Wes Streeting has paid tribute to Angela Rayner and said Labour “wants her back and needs her back”.
The health secretary heaped praise on his former cabinet colleague during a wide-ranging speech at the annual party conference, which was packed with attacks on Reform UK leader Nigel Farage.
Ms Rayner resigned as deputy party leader and housing secretary after a row about her tax affairs earlier this month.
Politics Live: Day three of annual Labour conference
Addressing members gathered in Liverpool, Mr Streeting said Labour’s new fair pay agreement for care workers could not have been achieved without her.
He said: “There’s someone else who’s made a real difference, who understands the struggle care workers face because she was one.
“She brought that experience to the cabinet table as the care worker who became our country’s deputy prime minister. Angela Rayner, this achievement is yours. Thank you.”
There was a big round of applause as Mr Streeting added: “And we want her back as well. We’ll definitely make sure she sees that. We need her back.”
The message could be seen as trying to get grassroots members onside amid grim polling predictions for Labour and questions over whether Sir Keir Starmer can survive.
Ms Rayner is popular with the Labour membership – they elected her as deputy leader in 2020, but she gave up this position as well as her cabinet roles when it emerged she had underpaid stamp duty on a flat in Hove.
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In his speech, Mr Streeting also praised the Unison and GMB unions for standing up for care workers.
However, that was as far as his good will stretched – as he launched several stinging attacks on his opponents.
Farage ‘snake oil salesman’
The cabinet minister, seen as one of the government’s best communicators, accused Mr Farage of being the “snake oil salesman” of British politics and vowed to send him “packing” at the next election.
He argued that while Labour wants to modernise the NHS – with plans for an “online” hospital – the Reform leader wants an insurance system that “checks your pockets before your pulse”.
“It might be right for Mr Moneybags. We know he can afford it. But what about those who can’t?” Mr Streeting asked.
“Be in no doubt. It’s not reform he’s offering. It’s a retreat. If that’s the fight Farage wants, I say bring it.”
Mr Farage has previously spoken about being open to an insurance based model for the NHS, drawing a big dividing line with the Labour Party, which founded the National Health Service after the Second World War.
Mr Streeting said the party must win another fight too, “against the poison of post-truth politics”.
He pointed to Reform’s recent conference, where a “discredited doctor claimed that the COVID vaccine gave our Royal Family cancer“.
“This man wasn’t just some fringe figure, he’s Reform’s health adviser. These anti-vax lies have consequences, they’ve led to the return of diseases we thought we had defeated,” said Mr Streeting.
“Nigel Farage is a snake oil salesman of British politics and it’s time to stop buying what he’s selling.”
A Reform spokesperson previously said the doctor was a “guest speaker with his own opinions who has an advisory role in the US government”.
“Reform UK does not endorse what he said but does believe in free speech,” they added.
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Trouble ahead
Mr Streeting’s speech reflects government efforts to ramp up its rhetoric against Reform UK, after two major polls predicted the insurgent party will win the next general election as fed-up voters abandon mainstream politics.
While that is many years away, some MPs see the devolved and local elections next May as a crunch test that could determine Sir Keir’s political survival.
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Mr Streeting acknowledged this threat, saying it is not just Mr Farage Labour would “send packing”.
He said: “Whether it’s English nationalism with Reform, Scottish nationalism with the SNP or Welsh nationalism with Plaid we’ll take them all on.”
Mr Farage said attacks on him were a “desperate last throw of the dice” for a party in “deep trouble”, adding: “Never before have I seen one name that’s dominated a conference so much – yes it’s me, Nigel Farage.”
