Starmer latest: Angela Rayner and Andy Burnham hit out at PM’s pub tax grab – UK Times

Reform UK’s “flagship” local authority in Kent has passed its first budget despite warnings from opposition leaders of “extreme risk” and it being “potentially reckless”.

Kent’s Reform leaders have secured a 3.99 per cent council tax increase, 1% under the limit before a referendum is required, despite promising ahead of their election win not to raise tax.

But opposition bosses have criticised the move for not raising it to the maximum possible, which will leave the council with £10 million less for the next financial year that could have protected services and reserves.

They also pointed to a statement from the council’s head of finance, David Shipton, legally required to be considered for the budget, where he said: “The decision to raise the council tax household charge below the level permitted without a referendum poses a long-term financial risk as a result of the council tax income forgone.”

Both Angela Rayner and Andy Burnham have criticised Sir Keir Starmer’s pub tax grab as the prime minister fights for his leadership.

The two Labour figures, who have been tipped as potential rivals in a future leadership contest, suggested the Sir Keir should cut VAT to ease pressure on struggling businesses.

The former deputy prime minister, speaking at a nighttime economy summit in Liverpool, called for extra help for the sector to help struggling towns and cities.

During a question and answer session after her speech, Ms Rayner, forced from Government last year over a tax row involving her properties, said: “And I think that we’ve got to recognise the, it’s not even the double whammy, it’s not even the triple whammy.

“I mean, I talked about the challenges on business rates, the challenges on VAT. The challenges, yes, the minimum wage going up and the living wage and the costs of energy.”

Mr Burnham later supported a “VAT rate more consistent with what you find in Europe because of the social value that your businesses bring to places and towns that need that life injected into them,” according to The Telegraph.

“I personally would support permanently a lower business rates regime for hospitality businesses for exactly the same reason.”

Sir Keir Starmer should stand down if Labour comes third in the Gorton and Denton by-election, a trade union leader has said as she backed Angela Rayner to replace him.

Maryam Eslamdoust, general secretary of the Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association (TSSA), is the first leader of one of Labour’s affiliated unions to publicly back an alternative to Sir Keir as party leader.

She warned that a leadership challenge could come as soon as the end of the February, after a key by-election in which Labour risks falling behind Reform UK and the Greens.

Ms Eslamdoust told the Daily Telegraph: “If we were to come third, I think Keir’s time will be up.”

Angela Rayner has said the Government must listen to the struggling hospitality sector and recognise its “value not just in rhetoric, but in policy”.

The former deputy prime minister was speaking at Liverpool’s Night Time Economy Summit on “what we need to see from Labour in the future”.

She said: “If we’re serious about recovery, then we must fuel the recovery of them (businesses).

“That means recognising the value not just in rhetoric, but in policy. And this is where we must be candid.

“There is, without doubt, a clear divide between policy that truly understands the night time economy and policy that simply applies a one-size-fits-all approach.

“Too often, policy is done to this sector, not with it. And I recognise clearly and openly that more needs to be done to engage the industry directly and consistently and respectfully, to listen, to co-design, to recognise expertise where it exists.

“Because confidence in politics matters. Businesses need to believe that they will be treated fairly, that the rules won’t shift without warning, that the long-standing structural issues will finally be addressed, not deferred again.”

Ukraine’s allies should make sure 2026 is the year Russia’s war against Kyiv ends, the Defence Secretary has said.

Speaking after a meeting of defence ministers in Brussels, John Healey said Ukraine’s allies were “more united and more determined than ever”.

He said: “We will step up military assistance to Ukraine. We will step up pressure on Russia.

“And we want to make 2026 the year this war ends, the year we secure peace.”

Angela Rayner has called for Sir Keir Starmer to appoint a dedicated night-time economy minister as she warned “more needs to be done” to support the industry.

In a challenge to the Labour government, the former deputy prime minister suggested venues face a “triple whammy” of costs with business rates, VAT and a minimum wage increase, on top of other pressures.

Speaking at a summit on the night-time economy in Liverpool, Ms Rayner said the sector should have a “true champion on the national stage” to represent its interests.

The Labour MP, who served as Sir Keir’s deputy and as local government secretary until resigning last year after a row over her underpayment of stamp duty on a new property, told an event in Liverpool: “We need to do better.

“We need to recognise the value of this industry, economically, culturally, socially.

“We need to design policy with the industry and not for it.”

She added: “I would support the government in having a named minister with responsibility for the night-time economy to champion the sector inside government and ensure that the voices of small and medium businesses are heard loud and clear.”

Reform UK’s candidate in an upcoming by-election has called for women and young girls to be given a “biological reality” check, as he gave his views on how Britain should tackle its impending “fertility crisis”.

Days after The Independent revealed that Matt Goodwin previously suggested people who don’t have children should be taxed extra as punishment, an unearthed clip posted to his personal YouTube channel in November 2024 has shown the former academic warning that “many women in Britain are having children much too late in life”.

Millie Cooke, political correspondent, reports: