Lack of trust sunk us, says Long-Bailey
National childcare service pledge
LABOUR lost the election because the party was not trusted, leadership hopeful Rebecca Long-Bailey admitted yesterday.
She said Labour had “the right answers to the right questions” but said some plans “should have been left for a longer-term goal”.
Mrs Long Bailey, 40, also reiterated her commitment to abolishing the House of Lords. She said: “To have a set of unelected people doing that I don’t think is right.”
Her bid received a boost yesterday when the pro-Corbyn Momentum campaign urged its members to back her.
LABOUR leadership hopeful Jess Phillips is calling for a national childcare service to be established to give help to all families.
Writing exclusively for the Mirror, Ms Phillips calls for “Scandinavianstyle universal childcare”.
She writes: “After the war, the 1945 Labour Government created the NHS. It was a simple idea that none of us can imagine living without: nobody should be ill because they can’t afford medical care.”
She goes on: “In the years ahead I want people to look back and ask: how did we manage before National Universal Childcare?”
Firing a broadside at the Labour manifesto voters rejected last month, she writes: “Winning back trust means we can’t have a never-ending shopping list of promises that people don’t believe.
“I will prioritise childcare to support mums, dads, nans and grandads, in the knowledge that their kids and grandkids are in good hands. “Like they do in Scandinavia.” Ms Phillips has already secured the 22 nominations needed so she can progress to the next stage of the contest.
Shadow Brexit Secretary Keir Starmer, Shadow Business Secretary Rebecca Long-Bailey and former Shadow Energy Secretary Lisa Nandy have also made it through.
The other contenders, Shadow Treasury Minister
Clive Lewis and Shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry, have until 2.30pm today to reach the threshold. Ms Thornberry said she was “fairly confident” she will get the numbers needed.
On BBC1’s The Andrew Marr Show, she said: “From the conversations I have had this weekend I am fairly confident that, as long as I don’t get any slippage, I will be fine. I am going to get across the line.
“It is a long contest and it will have its ups and downs.
“I have been a slow starter, but I did start from a standing start after the general election.”
She added: “I come from a long line of tough old birds and there have been lots of tough old birds in the Labour Party. It would be great for there to be one who becomes leader.”
In a speech today, Ms Nandy will pledge to rebuild “the red bridge” and put Labour back into power.
On BBC Radio 4’s The World This Weekend yesterday, she said: “Throughout our entire Labour history, we have never achieved real change in this country by taking the path of least resistance.
“We have to go out, win the argument and to do that most of all we have to make the argument.
“For the last few years what we’ve had is a vacuum of leadership across the party over issues like Brexit.
“And because of that what you’ve tended to find is that in both Leave and Remain areas the only way that our activists and our councillors could persuade the public that they were on their side was to stand against the national Labour Party.”
Jeremy Corbyn’s successor will be announced on April 4.
We can’t have never-ending shopping list of priorities that people don’t believe
JESS PHILLIPS CANDIDATE FOR LABOUR PARTY LEADERSHIP