Angela Rayner compares herself to John Prescott ‘but better looking in a dress’ as she closes Labour conference with warning that Boris is ‘gleefully plotting his comeback thanks to Liz Truss and Kwasi chaos’
- Angela Rayner claims Boris Johnson will be ‘plotting his comeback’ amid ‘chaos’
- Labour deputy leader delivers closing speech at party’s Liverpool conference
- She jokes she ‘looks better in a dress’ than ex-Labour deputy PM John Prescott
Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner today joked Boris Johnson will be ‘plotting his comeback, with a glint in his eye’ amid financial turmoil under Liz Truss.
As she delivered the final speech at Labour’s conference, Ms Rayner claimed markets were ‘in free fall’ after three weeks of Ms Truss’s premiership.
She accused the Prime Minister and Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng of an effort to ‘plunge us into chaos in pursuit of their dogma’.
And she insisted Labour’s four-day gathering in Liverpool had shown voters the party was ‘ready to govern’.
Ms Rayner – who partied at a boozy karaoke bash last night – wrapped up the conference with an address filled with gags and a series of swipes at the Tories.
She was left to close the event after Sir Keir Starmer had delivered his leader’s speech during yesterday’s penultimate day of the conference – in a shake-up of the schedule compared with recent years.
Ms Rayner told Labour members it was a ‘great honour’ to make the final speech before the traditional singing of the party’s ‘Red Flag’ anthem.
‘To close the week just as John Prescott did back in the day: although I look better in a dress. I hope to do him proud,’ she quipped.
Angela Rayner – who partied at a boozy karaoke bash last night – wrapped up Labour’s conference with an address filled with gags and a series of swipes at the Tories
Labour’s deputy leader joked Boris Johnson will be ‘plotting his comeback, with a glint in his eye’ amid financial turmoil under Liz Truss
Ms Rayner was left to close the event after Sir Keir Starmer delivered his leader’s speech yesterday – in a shake-up of the schedule compared with recent years
In a veiled dig at Sir Keir, Ms Rayner told Labour members she ‘loved the traditions of our movement’ such as the Durham Miners’ Gala – which Sir Keir skipped this year – and the Tolpuddle Martyrs’ Festival.
She added: ‘But there is one part of our history that I will never celebrate – losing elections.
‘Think how it will feel meeting here in this hall in a few years’ time after a term of a Labour government.’
Ms Rayner spoke shortly after the Bank of England dramatically intervened to announce it will buy long-term government debt in a bid to ease recent market chaos.
As the City digested the latest development since Mr Kwarteng’s tax-cutting mini-Budget last week, Ms Rayner tore into the Tories’ record in Government.
‘Defenders of the free market? The market’s in free fall. England’s green and pleasant land? Frack it,’ she added.
‘From the party of stability to causing earthquakes. From the party of business, to a slap down from the IMF.’
Ms Rayner joked she ‘looked better in a dress’ than former Labour deputy PM John Prescott, who used to deliver the party’s closing conference speech
Mr Johnson, pictured out running this week, was also suggested to be plotting a comeback by his estranged former aide Dominic Cummings
The Labour deputy leader claimed, amid the turbulent start to Ms Truss’s premiership, the PM’s predecessor Mr Johnson would be planning a revival of his political career.
She said: ‘I think he’ll be sat on the backbenches plotting his come back, with a glint in his eye, thinking “I wasn’t so bad after all…was I!” And what a sorry state of affairs that is.’
In acknowledgement of Labour’s long spell out of power, Ms Rayner admitted that elections often left voters feeling they have a ‘choice of heart versus head’ and ‘values or competence’.
But, suggesting that Labour’s leadership is growing in confidence, she added: ‘I say to those watching at home – this week we have shown it’s a choice you will never have to make again.
‘And this past week, the Tories have shown it too. The Conservative Party are no longer pretending to be competent and stable.
‘Today’s Tories will plunge us into chaos in pursuit of their dogma.’
Dominic Cummings, Mr Johnson’s estranged former chief adviser, later added to suggestions the former PM would be plotting his comeback.
He claimed ‘one of the things holding back’ Tory MPs from another leadership contest – following an ousting of Ms Truss – was a ‘fear’ their action could allow Mr Johnson ‘back in’.
The ex-No10 aide added he could ‘guarantee’ Mr Johnson would be thinking about a comeback ‘right now’.
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