Angela Rayner and Andy Burnham have urged the Government to deliver greater tax relief to Britain’s struggling hospitality sector in a fresh challenge to Sir Keir Starmer’s leadership.
The two Labour heavyweights – both seen as potential contenders in any future leadership race – called on the Prime Minister to cut VAT for pubs, bars and restaurants grappling with soaring costs.
Speaking at a Liverpool event focused on the night-time economy, Ms Rayner pointed to the mounting pressures facing the sector.
“We’ve got to start looking at the intersectionality of all these challenges and start relieving some of them,” she said, adding that Labour needed to “put rocket boosters on what we promised at the election”.
Mr Burnham echoed the call, arguing VAT should be aligned with lower European rates because of the “social value” hospitality businesses bring to communities.
The intervention comes as leadership speculation intensifies within Labour ranks.
Maryam Eslamdoust, general secretary of the TSSA union, has become the first union leader this year to publicly back Ms Rayner as a potential successor.
She told The Telegraph that the former Deputy Prime Minister should take over if Labour finishes third in the forthcoming Gorton and Denton by-election.
Ms Rayner pointed to the mounting pressures facing the hospitality sector
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“I think she can show real leadership, she resonates with people. She can speak in a way that resonates with workers, with working-class communities, with women,” she said.
Ms Eslamdoust also praised Ms Rayner’s resignation from Cabinet during her stamp duty controversy, framing it as strength rather than weakness.
The TSSA is one of 11 unions affiliated with Labour and holds a seat on the party’s National Executive Committee.
A spokesman for Ms Rayner rejected suggestions of a leadership bid, saying: “There is no contest and no vacancy.”
Mr Burnham argued VAT should be aligned with lower European rates because of its ‘social value’
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Sir Keir is facing mounting rebellion inside Labour, with 35 MPs – mostly from the party’s left – signing a letter condemning his immigration crackdown as “deeply unfair.”
Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport Lisa Nandy has also publicly voiced frustration over the party’s turmoil.
When asked about the chaos, she told the Guardian: “You call it a s*** show, I say it’s unforgivable.
“I want to get the words right because it’s really important. It does look to people outside that we’re more interested in ourselves and less interested in preventing chaos.”
Despite unrest triggered by the fallout from the Peter Mandelson scandal, Sir Keir secured temporary backing from his Cabinet earlier this week after Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar called for his resignation.
Sir Keir Starmer is facing mounting rebellion inside Labour
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The Prime Minister has also come under fire for awarding a peerage to Lord Doyle, his former communications director, who had campaigned on behalf of a convicted paedophile.
Lord Doyle served as Downing Street’s director of communications until March last year before being nominated for a peerage by Sir Keir.
When he left No10, the Prime Minister said it had been a “privilege” to work with him and that he had been “by my side every day”.
Downing Street is now undergoing a major restructuring, with Sir Keir set to appoint Dame Antonia Romeo as Cabinet Secretary following the departure of Sir Chris Wormald – the shortest-serving holder of the role.