Red Wall Labour MPs need a Cabinet Minister to represent them amid “anger” about a southern bias in infrastructure spending plans set out by Rachel Reeves last week, the chair of the party’s influential “Red Wall Caucus” has said.
Jo White, the Labour MP for Bassetlaw, also said she wanted to see a Red Wall MP put into the Cabinet at the next reshuffle so the voice of MPs from areas which are facing strong competition from Reform UK are heard.
The Labour MP this week’s Chopper’s Political Podcast that it is wrong to describe people who are concerned about Pakistani-heritage rape gangs as “far right”.
White is the chair of the “Red Wall Caucus” of around 40 Labour MPs who represent previously industrial areas largely in the North and Midlands.
Labour MP Jo White
GB NEWS
The new grouping is determined to take the right to the resurgent Reform UK, with current opinion polls suggesting the populist party is cementing around 25 per cent of the vote.
Reeves’ speech unveiled plans for new reservoirs, a train line between Oxford and Cambridge and the green light for expansion of Heathrow, Gatwick and Luton airports in the south of England.
There were other spending commitments in the North of England, but they were more modest in comparison.
White complained that Reeves’ announcements had focused mainly on “low hanging fruit”.
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Chancellor Rachel Reeves
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Asked if she felt that the North of England had been largely ignored in Reeves’ speech, White, 60, who entered Parliament for the first time at the 2024 General Election, said: “I agree. There was a level of anger from my red wall colleagues.
“And my challenge to Rachel is, do that speech again in the North telling our story. Because by telling a story, you’re actually attracting inward investment and you’re attracting new businesses. So come to the north, please, Rachel. You are a Leeds MP.”
She added: “Tell our story – we have a good one. And where we want to invest and where we want to get the new skills and I’ll be clapping loudly from the sidelines.”
Asked if White wanted to see a northern voice in the Cabinet to speak for the Red Wall, the Bassetlaw MP told the People’s Channel: “Yes, I do, I most definitely do. If and when there’s a reshuffle, yes, I’d be loudly cheering for a strong voice for from a Red Wall seat.”
Turning to the scandal of the mainly Pakistani heritage rape gangs, White said it was wrong to dismiss people expressing concern about the scale of the problem as “far right”.
Christopher HopeGB NEWSShe said: “I don’t I don’t think they’re far right. I think that they are valuable concerns – what happened in Rotherham is next door to my constituency. And the patterns of behavior are being repeated across the country.”
It was “imperative” for the Government to implement all of the 22 recommendations in Alexis Jay’s report – as the Home Office has pledged to do.
White added: “What’s important is that we listen to and we value the voices of the people who have been abused and those who are the survivors. And we respond to their calls and we do what they want.”
She was also supportive of individual local inquiries – like one in Telford- rather than an overarching national inquiry, as has been called for by the Conservatives.
However, a Treasury source told GB News: “Instead of using the north as a political football we’re going for growth in all corners of the country. Whether it’s upgrading the TransPennine route, backing plans to reopen Doncaster Airport, or mass transit in West Yorkshire, this Government is about delivering on its promises, not gesture politics.”
Listen to the full interview with Jo White on Chopper’s Political Podcast on Apple podcasts, Spotify or watch it on GB News’ YouTube channel
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