Sir Keir Starmer has been told by an ex-Cabinet minister to raise taxes to fight off the threat posed by Nigel Farage. Louise Haigh, who resigned as transport secretary in November, urged the Prime Minister to “rip up” the Labour Government’s “self-imposed” tax rules against raising income tax, VAT or National Insurance.

Ms Haigh, writing in The Times, said doing so would allow for “serious” investment and re-industrialisation to show voters the Government is on their side. Her comments come after Mr Farage’s Reform UK took more than 600 seats and won control of 10 local authorities in the local elections on Thursday (May 1). The party also gained a fifth MP in the Runcorn and Helsby by-election, beating Labour by just six votes.

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In her op-ed, Ms Haigh accused Sir Keir of failing to acknowledge any need to change course after he committed to doubling down on the Government’s plans “while haemorrhaging votes” to parties on the left and right of Labour.

Sir Keir pledged to go “further and faster” with his plans in response to the polls, which also saw the Conservative Party lose over 600 councillors.

Ms Haigh, who is a popular figure on the left of her party, said it was “urgent” for Labour to develop a vision which would take the fight to Reform UK. She called for an “economic reset” which invovled “ripping up” the party’s tax rules.

She wrote: “Voters are desperate for change and they’ve sensed from us that we’re not capable or interested in delivering it.”

Publication of her comments came after Health Secretary Wes Streeting admitted the threat from Reform UK was “real” and Mr Farage’s party was being treated as a “serious opposition force”.

He told Sky: “I think there’s clearly, on the right of British politics, a realignment taking place. It’s not yet clear whether at the next general election it will be Reform or the Conservatives that are Labour’s main challenges, but we’ve got to take that threat seriously.

“In that spirit, I think Reform does deserve more air time and scrutiny of their policies… I don’t know whether it will be Reform or the Conservatives that emerge as the main threat.

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“I don’t have a horse in that race, but like Alien Vs Predator, you don’t really want either one to win, but one of them will emerge as the main challenger to Labour at the next general election.”

Labour MP Dan Carden said it is “now life or death” for the Government and the party. The leader of the Blue Labour group of MPs said: “We believe the party can still be saved – if it remembers who it was built for. We believe Keir Starmer could be a great prime minister.”

Writing in The Mail on Sunday, he called on Labour to “grasp the opportunities” of Brexit and close half of the country’s universities and turn them into vocational colleges.

Labour backbencher Emma Lewell said the Government had made unnecessary choices, such as on winter fuel and welfare reforms, which cost the party at the ballot box. She said Labour needs a “change of plan” rather than a “plan for change”.

Ms Lewell wrote in the Mirror: “The Labour Party doesn’t need to lurch right or left, we need to do what we say we will do and do it in line with our core values and principles of social justice and fairness.”