FORMER Labour donor and nighttime economy advisor Sacha Lord has said he “prays to God” there is a leadership election after May’s local elections.
Speaking on GB News, he said: “I was at the Labour Party manifesto lunch in Manchester, and [Rachel Reeves] told the audience that was made up of our now cabinet and the world’s press that she was going to be the Chancellor of business and growth, and she couldn’t be further from the truth.
“The first thing she did was introduce a hike in National Insurance, which was catastrophic. But the whole time she said to my industry, I’m going to support you with business rates reform.
“So I’m going to look after the small guys: the pubs, the cafes, the small independent restaurants on the high streets. Reform the business rates that are broken, and I’m going to go after the big boys with the Amazon warehouses and the Parcelforces of the world.
“We thought, great, okay. And then she stood at the dispatch box and announced this thing. And we thought, Well, do you know what she’s kept to a word. And then my phone lit up within an hour.
“People started to put the numbers in, and pubs increased on average, 76%. Hotels, shockingly, 115%.
“And then they did their 14th U-turn two weeks later, once she realised the public sentiment was right behind us, and she said, Actually, I’m going to give a 15% discount to pubs.
“Well, she’d already increased it by 76% so 15% is nonsense. And why not give it’s the whole of the hospitality sector, not just pubs?
“And today, I’ve spoken at the Nighttime Industry Association Conference in Liverpool, 2,000 delegates, and not one person had a good thing to say about Rachel Reeves and the Prime Minister.
“And in fact, on my panel talk, they asked me at the end if there was one thing I could wish for this year, what would it be? And I said, a new prime minister and a new chancellor, and I got the biggest round of applause.
“It’s worse now than it was during Covid. I had a conversation with a landlord prior to Christmas who had a pub in Coventry. I’m not going to name the pub. He said, I’m going to hand my keys back. And he handed his keys back in January.
“But what broke him was the fact that he lived above the pub. You know, this is where his kids grew up, his two boys. So not only have his finances in tatters, his mental health is in tatters. He’s lost his dream.
“And this is what the government, quite simply, do not understand. The pub is more than just a pint.
“And that’s why I tweeted that last night. You know, I was sat watching the news, and I thought Captain Flip Flop may have lost his job at the beginning of the week when we saw Anas Sarwar come out and call for resignation. And sadly, it didn’t happen.
“But then again, right at the heart of government, I was starting to hear about this Lord Doyle. And we were talking about paedophilia and sex trafficking right in the heart of the British government.
“Never in my lifetime have I ever seen anything like this before, and something has to break. And what I said in that tweet was, look, I know a lot of very, very hard working Labour councillors in Greater Manchester who are going to lose their seats on the 7 May, through no fault of their own.
“And because, as I said, the fish rots from the head. It’s coming down. And I pray to God, there’s a leadership contest after 7 May.”