Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner said she had been told proposals to bring back an electoral college are not on the agenda for the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting on Saturday.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, she said: “We’ve got an NEC meeting later today.

“I’m told that the electoral college is not on the order paper for the NEC – I haven’t seen it because I got up at 5am this morning to speak to all of you in the media.

“But, you know what, that is not uncommon.”

Asked whether leader Sir Keir Starmer’s proposals were likely to be voted on at conference, Ms Rayner added: “Some will, some won’t because that’s the natural rhythm of how conference works.”

Pressed on whether the reforms for how a future leader is elected will be voted on, she replied: “I’ve told you my understanding is that the electoral college is not coming to the NEC, so therefore that wouldn’t.”

Angela Rayner says the government’s fuel crisis has added to the “double whammy” for working families of increases to National Insurance and cuts to universal credit.

Speaking to BBC Breakfast, she said: “The money that’s going in to people’s pockets has been significantly reduced.”

Ms Rayner said Labour was calling for a “minimum floor” in employment practices to help businesses keep staff.

“Those staff are happier, (businesses) retain them within their workforce, and they don’t have to reskill people again and skill people up, so it actually has benefits for employers.

“We are behind other European countries, we’re behind in the world on these sort of protections that people have, and we want to make sure that we bring that to the British people.”

Left-wing campaign group Momentum said proposals to bring back Labour’s electoral college were “dead”.

Mish Rahman, a member of Labour’s National Executive Committee (NEC) and Momentum’s national co-ordinating group, said: “The central measure of Keir Starmer’s attack on democracy has comprehensively failed.

“The electoral college is dead.

“Now to make sure all the other regressive rule changes concocted by the leadership share the same fate.

“From trigger ballot changes to increases in the MP nomination threshold ahead, they all need to go in the bin.

“Starmer won’t stop trying to rig democracy, so we can’t stop defending it.”

Angela Rayner has insisted better pay and working conditions will ease pressure on employers by boosting staff retention and cutting the number of working days lost to sick leave.

“Having good employment practices – and we see that it’s in all parts of the sector – means that you have good staff retention (and) we have those skills that are retained within the organisation,” she told BBC Breakfast.

She continued: “Good employers are already doing this.

“We do think it’s about time that we have these minimum standards because we’ve seen this epidemic of insecure work and low pay, which is causing a crisis and vacancies in things like social care.”

The deputy Labour leader added: “It delivers poorer services and those employers are now finding it incredibly difficult to retain the staff that they need and to skill them up.

“This is part of that programme to enable employers to get the skills they need, but also means that workers can have that guarantee and those reassurances, and it’s about a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work.”

Deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner has described her “frustration” at government policies that have led to the expected announcement that visa rules for foreign drivers will be relaxed.

Speaking to BBC Breakfast on Saturday, she said: “It’s frustrating that we’ve got to this point that the government are having to do that, because their own policies created this situation we’ve got in the first place.”

Ms Rayner urged people not to panic buy but added: “The government does need to address this issue but it has been a long time coming – we know that lorry and HGV drivers are skilled workers.

“This was coming down the tracks and the government haven’t done anything to address it, and now we face this crisis.”

Matt Wrack, general secretary of the Fire Brigades Union (FBU), said it would be a “bit rushed” for Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer to bring his party reforms to the autumn conference.

The trade union leader, who was part of a Trade Union and Labour Party Liaison Organisation (Tulo) meeting this week to discuss the proposals with Sir Keir, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I think the first thing to say is what do people want out of Labour conference?

“We’ve got a jobs crisis coming up, a living standards crisis coming, energy crisis and so on.

“If Labour is going to win power and take on the Tories, I think people need to see Labour standing up for working people and that’s what we want, and I’m sure that’s what Labour voters want to hear – not a debate around how we elect a leader or select Labour MPs, and obviously how that will engage people wondering who to vote for.”

Mr Wrack added: “The Tulo organisation, the 12 affiliated unions, have agreed that we want consensus and the only way we can have consensus is if we meet. And there are no plans to meet.

“The conference starts today, so it seems a bit rushed to try and bring major proposals about the constitution of the Labour Party in a morning.”

Sir Keir Starmer has abandoned plans to overhaul Labour’s rulebook by changing the way future leaders are elected in a major climbdown just as the party’s annual conference kicks off.

It comes after the Labour leader endured a “car crash” meeting with union chiefs on Friday afternoon in which he failed to drum up support for the reintroduction of the electoral college system.

Our political correspondent Ashley Cowburn has the full story:

It looks like Keir Starmer has U-turned on plans to change the way future leaders are elected at the eleventh hour.

Our political correspondent Ashley Cowburn has this report:

Keir Starmer has abandoned plans to overhaul Labour’s rulebook by changing the way future leaders are elected in a major climbdown just as the party’s annual conference kicks off.

The opposition leader had wanted to rewrite the regulations for his party’s internal elections in a move critics said was an attempt to “gerrymander” future leadership elections to the disadvantage of the left.

A senior source told The Independent the proposal to return to the electoral college system — giving MPs a greater say in leadership contests — had been dropped, but insisted Sir Keir will come forward with “different changes” to party conference.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner added: “My understanding is the electoral college is not coming to the NEC [National Executive Committee] so therefore that wouldn’t [be voted on]”.

Asked whether the proposed changes were on or off, the deputy leader added: “Conference is a time where we discuss things like rules… these are things that conference does every year, year upon year.”

Labour has confirmed party leader Sir Keir Starmer will put his reforms for electing future leaders to its National Executive Committee (NEC).

A spokesman for the opposition leader said: “The Labour leader will be putting a package of party reforms to the NEC that better connect us with working people and reorient us toward the voters who can take us to power.”

Keir Starmer endured a “car crash” meeting with union chiefs on Friday afternoon in which he failed to drum up support for changes to Labour party rules.

The opposition leader had wanted to rewrite the regulations for his party’s internal elections in a move critics said was an attempt to “gerrymander” future leadership elections to the disadvantage of the left.

Our policy correspondent Jon Stone has more on this story: