Politics
Farage ‘seems to hate foreigners’ but ‘loves their money’, says Lucy Powell
Lucy Powell has accused Nigel Farage of hypocrisy over immigration, telling Labour conference that he “seems to hate foreigners so much” but “really does love their money”.
In her first conference speech as deputy leader, Powell described the Reform UK leader as “a modern-day love child of Enoch Powell and Margaret Thatcher”.
The education secretary said: “Nigel Farage wants us to all blame immigrants for our country’s ills. He wants a race to the bottom on workers’ rights and deregulation. Especially for his billionaire crypto mates. He believes in trickle-down economics, that never actually trickles down.
“Conference, he’s just a modern-day love child of Enoch Powell and Margaret Thatcher. And quite bizarrely, for someone who seems to hate foreigners so much, he really does love their money, doesn’t he?”
Powell also turned her fire on the Conservatives, saying they appear to be “somewhere between an identity crisis and collective amnesia”. She told delegates the British people “won’t forget the damage they did in 14 years of government. They left this country worse off, our public services hollowed out, and now they’ve got the nerve to lecture us on the crises they created.”
She said: “Our opponents are locked in the arguments of the past, while we look to the future. And that’s how we’ll win, and I am confident there’s a majority in this country who agree.”
Powell acknowledged Labour’s poor performance at the 2026 May elections, telling delegates: “We lost hundreds of great Labour representatives across the UK. There’s no sugar-coating it. We let you down and you deserved better. And I’m sorry.”
She argued that the party had been “diligently getting on with the job” but must now “make the argument and win it”. Praising the leadership of prime minister Andy Burnham, she said he was “showing us the why, not just the what”.
Powell pointed to a list of government achievements, including free school meals for more than 3 million children, recognising the state of Palestine, lifting of the two-child benefit cap and ending hereditary peers sitting in the House of Lords.
Turning to her brief at the Department for Education, Powell described education as “the passport to success” and said she led “the department of hope”.
She said: “We’re introducing new vocational GCSEs alongside T Levels and V Levels and new apprenticeships post 16.
“High quality, high esteem, underpinned by national standards in subjects in demand for the future economy. I’m ending the snobbery towards technical education.
“Not a two-tier system, far from it, but technical excellence alongside academic excellence too.”
Powell also took a swipe at former education secretary Michael Gove, who she said had accused her of “bringing back stupid”.
She said: “Michael Gove wants all the plaudits for the good bits but wants to take no responsibility for the bad. I think Ofsted would say he Requires Improvement. Although of course under the new framework he’d need attention. Let’s not give him anymore of that because he loves it too much.
“We’re not bringing back stupid, conference – we’re bringing back hope.”
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