Angela Rayner 'jockeying to take over from failing Starmer' as panicking PM 'looks to placate Labour Left by axing two-child benefits limit' after winter fuel U-turn

Daily Mail​

22-05-2025

Keir Starmer is struggling to quell chaos in his Cabinet today amid claims Angela Rayner is jockeying to replace him.
The PM signalled an extraordinary U-turn on cuts to winter fuel allowance yesterday as he bowed to a growing revolt on his benches.
And the humiliating move could only be the start with signs Sir Keir is also considering giving ground on the two-child benefit cap, amid alarm at Labour 's poll plunge.
The pressure intensified as it emerged Ms Rayner's office wrote to embattled Chancellor Rachel Reeves in the Spring urging her to hike taxes again instead of cutting welfare.
The Deputy PM's aides have denied leaking the memo, and argued that such discussions are routine within government.
However, some Labour MPs believe that Ms Rayner is 'on manoeuvres' to ensure she does not have 'blood on her hands' from failed policies.
'Angela has been loyal in public but she knows she needs to distance herself from some of the unpopular policies,' one backbencher told The Times.
'Starmer is not under any kind of threat now but if things have not improved closer to the next election that could change. Angela is ambitious and she needs to be credible if she is to present herself as the candidate of the left.'
Labour MP Cat Eccles admitted the government's communications had been 'really poor', suggesting she blamed the PM's advisers and Ms Reeves for not 'listening'.
'It's annoying that we did raise these exact concerns at the time. And it's only now or down the line after we've had those local election results, as you say, that all of a sudden, they're all ears to their MPs,' she told Times Radio.
'Oh, what do you think the issues are? It's like, well, actually, we told you months ago. So I think there's a lot of us that are feeling slightly less buoyant than we did back in July last year.'
The winter fuel allowance move was seen as an humiliation for Ms Reeves - who is at a G7 meeting in Canada.
Stripping around nine million pensioners of the payments was one of the first announcements the Chancellor made after Labour's landslide election victory last year.
But it has been widely blamed for the party's disastrous collapse in support.
Labour campaigners reported it was toxic on doorsteps during May's local elections, which saw the party lose councillors and the Runcorn and Helsby Parliamentary by-election.
Left-wing Labour MPs rallied behind Ms Rayner's push on targeting taxes instead of welfare, prompting the Tories to claim that the Cabinet was in 'open warfare'.
Kemi Badenoch taunted Sir Keir that his deputy was 'on manoeuvres' and 'calling the shots' on the economy.
Labour MPs have been insisting the government must fully reverse the winter fuel allowance cuts, rather than merely extend eligibility.
Many also believe that ministers will be unable to bring in changes in time for this winter, as the PM said plans would not be revealed until the Budget in the Autumn.
Former Labour prime minister Gordon Brown underlined demands for the two-child benefit cap to be lifted overnight - something Sir Keir has resisted up to now.
Making his winter fuel announcement at PMQs yesterday, Sir Keir said he understood 'that people are still feeling the pressure of the cost-of-living crisis, including pensioners'.
He added: 'As the economy improves, we want to make sure people feel those improvements in their days as their lives go forward. That is why we want to ensure that, as we go forward, more pensioners are eligible for winter fuel payments.'
The move could open the door for ministers to back down on an overhaul of disability benefits, which has seen a large number of Labour MPs threaten to rebel.