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.
And she told today’s Chopper’s Political Podcast that it is wrong to describe people are 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 which are keen to take the right to the resurgent Reform UK party.
Jo White with an inset of Rachel Reeves
GB NEWS/PA
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”.
Asked if she felt that the north of England had been largely ignored in Reeves’ speech, made at a Siemens factory near Oxford, 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, she said: “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”.
She 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.
She 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 supportive of individual local inquiries – like one in Telford- rather than an overarching national inquiry, as has been called for by the Conservatives.
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