‘We must act more like a Labour Government’: Lisa Nandy calls on Starmer to be ‘bold and radical’ in wake of Mandelson scandal
The Culture Secretary called on the Government to do more to support ‘ordinary people’
The Culture Secretary has called on the Government to be “bold and radical” in the wake of the Mandelson scandal, which nearly ended Sir Keir Starmer’s premiership.
Speaking to LBC’s Andrew Marr, Lisa Nandy signalled her support for the Prime Minister, saying he “doesn’t need to change” but called for Labour to be “bold and radical” in its support for “ordinary people.”
It comes after Sir Keir’s government almost collapsed on Monday following revelations over former US ambassador Peter Mandelson’s relationship with paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
Despite calls for him to quit, Cabinet ministers, including Ms Nandy, rallied around the PM.
Read more: Deputy Labour leader admits ‘we made mistakes’ after Starmer accused of appointing ‘paedophile apologists’
However, Ms Nandy has urged the Government to be bolder in its approach.
She told Andrew: “I don’t think the Prime Minister should change. I made that clear on Monday with the rest of the Cabinet.
“But if the Epstein files showed us anything, it’s that they laid bare the fact that there is a group of very powerful, very wealthy men who run systems and the system in their own interests.
“They look after each other and they screw everybody else. And women and girls have been the main victims of that through their association with Jeffrey Epstein.
“Out there in the country are a whole lot of people who’ve been telling us for years that the system is rigged against them.
“It doesn’t work in their interests; it works in the interests of other people. And we were elected on a mandate to change that.
“So we’re going to have to raise our level of ambition and we’re going to have to really start acting like a Labour government that is bold and is radical and is prepared to tilt the balance of power in favour of ordinary people in this country.”
This means a change in culture at Downing Street, Ms Nandy added.
“I’m talking about two things. I’m talking first of all about not just small change and incremental change, but really big change that actually changes people’s lives.
“So whether it’s the work that we’ve already done on things like re-nationalising the railways so that people come before profit, whether it’s the work that I’ve been doing on the football regulator, put fans back at the heart of the game and stop wealthy and powerful people collapsing football clubs all over the country, we need more of this.”
So far, Labour has been “behaving more like a government of national emergency” due to the inheritance left by the Conservatives, she added.
She said: “We need to start wearing our values on our sleeve and show that we’ve got the same passion for our people and our communities as they have, and that we’re prepared to stand up for them in any fight that they choose to fight and make sure that they win.”
It comes after Deputy Labour leader Lucy Powell told LBC the cabinet “made mistakes” in appointing Lord Mandelson and Lord Doyle after the Prime Minister was accused of hiring “paedophile apologists”.
Lucy Powell told LBC: “It’s not been good enough. At times we’ve made mistakes. Some of those very publicly and very noticeably. We’ve all been honest about that.”
“We do need to change the culture in how we are making decisions, and what we are doing,” she admitted.
Her comments came shortly after Kemi Badenoch accused Sir Keir Starmer of “stuffing Government with hypocrites and paedophile apologists” in fiery exchanges at Prime Minister’s Questions.
Taking aim at the PM, Badenoch accused Starmer of “stratospheric levels of delusion” as she insisted he “always puts the Downing Street Boys Club first”.
