Labour deputy leadership hopeful Bridget Phillipson sets out her pitch for job in the Mirror as she pledges to put the party’s soul in the heart of the Government
Prescott, Harman, Rayner. Great Labour deputy leaders who put our party’s soul into the heart of government with a mandate from the membership and a seat at the cabinet table.
Those are big shoes to fill but those are the footsteps I am pledging to follow in as deputy leader. Supporting, not undermining, this Labour government but also making sure it reflects the values that spurred party members to join in the first place.
I’ll make reducing child poverty the moral mission of this government and my deputy leadership. I guarantee to ensure it falls in this Parliament: because with the mandate to do more, I’ll have the power to my elbow to get it done.
I know what it feels like to grow up in poverty – it’s why I came into politics.
READ MORE: Two-child benefit limit impact ‘devastating’ on kids and we’ll ‘sort it’, Bridget Phillipson says
And it’s why as Education Secretary I’ve made a fairer deal for working class families a priority, with free breakfast clubs, extending free school meals to 100,000 more children and rolling out 30 hours of funded childcare for children from 9 months old.
I’ve shown that I’m not afraid to stand against vested interests so we can deliver for working people, like ending tax breaks on private schools to deliver more funding for state schools.
That’s the difference a Labour government makes. That’s why we choose power over protest.
As Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told Labour conference last week, delivering change is more difficult than demanding it. Working within the system is tougher than railing against it.
But the rewards are so much greater. Labour has never lifted a single child out of poverty from the opposition benches. Only Labour governments will do that.
Labour governments don’t have the luxury of internal navel gazing. There are kids to feed, public services to fund, a country to rebuild.
That’s why it’s so important we stay united and don’t turn in on ourselves at this crucial moment.
Because divided parties don’t win elections and they can’t deliver change. The stakes have never been higher: Farage would love to face a divided Labour Party in the crucial elections being held next year in Scotland, Wales and across England.
The rise of Farage threatens to unleash something darker. Only a united Labour Party can beat him.
As deputy leader with a mandate from the membership I will unite the party, put Labour values at the heart of this government and lead the fight against Farage and the far right.
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