Michael Gove dubs Lisa Nandy 'Labour's Marcus Rashford' in baffling comments

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Minister Michael Gove dubbed Lisa Nandy 'Labour's Marcus Rashford' in baffling comments in the Commons as the pair clashed over funding for deprived communities .

Labour's shadow leveling secretary has said the Government must end the 'Hunger Games-style competition' for funds - calling Mr Gove's leveling department 'the biggest loser of the fall budget.

“Only a third of the leveling funds have been allocated and after wasting our time with the pop-up investment zones, the second round is months behind,” said said Ms. Nandy.

She added: "So can we bring some meaning to this madness - ending Hunger Games-style competition and empowering all of our communities, not just its favorites , to decide how their own money is spent?"

Mr Gove hit back by describing Lisa Nandy as the 'Marcus Rashford of Labor - the person who comes in at the last minute can actually change the fortunes of the team for the better'.

In an apparent reference to Ms Nandy being a potential replacement for chief Sir Keir Starmer, he added: "I wish her well in any future penalty shootouts - if this is The Hunger Games they're talking about, then it is the Labor leadership that is closer to that than any other contest in this House."

Ms Nandy replied: "I am more than happy to be compared to Marcus Rashford, nurturing our children when their government starves them."

Mr. Gove, appointed leveling secretary last month by new Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, acknowledged the government needed to "review the funding formula" previously used to distribute leveling funds.

The group think tank IPPR North has estimated that £560 million will be lost due to Chancellor Jeremy Hunt's decision not to "inflation-proof" the funds.

Challenging Mr Gove over long-term cuts, Ms Nandy asked: 'When they came for his budget, was he just ignored by the Chancellor or did he not didn't fight at all?"

Mr. Gove claimed the government had committed to "a record increase in local government funding in the previous spending review". He said ministers had also secured "additional billions for adult social care and for children's services".

The...