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Angela Rayner is said to want to return to frontline politics (Image: Getty)
Angela Rayner has thrown her weight behind Andy Burnham‘s plans to move power out of Westminster and into town halls around the country. The former deputy prime minister said she wanted to see “a much deeper cultural change” in how Britain is governed.
The Labour MP is said to be keen to return to the frontline of Government after she was cleared by HMRC earlier this year following a row over her tax affairs. It comes amid speculation over who Mr Burnham will appoint to his Cabinet as he looks set to enter 10 Downing Street within weeks.
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Andy Burnham is expected to become PM later this month (Image: Getty)
In a speech in central London last night, Ms Rayner said: “The country needs a much deeper cultural change, and the scale of that challenge can’t be underestimated.
“Because the institutions of central government are unfortunately part of the problem. We have the worst combination of micro-management and control from the centre, without the resource or focus to make it effective.
“Whitehall empires hoard their own power. And layers of governance and bureaucracy, developed with all the best of intentions, too often end with the triumph of process over purpose. And I want to see that purpose restored.”
The Ashton-under-Lyne also hit out at Sir Keir Starmer for not being bold enough.
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She said: “By avoiding structural change, we risk confirming the right-wing populists’ narrative: that ‘the establishment can only do more of the same’.
“When the British people voted in a Labour Government just two years ago, they voted not just against a Tory government that did not stand up for their interests but for political change that touched their lives.
“Disillusioned by a system that is rigged against them, which they want us to transform.”
And she warned that Labour would not defeat Nigel Farage‘s Reform UK “with caution”.
It comes after Mr Burnham set out plans for devolution in a speech on Monday.