Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson threw her hat into the ring today to become deputy Labour leader as the race to succeed Angela Rayner began in earnest
Bridget Phillipson vowed there would be “no watering down” of workers rights reforms in a pitch to unions to become deputy Labour leader.
The Education Secretary threw her hat into the ring to succeed Angela Rayner in the role today, in what has become a six-way race.
Minister Alison McGovern, ex-Commons leader Lucy Powell, Foreign Affairs Committee chair Emily Thornberry and backbenchers Paula Barker and Bell Ribeiro Addy are also standing.
And in a well-timed appearance at the Trade Unions Congress today, she used her speech to quell fears from union leaders that the flagship Employment Rights Bill could be diluted.
Ms Phillipson told delegates in Brighton: “Let there be no doubt. One year ago we were elected to deliver this Employment Rights Bill and that is what we will do.
“We will not accept any watering down by the Lords. Forward with the Employment Rights Bill in full. No ifs, no buts – forward.”
She added: “That is our promise, that if people work for this country, this country will work for them.”
READ MORE: Labour deputy leadership contest kicks off as MPs race to succeed Angela Rayner
It comes after fears over the future of the bill hung over the TUC gathering, after Ms Rayner’s departure triggered a fresh push from business groups to water it down.
TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak said: “It was welcome to hear Bridget Phillipson strongly reaffirm the government’s commitment to delivering the Employment Rights Bill in full.
“That’s what unions expect – and most importantly it’s what the public wants too. Stronger workers’ rights like banning zero hours contracts, ending fire and rehire and sick pay from day one in the job are all common sense changes – and hugely popular right across the political spectrum.”
In her speech, Ms Phillipson took aim at Nigel Farage and the march of the right – and urged unions to stick with Labour “on the good days and bad”.
She also spoke with pride of how growing up in a council house in Washington, in the North East, shaped her. She said: “When I was young, a man turned up at the front door with a baseball bat. A few weeks earlier we’d been burgled and my mam had reported it to the police.
“That man had come back to scare her into silence but he didn’t know my mam very well. Even at 9-years-old I could have told him that he was wasting his time. She stood her ground, while he went to prison.
“From my mam I learned strength. Not the kind that preys on the weak, no I learned the kind that stands up to adversity. The strength to do what’s right when it would be easier to crumble.”
“That street of ours had challenges, yes of course. But there was kindness and compassion. There was our neighbour, who knew that we were struggling one winter, posted an envelope through the letter box marked ‘for Bridget’s coat’. I never forget that kindness.”
Ms Phillipson spoke of how education had transformed her life and how young people from backgrounds like hers needed the chance to thrive.
In a swipe at Reform UK, she said: “They come along with their simple slogans in answer to complex problems. They come happy to scapegoat, to talk of traitors, peddling their narrative of betrayal, seeking to divide us.”
She said talk of unity was not enough – and the Government must “show not tell” how it would change people’s lives.
“I know what it takes to go from a tough street of council houses into the Cabinet,” she said, “great schools, fantastic teachers, a strong sense of community.”
She added: “It’s forward with Labour to the 2030s or dragged back with Reform and Nigel Farage to the 1950s.”
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