Labour deputy leadership candidate Lucy Powell has warned Sir Keir Starmer against “trying to out Reform, Reform” if he wants to win the local elections next year.
It came as Bridget Phillipson, the other candidate in the race to succeed Angela Rayner, said Labour must unite if it wants to beat Nigel Farage’s party, warning: “If we’re fighting amongst ourselves, we can’t fight Reform.”
Ms Phillipson also warned her party must be as “ruthless” in fighting the Greens as it is in fighting Reform, saying Labour must expose the Greens in particular for who they are.
Addressing deputy leadership hustings in Liverpool on Wednesday, Lucy Powell said Labour must “seize the political megaphone” which it has “ceded too long” in recent months.
The Manchester Central MP said: “Being tactical about it and trying to out-Reform Reform is not going to help us in those elections next May.
“And that’s what I’ve been saying this week, we’ve got to seize back the political megaphone in this country, because let’s be honest, we’ve ceded it too long in recent months.
“We’ve got to set the agenda about what we’re doing, why we’re doing it, who we’re standing up for and I’m going to be working right across the country to make sure that we win in those elections next year.”
In a damning indictment of the government, Ms Powell told the hustings her 21-year-old son had “struggled” with her being part of the Labour government because “we’ve not got some of the politics right”.
The deputy leadership contender said: “We are not attracting young people to our movement in the way that we want, that we should.
“I’ve got a 21-year-old son and, to be honest with you, him and his friends have really struggled with me actually being in the Labour government these last 15 months.
“Because we’ve not got some of the politics right to enthuse young people, to make them see that a Labour government, the Labour Party, is not just working on their behalf, but that we can make the change that they want to see.”
Meanwhile, Phillipson said Labour is facing “the fight of our lives in taking on Reform”.
“We can’t ape them, we have to take on Reform in a way that is consistent with our values, Labour values, that are also the values of the British people. We’re an outward compassionate country where our diversity is our strength,” she said.
The education secretary said the government must “go further” to make sure people in Britain feel better off.
“We’ll have to be bolder, we’ll have to do more. But I am up to that fight. It’s a fight we can win, it’s a fight we will win.
“But as your deputy leader I’ll unite our party and take the fight to Reform, because divided parties don’t win elections and if we’re fighting among ourselves, we can’t fight Reform.”
Labour has been using its conference in Liverpool to draw battle lines with Reform as it trails behind the party in the polls, with the party ramping up its attacks on Nigel Farage’s party.
However, Sir Keir has faced criticism since he won the election last year for mimicking Reform’s policies on migration.
Just this week, the prime minister branded Reform’s plan to scrap indefinite leave to remain “racist” and “immoral” – but days later the party unveiled its own plan to clamp down on the main route to British citizenship.
Under tougher measures unveiled by the home secretary this week, migrants who want to remain in the UK will have to learn English to a high standard, have a clean criminal record and volunteer in their community to be eligible for indefinite leave to remain. They will also have to be working, paying national insurance and not be claiming benefits under the proposed changes.
Pointing to the challenge posed by the Green Party, which has ramped up its campaigning since the election of Zack Polanski as party leader earlier this month, Ms Phillipson added: “What we have to do is expose the Greens in particular for who they are.
“So they say, on the one hand, that climate change is the biggest challenge we face – and climate change is an enormous challenge, but a real opportunity to create some brilliant jobs.
“But then what do they do? They oppose infrastructure projects. They oppose the investment that will make a huge difference to our communities and to tackling climate change.
“So we’ve got to be as ruthless in taking the fight to them as we are in taking the fight to Reform”.
