In light of the current financial crisis under Liz Truss, Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner said that Boris Johnson would be “plotting his return, with a sparkle in his eye.”
After three weeks as Ms Truss’ premier, Ms Rayner stated in her farewell address to the Labour conference that markets were “in free fall.”
In pursuit of their beliefs, she said that the Prime Minister and Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng were trying to “plunge us into anarchy.”
She also said that the four-day Labour conference in Liverpool had shown to voters that the party was “ready to rule.”
Ms. Rayner, who partied at a drunken karaoke party last night, concluded the conference with a speech full of jokes and digs at the Conservatives.
In a change from previous years’ schedules, she was left to finish the event after Sir Keir Starmer gave his leader’s address on the concluding day of the conference yesterday.
Before the customary singing of the party’s “Red Flag” hymn, Ms. Rayner told Labour members it was a “great honor” to deliver the closing remarks.
“To end the week in the same manner as John Prescott once did, but I look better in a dress.” I want to make him proud,” she joked.
Ms. Rayner reminded Labour members that she “liked the traditions of our movement,” including the Tolpuddle Martyrs’ Festival and the Durham Miners’ Gala, which Sir Keir missed this year. This was a subtle jab at Sir Keir.
But there is one event in our history that I will never celebrate: losing elections, she said.
“Imagine how it would feel gathering here in this hall after a term of a Labour administration in a few years.”
Ms. Rayner spoke immediately after the startling announcement by the Bank of England that it would purchase long-term government debt in an effort to calm recent market turmoil.
The latest news since Mr. Kwarteng’s tax-cutting mini-Budget last week was being absorbed by the City as Ms. Rayner ripped at the Tories’ track record as the government.
Those who support the free market? The market is falling drastically. The lush and attractive land of England? She continued, “Frack it.”
“From the stable party to triggering earthquakes.” From the business party to a reprimand from the IMF.
In the midst of Ms. Truss’s difficult leadership, the Labour deputy leader said, Mr. Johnson would be preparing a comeback in his political career.
I believe he’ll be planning his return from the back benches, thinking, “I wasn’t that horrible after all…was I,” she remarked. And what an unfortunate situation it is.
Given Labour’s protracted period in opposition, Ms. Rayner acknowledged that elections often gave people the impression that they had to decide between “values or competence” and “a decision of heart versus head.”
She said, “I say to people watching at home – this week we have proved it’s a decision you will never have to make again,” implying that Labour’s leadership is gaining confidence.
The Tories have also shown it during the last week. The Conservative Party no longer presents as knowledgeable and reliable.
“Today’s Tories will engulf us in turmoil to uphold their orthodoxy,” they say.
Later, Mr. Johnson’s estranged former main advisor Dominic Cummings contributed to rumors that the former prime minister was planning a return.
He said that a ‘fear’ that their conduct may enable Mr Johnson to get ‘back in’ was ‘one of the reasons holding back’ Tory MPs from another leadership battle after Ms Truss was removed from office.
The former No. 10 staffer continued by saying he could “promise” Mr. Johnson would be considering a return “right now.”