Labour lurches to the Left: Burnham snubs City meeting as he vows nationalisation and hints at tax hikes… while Streeting defends focus on Gaza

By JAMES TAPSFIELD, UK POLITICAL EDITOR Published: 10:40, 3 June 2026 | Updated: 10:42, 3 June 2026 Labour's lurch to the Left looks to be gathering pace today after Andy Burnham snubbed City talks, talked up nationalisations and hinted at tax hikes. The Greater Manchester Mayor appears to have ditched a planned call with hedge fund managers, billed as an opportunity to cool concerns about his economic approach. He has also heralded a '10-year plan' to renationalise the water industry, and refused to back off calls for a 50p top rate of tax.  Meanwhile, fellow leadership hopeful Wes Streeting has defended his focus on Palestine after he was described as 'hysterical' about the issue in the Mandelson messages. Jostling for position has been ramping up in Labour as Keir Starmer's grip on power loosens. Andy Burnham appears to have ditched a planned call with hedge fund managers, billed as an opportunity to cool concerns about his economic approach Fellow leadership hopeful Wes Streeting has defended his focus on Palestine after he was described as 'hysterical' about the issue in the Mandelson messages Mr Burnham is fighting a bitter by-election in Makerfield as he attempts to return to the Commons, making little secret of his ambition to take over in No10. The former Cabinet minister had been expected to take part in a call with hedge fund managers discussing his views on fiscal policy and the bond markets. However, according to the Financial Times that has now been shelved. Mr Burnham previously spooked investors by suggesting that the Government should pay less attention to the bond markets, which have pushed up the cost of servicing the country's debt mountain. Speaking to Sky News last night, Mr Burnham said a 'debate' was needed about the introduction of a land value tax. He also called for a 'fairer taxation system' when asked if he stood by his previous proposal for a 50p top rate of income tax. 'Of course you've got to have a fair taxation system across the board,' he said. 'And my focus actually from the doorsteps here is the call that many people have made to me through this campaign around the threshold at the lower level where so many people are drawn into tax and they don't get the rewards from the work that they are doing. 'So I'm open to a fairer taxation system, but I'm not making commitments beyond that. 'At this point in time, I'm listening to what people here are saying to me. I'm doing my best to represent what they're saying into the national debate, and I'll continue to do that if I'm successful from this election.' Mr Burnham said the water industry 'is broken' and suggested nationalisation was the ultimate answer - despite concerns about the huge cost. He said: 'It's not an industry that's run in the public interest, and you know these are, as I say, industries run with the private vested interest, but the public have no choice but to use them, and therefore they're trapped, and it's just not fair. 'That's why we need substantial reform and it is about a 10-year plan of more public control, more public ownership. 'I don't think you nationalise the whole thing necessarily straight off, because that's complicated and probably expensive, but you look at the different situations in different parts of the country. 'Thames Water, I would say there's a very strong case for public ownership to sort out its problems. 'But elsewhere … then you know there can be a different timetable for changes in other parts of the country. You've got to do it in a way that can be managed financially, but gets us to a water industry that puts the public interest rather than the private interest first.' The huge dump of messages between ministers, aides and Mandelson released this week included one where Mr Streeting voiced frustration at the UK being slow to recognise the state of Palestine. That policy was eventually adopted last year.  'Morally and politically, I think we need to join France (in recognising Palestine),' Mr Streeting told Mandelson. He suggested Israel was engaging in 'rogue state behaviour' and added, 'let them pay the price as pariahs with sanctions applied to the state, not just a few ministers'. The following day Mandelson told Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden: 'I received a wild long hysterical message from Wes about Israel. I pushed back. I can forward but reflects pretty badly on his maturity in my view.' Mandelson later described Mr Streeting's intervention as 'pathetic' and added: 'I think Wes is experiencing an early mid-life crisis.' In a statement to the Guardian on Tuesday, Mr Streeting said he was 'horrified by the war in Gaza'. Jostling for position has been ramping up on Labour as Keir Starmer's grip on power looks to be loosening 'In Government, I did everything I could behind the scenes to get the Government to act with the moral urgency the conflict demands,' the former health secretary said. 'That included sharing the eyewitness testimony of doctors on the ground in Gaza, whose accounts needed to be heard at the highest levels of Government to ensure that what was happening in Gaza wasn't a war without witnesses. 'I wasn't by any means the only Cabinet minister pushing for action, but we often felt like we were hitting up against a brick wall. Our concerns and motives were dismissed.' No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? 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