Starmer must stop ‘pussyfooting around', says Labour Red Wall chief

Telegraph

03-05-2025

Sir Keir Starmer needs to stop 'pussyfooting around' and make policy as decisively as Donald Trump, the chairman of Labour's Red Wall group of MPs has said.
Jo White has called on the Prime Minister to start showing some leadership after Labour suffered a string of defeats to Reform at Thursday's local elections, including losing the Runcorn and Helsby by-election.
She told the Prime Minister to 'take a leaf' out of Donald Trump's book and announce policies such as a national grooming gangs inquiry, a crackdown on immigration and investment in left-behind industrial heartlands.
Since his return to the White House, Mr Trump has signed hundreds of executive orders that have led to drastic policy shifts on immigration, the economy and diversity schemes.
Ms White also condemned Labour's winter fuel raid, declaring that it had become the party's 'poll tax'.
It is the first major public declaration of disaffection within Labour's own ranks since the local election results were announced.
In an article for The Telegraph, Ms White said: 'After a good kicking at elections, the usual and heavily anticipated response from the ruling party is that we are listening. But this isn't going to wash. Labour needs a reset.
'Sir Keir Starmer has shown strong leadership internationally and he needs to start showing the same leadership in our own country and stop the Government pussyfooting around.
'He should take a leaf out of President Trump's book by following his instincts and issuing some executive orders. This is leadership from the front.'
Ms White founded the Red Wall Caucus of around 35 Labour backbenchers shortly after entering the Commons as the MP for Bassetlaw last year.
The group all represent traditionally safe Labour seats in the North and Midlands that swung to the Tories under Boris Johnson in 2019 and are now being targeted by Reform.
Nigel Farage's party won control of Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Doncaster and Durham councils on Thursday – counties where support for Labour has historically been very strong.
Ms White went on to call on Sir Keir to go further on the rape gangs scandal, asking: 'Where are the child abuse inquiries where the victims are still seeking justice?
'Telford-style inquiries should be set up immediately in the towns and cities where grooming gangs are running rings round the authorities.'
Last month, Labour dropped its plans for five local grooming gang inquiries based on the judge-led one into grooming gangs in Telford in favour of a 'flexible' approach.
While this could still involve full independent local inquiries, it could instead include local victims' panels or council-led audits of the handling of historic abuse cases.
Other policy proposals put forward by Ms White included the introduction of digital ID cards – which she said was the 'only way' to stop illegal immigration – and writing off Covid debts.
She went on to suggest that the Government was 'too busy talking to itself' and called for more financial support for post-industrial towns where there have been 'years of disinvestment'.
A vow to 'reindustrialise Britain' was at the heart of the Reform local election campaign and Mr Farage went further than the Government in calling for the permanent nationalisation of British Steel following last month's Scunthorpe crisis.
Ms White reserved some of her strongest criticism for Sir Keir and Rachel Reeves's decision to strip more than 10 million pensioners of their winter fuel payments.
The decision has been defended by Downing Street, which claimed it was necessary to balance the books and fund public services.
But the raid on retirees continues to spark anger among Labour MPs, and Ms White went on to compare it to the poll tax – a policy that helped bring about Margaret Thatcher's downfall.
She said: 'The Winter Fuel Allowance has now become our poll tax problem, We have lost the pensioner vote because of this; I hear the anger.
'To serve as the Government that listens, we should be immediately raising the threshold to the higher-income tax level, and it is an executive order that my constituents in Bassetlaw would all welcome.'
Ms White concluded by saying that Britain was in a 'ruinous state' when Harold Wilson took office in 1964, and that a disastrous by-election loss led to a necessary policy reset.
'Wilson went on to win a landslide less than a year later,' she said. 'Sir Keir Starmer can take lessons from his approach.'
The Government talks to itself – those outside are not being listened to
By Jo White
After a good kicking at elections, the usual and heavily anticipated response from the ruling party is that we are listening. But this isn't going to wash. Labour needs a reset.
Sir Keir Starmer has shown strong leadership internationally and he needs to start showing the same leadership in our own country and stop the Government pussyfooting around. He should take a leaf out of Donald Trump's book by following his instincts and issuing some executive orders. This is leadership from the front.
Where are the child abuse inquiries where the victims are still seeking justice? Telford-style inquiries should be set up immediately in the towns and cities where grooming gangs are running rings around the authorities.
There should be an immediate introduction of digital ID cards, required for employment and accessing public services. This is the only way to stop illegal immigration.
Free our public services from the pressures of Covid debts so they have the finances to deliver on our priorities by writing them off. Our schools and hospitals can be lifted from the shackles of debt in the way quantitative easing was used when Gordon Brown brought stability during the banking crisis. This would be a game-changer.
People are fed up with being told how to run their lives by people looking down their noses at them. We have a huge problem with our messaging; it is failing to hit the mark. Slogans on meeting our net zero targets are a prime example. They are meaningless for people who are facing rising energy costs and purchasing an electric car is an unattainable luxury.
The language needs to shift to the guarantee of green energy in order to get free hot water and cheaper electricity bills. Building on our security by making Britain self-reliant in energy production.
While the Government is busy talking to itself the voices of those on the outside are not being listened to. The realities of living in areas where there have been no big transport projects or huge development investments needs to have a voice around the table. Our lives are very different from the metropolis, our choices, and opportunities, less, our facilities are more remote or non-existent.
The demands raised by the new Labour MPs from the post-industrial towns, where infrastructure is poor and there have been years of disinvestment, and where large numbers voted for Brexit and have now switched to Reform, must be taken off the to-do list and urgently actioned. We know this works.
Ros Jones, the re-elected Labour mayor of Doncaster, made reopening Doncaster airport her number-one priority. The Government committed £30 million investment and she was rewarded at the ballot box.
While over half the country voted for Brexit, there isn't a single person sitting in the Government who backed the EU leave deal. Where are the voices of the 40 Labour MPs who argued in favour of respecting the referendum? The number of government ministers representing leave-voting constituencies is insignificant.
Both Tony Blair and Margaret Thatcher brought in people who were not like them, possibly people that they didn't even like, and they were certainly people they sometimes disagreed with. This Government needs to step outside its comfort zone. Sir Keir needs to spend more time travelling the country quietly listening to what people are really thinking. This is a sign of a confident government.
Now we need to be honest with ourselves and address the issue that has hung like a weight around our shoulders since the early days of this Government, the Winter Fuel Allowance has now become our poll tax problem. We have lost the pensioner vote because of this; I hear the anger. To serve as the Government that listens, we should be immediately raising the threshold to the higher income tax level, and it is an executive order that my constituents in Bassetlaw would all welcome.
When Harold Wilson first became prime minister in 1964, the country had been left in a ruinous state with an £800 million deficit. Tough decisions were taken, including freezing a pensions rise, and there were concerns about rising immigration. A by-election disaster led to a reset. A Labour MP at the time commented: 'The prime minister was becoming just a technician. [The by-election] forced him to remember what it was to be a political leader.' Wilson went on to win a landslide less than a year later. Sir Keir can take lessons from his approach.