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

Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham has criticised Sir Jim Ratcliffe, co-owner of Manchester United, for his comments on immigration.

“If any criticism is needed, it should be directed towards those who have offered little contribution to our life here and have instead spent years siphoning wealth out of one of our proudest institutions,” said Mr Burnham.

Female Labour parliamentarians have called for Sir Keir Starmer to appoint a woman as his de facto deputy after a series of controversies which critics say has exposed a “boys’ club” in Downing Street.

No 10 has rejected the accusations about the way it has been run, but the Prime Minister has said he would consider a suggestion from Baroness Harriet Harman to revive the position of first secretary of state, which functions in practice as a deputy prime minister, and give the role to a woman.

The United Kingdom will provide Ukraine with more than £500 million for new defence missiles and systems, the Ministry of Defence has announced.

Defence secretary John Healey said the UK will contribute £150 million for the first time to Nato’s Prioritised Ukraine Requirements List (Purl), a programme designed to speed up the country’s air defence support.

A further 1,000 UK-made lightweight multirole missiles will be delivered to Ukraine as part of a £390 million deal.

The announcement comes as Mr Healey co-hosts meetings in Brussels with the 50-nation Ukraine Defence Contact Group and Nato defence ministers on Thursday.

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.”