some frontbenchers have even threatened to resign over the issue.
Deputy leader Angela Rayner given a tough time by Labour MPs on cap— (PA Wire)
Ms Rayner, who had previously called the Tory policy “obscene”, was grilled on the issue by MPs at a fiery PLP meeting on Monday night. She insisted that Labour cannot make “unfunded proposals” – with scrapping the cap estimated to cost £1.4bn a year.
Around half a dozen MPs from across the party – including Stella Creasy, Rosie Duffield, and left-winger Lloyd Russell-Moyle – spoke out against the U-turn, with some asking if Sir Keir had simply made “a mistake” in his BBC interview.
But Mr Russell-Moyle told reporters after the meeting: “We received no assurances. We will continue to push it. [Scrapping the cap] must still be on the agenda.”
Jeremy Corbyn, who did not rule out running for London mayor, told LBC on Tuesday that he had “spoken to quite a lot of Labour MPs about [the two-child policy] and they are seething with anger”.
Mr Ashworth, who has signalled his desire to scrap the “heinous” cap only last night, told BBC Newsnight, that his own views “are well documented”, but defended Sir Keir.
The shadow work and pensions secretary said: “We’ve got to be really disciplined in our approach to public spending … We are not changing policy on this.”
Sir Keir showed no sign of backing down. A Labour source told The Independent: “There are a range of things we might otherwise like to do but won’t be able to afford because the Tories have lost control of the public finances.”
Mr Driscoll told Newsnight: “When the number 1 trending thing on Twitter tonight was ‘Sir Kid Starver’ then I think that’s not going to do the Labour party any favours.” Susanna Reid also mentioned the phrase on ITV’s Good Morning Britain.
