Keir Starmer urged to 'reshuffle Rachel Reeves' by ex-Labour MP after 'foolish' handling of winter fuel: 'She will completely squander our chances!'

The ex-Labour MP stated: "I think that there is still a chance for Labour to turn it around for the next election and to win, probably with a coalition or reduced majority.

"But if Rachel continues in post and continues in the vein that she has, that will be completely squandered."

Criticising her handling of the scrapping and subsequent U-turn on winter fuel payments, Russell-Moyle accused the Chancellor of making a hasty decision after being confronted with challenging economic data.

He fumed: "I think she made a decision, she panicked when she saw the awful figures that came in and the Treasury officials thought this is a good moment to get rid of a policy that we've never really liked, put it in front of her, get it signed off.

"And the political reality has now hit that it was deeply unpopular and it was the wrong thing to do. There were cleverer ways of doing it, and we have reversed it. And the best thing to do when you get something wrong is to reverse."

Russell-Moyle criticised the Winter Fuel Allowance cut as "deeply unpopular" and "the wrong thing to do", arguing there were "cleverer ways of doing it".

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He explained: "I think her ability to step back and look to see where there are other levers that can be pushed is different now, and that wasn't able to be done at the time.

"But I do think it was a foolish thing to do so quickly, so early on, without giving yourself time to really look to see where the difficulties in the economy were which they weren't around the Winter Fuel Allowance."

Delivering his verdict on Labour's chances at the next general election, Russell-Moyle admitted that there is "still a chance" for Labour to "turn it around for the next election" and to win, probably with a coalition or reduced majority.

However, he told GB News: "But if Rachel continues in post and continues in the vein that she has, that will be completely squandered."

In a pointed criticism of the Chancellor, the former Labour MP claimed: "She is the least liked, when I knock on the doors of everyone, and I think that backbenchers know that."

Offering a solution for Starmer, Russell-Moyle suggested that the Labour Government either needs a "change of direction" on the economy, or Starmer must "look to reshuffle".

Russell-Moyle concluded: "So, either she needs to have a complete chance of direction, or what I think is probably more likely is before the next election Keir Starmer will need to look to reshuffle."