Labour needs more Shabanas, not Angela Rayners

Angela Rayner’s response to the Green victory in the Gorton and Denton by-election was to say that Labour should be “braver”.

- John Rentoul, The Independent

Shabana Mahmood’ response was to do just that. The home secretary will next week press ahead with replacing permanent asylum with temporary status, defying those in her party to explain how tacking towards the Greens’ “open borders” policy would reflect Labour values. She wants to copy Denmark's Social Democrats, who deliberately sacrificed the support of what her team call “bourgeois” liberals to deliver the “firm but fair” immigration controls demanded by the majority.

That is what leadership looks like. Courageous, charismatic and can-do. Mahmood’ response to the conventional wisdom that Labour is under pressure to move to the left after losing to the Greens is: “What do you mean by ‘left'?” Instead of Rayner’s attention-seeking waffle about “a Labour agenda that puts people first”, Mahmood proposes a Labour agenda that puts people first. She is not the only one, Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, is reported to be keeping the young people's minimum wage below the 9I+ rate because she realisesthe danger of pricing young people out of jobs. Again, there is nothing left-wing about Green Party fantasy economics that would pay a “living wage” to everyone and put people out of work.