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Have you heard about this campaign called Anyone But Ange
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It's the plot to block Angela Rayner from entering No. 10 as Prime Minister
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Some Labour ministers and MPs have launched this Anyone But Ange campaign
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in an attempt to keep Rayner out of No. 10 after the local elections
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The former Deputy Prime Minister is understood to be considering mounting a leadership challenge against Keir Starmer
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after next week's local elections, depending, of course, on how poorly Labour performs across the country
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Her ambitions are alarming some MPs. the question is why? Let's ask John Rentool, the Independent Chief Political Advisor. Hi, John
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Hello, Vanessa. What a joy to be back on your show. How nice to have you on my show, John. So, anyone but Anne. Why anyone but Anne? What's the problem
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with Anne? Well, it's not true, is it? Well, because Angela Rayner is actually very unpopular
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with the general public. I mean, Labour members love her, although not quite as much as they love
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Andy Burnham but they do they do like her but she's extremely unpopular with the general public
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and Labour MPs know that and they know that although you know there's a lot of pressure on
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Keir Starmer at the moment and there's a lot of talk about him going they think that replacing him
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with with Angela Rayner would only make matters worse for them. That's interesting because when
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you say she's very popular with the party party members I had wondered whether the reason why
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she's so popular with them is because they think she's popular with the public because she's a working class girl and there are pictures of her
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you know, sitting in that boat or whatever she was doing on the beach with a few tinnies
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And you know, you see her up with a DJ and we know that only the other day the story is that she was so drunk that she fell into a door and did serious damage to the door in Westminster You know that story I don know whether you can confirm whether that apocryphal or not Is it true It denied Did you hear it Some people said the dent in the door
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was visible and that Angela emerged unscathed. I wasn't there, but I know people who were
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who swear that it happened. It did happen, yeah. They say so. And it is certainly true that the
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door was taken away for repairs afterwards, but it may have been falling apart anyway
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But I thought that the kind of basis for her popularity amid party members was because they think
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that she flies with the public because she's identifiable. She's had a very..
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No one can say she hasn't had a very difficult life, and she has. And she's overcome all these different challenges
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and she's made it to exalted high office and people can see themselves in her and hope in her
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And she's also got a sense of humour, which is as earthy as heck. I've actually encountered a bit of that myself
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Some of it's slightly sort of eye-wateringly earthy. But, you know, she's got that thing, hasn't she
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She's got a USP. She's got some real personality to her. Yes. As you say, a real, an extraordinary life story
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I mean, she has achieved amazing things in her. Yes, yes. And I think, you know, I think all that is wonderful
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I don't agree with her politics. Although, you know, I find her rather hard to assess
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I mean, I think many of her instincts are Blairite. She was the only Corbyn supporter who was prepared to say nice things about Tony Blair
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when she was in his shadow cabinet. but her record as a minister was disappointing she didn't she didn't build any of those 1.5
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million houses she's crushed the private rental sector and we're going to be talking about that
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in the third hour of our program we going to be right i mean you know very well very well um measures to protect tenants but they will I afraid have entirely counterproductive effects and make it much harder for young people to get rented accommodation
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What about her current situation with HMRC, you know, and tax and the stamp duty
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I personally don't take a very stern view about that. I mean, I think that was an understandable mistake
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I mean, she should have been more careful. But I mean, I am surprised by what a lot of
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normal people say. They're very disapproving of it. They regard her as a tax dodger
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and they think she's up to no good. And I'm afraid it does feed into the perception that
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politicians are always on the take, which is completely unfair. But I mean, that feeds into
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the fact that she is very unpopular. And I'm afraid a lot of that is the last acceptable prejudice
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which is anti-working class prejudice because people don't like the way she talks
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They think it's not what you'd expect of a respectable cabinet minister or a possible prime minister
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And I'm afraid people just do not like her. And what do they fear would happen were she to enter number 10 in that exalted position
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What do they think that she might bring about that would really not be good for the country? Or possibly the party? I don't know what they fear most, I don't know
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Well, there are two things that Labour MPs are worried about. One is that she's unpopular and she would quickly be as unpopular as Keir Starmer is now
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But the other is that her instincts might lead her to for example make Ed Miliband Chancellor of the Exchequer And they don think that a sensible thing for for the country and I I would absolutely agree with them if if there any risk
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that she would do that I would say she should absolutely not become prime minister. And her
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relationship with the unions cordial friendly? Well yes and and and there's no bad no harm in
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that except that I think her employment rights legislation again was counterproductive and
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made it harder for young people to get jobs because it made it made employers it made it
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more burdensome for employers to to take on new workers and I think again that was that was
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absolutely the wrong direction and if she became prime minister there'd be more of that and I think
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Labour MPs are quite right to hesitate. So if it's anyone but Ange who would be your pick I mean do
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think Keir Starmore will just grimly hold on to the bitter end or can you are you thinking of
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West Streeting as a what as a great young horse yes yeah no West Streeting would be my would be
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my candidate I'm a Blairite I think West Streeting and and Siobhan and Mahmood are the two outstanding
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cabinet ministers either of them would make an excellent prime minister but the Labour Party
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members who get the final choice don't agree with me so I think we're in a we're in a sort of
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deadlock situation. I mean, when Labour MPs say anybody but Ange, what they mean is anybody but
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Angela Rayner or Ed Miliband or anybody of that stripe. And they really want Wes
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Streeting to come in and rescue them, but they can't have him because Labour members
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are more likely to vote for somebody else
