The infamous 'beer and sandwiches' were replaced by 'cheap unbranded' biscuits and tea.

But one thing about Wednesday night's backdoor Downing Street summit between union bosses and the Chancellor hadn't changed since the sixties: the barons were apparently in charge.

And their demands ahead of next week's Budget were straight from the same socialist playbook of decades yonder: hike spending while soaking the rich with more taxes.

One attendee boasted of a 'really good connection' between union chiefs and John Healey, who was clearly keen to impress Labour's 'paymasters' having rushed back to Westminster from Scotland to grant them a private audience that evening.

The Chancellor had been north of the border to announce approval of drilling at the Jackdaw gas field.

While attendees of the No11 gathering confirmed no beer or sandwiches were on offer, it had the hallmarks of the behind-closed-doors 'stitch-ups' between Harold Wilson's Labour government and union barons in the sixties and seventies.

Those talks, which often ran late into the night in smoke-filled rooms, focused on brokering pay deals to avoid crippling mass strikes and became known as 'beer and sandwiches at No 10'.

This was after Mr Wilson's wife, Mary, famously served beer and sandwiches made from bread in the Downing Street kitchens to create a working-class atmosphere during talks.

However, times have changed in some regards, according to one attendee of Wednesday's gathering.

'There was no buffet. No booze. No sandwiches. It was a sparse show,' they said, adding that just biscuits, tea and coffee were offered.

'They were poor-quality cheap biscuits - unbranded. They were the kind of biscuits you get in a hotel room.'

The brand of tea and coffee on offer was also unclear as it was pre-made and served from jugs and caddies.

But what the meeting lacked in fare was made up for in grace-and-favour access.

More than a dozen barons filed into No11 from 5.30pm and were each granted two questions in which to pepper the Chancellor with demands in a bid to strong-arm him into eleventh-hour changes ahead of next Wednesday's Budget, the first of Andy Burnham's premiership.

Among them was the hard-Left boss of the Unison union, Andrea Egan, who is said to have led calls for new wealth levies to pay for more spending splurges.

This was after being left disappointed that Mr Healey ruled out raising capital gains tax on assets such as shares and second homes.

In an interview ahead of the meeting, she told the Mirror newspaper: 'It's time to tax the rich.'

Another baron who called on Mr Healey to turn on the spending taps was Daniel Kebede, the firebrand boss of the militant NEU teachers' union.

He pressed for more school spending to be included in the Budget and is said to have warned the Chancellor: 'Seventy-four per cent of schools in England have less funding in real terms than in 2010.'

Meanwhile, GMB boss Gary Smith lobbied for greater spending on defence and support for energy-intensive industries amid sky-high energy bills crippling Britain's industrial sectors.

He is understood to have told the Chancellor that energy-intensive sectors such as ceramics and brick manufacturing face going under without government support.

A union source added: 'And on defence, we expect Mr Healey to recommit to the Government's new 'buy British' policies - so UK taxpayer pounds are spent in UK factories and shipyards.'

One notable absence on Wednesday night was Sharon Graham, the militant boss of the Unite union, who apparently wasn't invited because of her tendency to erupt into furious rants.

'They often throw their toys out the pram. Sharon could start a fight in an empty room,' one source familiar with the guest list said.

The strategy apparently worked, with another attendee crowing: 'There was a really good connection between Chancellor and unions.'

The barons in attendance have bankrolled the Labour party to the tune of millions of pounds in recent years.

Giving them such privileged access so close to the Budget is likely to raise eyebrows among critics concerned about the scale of influence barons have over Mr Burnham's government, which they see as more Left-wing than predecessor Sir Keir Starmer's and more supportive of their cause.

'There's more chance of unions getting what they want [under Mr Burnham]', according to a senior official from a union which didn't attend Wednesday's meeting.

'There's an overall sense that Andy is someone who instinctively understands the union movement more than Keir Starmer ever did.'

While the finer details of Mr Healey's Budget are yet to be revealed, there is cause for union barons to be hopeful.

A growth-destroying raid on banks they have been calling for has not been ruled out by Mr Healey.

Neither has expanding the mansion tax first introduced by ex-Chancellor Rachel Reeves, by lowering the value threshold on homes which pay it from £2million to £1.5million. Wider property tax reforms could also be on the table.

And union bosses have already secured several of their key demands since Labour won the 2024 General Election.

These include inflation-busting hikes in the minimum wage, the lifting of the two-child benefit cap and sweeping new powers making it easier to call strikes by lowering the threshold for ballot turnouts.

The Employment Rights Act 2025, effectively written by the unions, has handed them beefed-up powers which also allow them to seek physical access to workplaces to 'organise' in some circumstances from this month.

And unions can gain official recognition in more workplaces under the legislation because it lowers the membership threshold required among employees from 10 per cent to just 2 per cent.

The Government's own impact assessment estimated the legislation could cost the UK businesses up to £5billion a year.

In an apparent attempt to distance themselves from union demands, a Treasury source last night said there was a 'need for economic and fiscal discipline going into the Budget and beyond.'

They said Wednesday night's meeting was called to 'provide an opportunity to hear from trade unions about the pressures facing working people, their priorities ahead of the Budget, and how government and unions can continue to work together'.

DAILY MAIL COMMENT: As the Budget approaches, it is increasingly clear that the Chancellor's strings are being pulled by the unions