Lisa Nandy appeared to have opened the door to a Labour civil war on Brexit as she accused Wes Streeting of a “fundamental misreading” of the public mood.
Announcing his intentions to challenge Keir Starmer for the leadership yesterday, the former Health Secretary called for the UK to rejoin the EU 10 years after the referedum.
Recating the speech of GB News, Ms Nandy described her colleague’s stance as “a bit odd” in the wake of their party’s local election drubbing to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK and Zack Polanski’s Green’s.
“We got an absolute kicking at the poles, and it hurt, and it still hurts,” she told Camilla Tominey.
“To respond to that with reentering the European Union seems to me to be a fundamental misreading of what people are asking us for,” the Culture Secretary said.
“If going back into the EU was the answer to the problems that people have in their lives, then we would be telling people in towns like mine that everything was fine in 2015.
“It absolutely wasn’t,” she declared.
However, Camilla pushed Ms Nandy on Keir Starmer’s own EU reset deal and on Andy Burnham’s apparent interest in rapprochement with Brussels.
Lisa Nandy has accused Wes Streeting of a ‘fundamental misreading’ on the public mood on Brexit
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GB NEWS
“I can say to you, like, hand on heart, that having spoken to the Prime Minister several times over the last week and been out campaigning with Andy in Makerfield yesterday, that the conversation was not about the European Union.
“Yes, we want to repair some of the damage we did with that really poor Brexit deal that harmed people’s living standards.
“But the answer to people’s problems is about making sure that people have good jobs that pay a decent wage, that they have opportunities for their kids to get on.
“We have to get on investing in our towns so that people have spending power on the high streets, and we don’t have boarded up shops and vape shops. That’s what we’re focused on and that’s what we’re going to deliver on,” the Culture Secretary insisted.
Wes Streeting called for the UK to rejoin the EU during his leadership bid speech
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PA
Camilla also pushed Ms Nandy on campaigning for Andy Burnham in nearby Makerfield.
The GB News host asked: “Aren’t you, as Culture Secretary, in the very odd position now of actively campaigning for the man who wants to replace the Prime Minister?”
“No, I don’t think so. We’ve got a by-election, Camilla. And as you would expect, it’s ten minutes down the road from my house.
“Of course, I’m going to be out campaigning most days to make sure that we get a Labour candidate elected,” the Wigan MP said.
Ms Mandy was also emphatic about Sir Keir’s to cling onto power in Downing Street.
“The Prime Minister has defied the odds many times, and he made a promise to the British people, which he feels strongly he doesn’t have the right to walk away from, and he is going to deliver.
To that end, she backed Mr Burnham to be an asset rather than a hindrance to Sir Keir.
“I’ve long said and believed that Andy’s loss was a real loss to Westminster. It was Greater Manchester’s gain.
“I think we need a much louder voice for towns like mine in Wigan and all of those towns across, you know, Ashton and other parts of Makerfield that have not had the public services, the investment, the infrastructure and the voice that we need for a very long time.
“Andy Burnham is an immensely powerful voice for those places. He wants to come back to Westminster, and I think he’ll be a real asset to us,” she said.