Angela Rayner issues desperate pitch for top job under Andy Burnham – and calls for next prime minister to keep paying Labour’s sky-high benefits bill

Angela Rayner has made a naked pitch for a top job under Andy Burnham as she presses Labor to maintain its sky-high spending on benefits.

In a clear indication of the pressures the next prime minister will face on defense spending, the former deputy prime minister insisted those claiming aid ‘are not lazy people out of work’.

Ms Rayner, who was forced to resign following a tax scandal, has been tipped to take up a senior role under Mr Burnham and made references to devolution and social housing in a speech on Tuesday.

The ‘Red Queen’ boasted that she insisted on £39 billion in funding for social housing during talks with the Treasury while in Government and that she would ‘do it again’.

In a sign of lobbying from Labour’s left, Ms Rayner said Mr Burnham would be faced with a challenge over how to fund the increase in defense spending if he is appointed to No 10: ‘The same goes for welfare.’

Shadow work and pensions secretary Helen Whately told the Mail: ‘No matter who is in charge of the Labor Party, there is always the instinct to spend more and tax more, especially when it comes to benefits, but when it comes to protecting our country, the kitty is empty.

‘Now that Keir Starmer has finally made time for his terrible premiership, Labor has a chance to change course. ‘Sadly, if Angela Rayner is anything to go by, Labor will continue a bloated welfare bill while our armed forces remain underfunded.’

In her speech at the Social Mobility Symposium, Ms Rayner described her record as a housing secretary before she was forced to resign after underpaying stamp duty.

Social housing looks set to be a key part of Mr Burnham’s government agenda. In his campaign opening speech he said he wanted ‘the largest town hall program since the Second World War’.

He said: ‘I’ve put my foot down and demanded £39bn for social and affordable housing and the Treasury won’t thank me. ‘I was the last person to set my budget, but I would still do it again.’

Social housing looks set to be a key part of Mr Burnham’s government agenda. In his campaign opening speech he said he wanted ‘the largest town hall program since the Second World War’.

The so-called ‘King of the North’ also suggested this could be funded by redirecting the existing £39bn affordable housing programme, which Ms Rayner referred to entirely towards social rented homes.

After boasting of ‘digging in my heels’ to force the Treasury to fund social housing, Ms Rayner added: ‘The same goes for welfare. You hear arguments in favor of taking away people’s support.

‘Families are being told to pick themselves up where they are. Going to the food bank to feed your kids while you’re at work is no fun.

‘Increasing your salary is no fun because you’re not earning a real living wage. These aren’t lazy people on unemployment benefits, they’re working families who can’t keep up.’

Recalling her own experience as a young single mother who left school without taking any GCSEs and went on to become a Cabinet minister, Ms Rayner said: ‘When we were growing up the one thing we always had was our council house.

‘No matter what happens to us, no one can take our home away from us.’

The former housing secretary also touted controversial workers’ rights laws and praised Labour’s move to scrap the two-child benefit cap, urging the party to ‘have the courage to say these are our values ​​and we stand by them’.