Emily Thornberry joins deputy Labour leader race and says Gaza and wealth tax among her priorities – UK politics live | Politics
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Emily Thornberry says she is standing for deputy Labour leader, with Gaza and support for wealth tax key part of her campaign
Emily Thornberry, the chair of the Commons foreign affairs committee, has confirmed that she is standing to be Labour’s deputy leader.
In a statement on social media, she says:
I’m running for Deputy Leader of the Labour Party.
We fought hard for a Labour government. But we’ve made mistakes and must listen.
Welfare. Gaza. Wealth tax. Changes to come on SEND.
I will be a voice for the membership, unions, PLP, and our constituents – not just nod along.
Thornberry was in Keir Starmer’s shadow cabinet, as shadow attorney general, but was surprised after the election not to get a government job. Starmer chose Lord Hermer KC, an old friend and legal colleague, for attorney general instead.
Thornberry’s announcement means there are now three confirmed candidates, representing three strands of party opinion. They are:
Loyalist/pro-government: Bridget Phillipson
Soft left: Emily Thornberry
Left: Bell Ribeiro-Addy
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After much encouragement, I have decided to stand for deputy leader of the Labour party.
Living with my family in my home city, Manchester, has rooted my politics in an understanding of people’s everyday hopes and fears.
These are the experiences our MPs and party members hear too. As our deputy leader, I would ensure these are at the heart of what we do and how we operate, bringing together all parts of the party and uniting our broad voter coalition.
Over the last year, as part of the Labour government I was proud to serve, I have championed our backbenchers, made sure their voices were heard, and sought to unite our team.
We must use all our talents and experience to ensure our Labour government, led by our prime minister, is successful in delivering our mandate of change.
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I will fight every day to deliver this change.
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Q: What do you think of figures out today showing the number of days workers take off sick to be at the highest level for 15 years?
Badenoch said these figures were “extraordinary”. She claimed that some people had just “switched off work”. And the extension of remote health assessments had made it easier of people report sick.
Q: [From the Telegraph’s Daniel Martin] What do you think of the government’s plan to tighten the way the European convention on human rights (ECHR) is interpreted in the UK to deal with small boats?
Badenoch said she would announce her policy on the ECHR soon.
But she did not believe Labour on the ECHR, she added.
I remember when Shabana Mahmood [home secretary] was signing letters saying we shouldn’t deport foreign criminals. She actually signed those letters. They voted against all of the measures which we were trying to bring in to bring down immigration … So I’m not really convinced that their heart is in this.
Q: [From the Telegraph’s Camilla Tominey] You say you are serious, and can be trusted on the economy. But we have not heard economic policies from you. And when you were in office, you were anti-business, putting up taxes for business. What will you do on tax?
Badenoch said, as business secretary, she knew what business wanted. There were ‘“many mistakes’” the party made in government. She was not chancellor, she said.
As an example of a new policy, she mentioned her net zero speech last week.
Q: [From the Sun’s Ryan Sabey] Nigel Farage recently said that it was 50/50 that you would be gone by Christmas? Is this the start of the fightback, or make or break for you?
Badenoch said that Farage could say what he liked. At the weekend in interviews he could not say how he would deliver his policies. He was not serious, she said.
Badenoch rules out getting rid of pension triple lock
Q: The cost of the pensions triple lock is going up. If Labour were to proposing getting rid of it, would you back them on that?
Badenoch replied:
No. The triple lock is Conservative policy, has been, and it continues to be.
She said her priority would be to cut spendinng on health and sickness benefits.
And she said, if the country were to achieve 3% growth, concerns about the cost of the triple lock would go away.
(This answer is firmer than Badenoch’s previous answers on the triple lock have been. In the past, while she has said support for the triple lock is current Conservative party policy, she has been reluctant to say that will still be the case at the time of the next election.)
Q: Do you still think you can cut welfare spending by £12bn?
Badenoch said that was a figure from the last election. She said it may be possible to find more savings. But she said she wanted to find “common ground” on this with Labour.
Q: [From Christopher Hope from GB News]At the PLP meeting last night Keir Starmer talked about the threat to Labour posed by Reform UK and the Greens. Are you worried you are becoming irrelevant?
Badenoch said that Starmer is facing a crisis. He is only focused on what the Labour party is thinking, she said. She said she was focusing on the issues affecting the country.
And she accused Reform UK of wanting higher welfare spending.
