Andy Burnham ‘must not make Ed Miliband chancellor’, Unite’s Sharon Graham has warned

The head of Britain’s biggest trade union, Unite, has warned Labour leadership hopeful Andy Burnham not to make Ed Miliband chancellor, saying that Britain needs a chancellor that doesn’t decimate industry.

Sharon Graham, General Secretary of Unite, told the Times that she disagreed with Ed on almost every issue relating to a workers’ transition.

Burnham is considered the favourite to replace Keir Starmer and a number of names have been mooted for chancellor.

However, the leader of Unite, which is still the Labour Party’s biggest funder, has warned Burnham against giving the role to Ed.

Graham told the Times: “It is no secret that I disagree with Ed on almost every issue relating to a workers’ transition. Ed only seems to be interested in one side of the equation, rushing Britain to net zero with almost no thought for jobs, skills and national security.

“In my view, a Labour chancellor needs a vision for Britain that understands the skills we have, nurtures those skills and sees Britain as an industrial force that can lead in industries, not decimate them.

“Good investment in British industry is a no-brainer. Anyone who does not get that it matters where things are made and produced should not be chancellor.”