Exclusive:

TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak made the call as he expressed ‘real concerns’ about Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s decision to cut the winter fuel allowance for millions of pensioners

The head of Britain’s trades union movement has said wealthier Brits must face higher taxes as he issued a warning over plans to cut the winter fuel allowance for 10 million pensioners.

TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak said he had “real concerns” about Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s decision to means-test the lifeline fuel payment this winter. He called for help in next month’s Budget for pensioners just above the eligibility threshold who risk being pushed into hardship.

In an interview ahead of annual union gathering in Brighton, Mr Nowak urged the Government to look at hiking taxes on wealth to level the playing field for hard-pressed workers. He said: “There’s a huge set of challenges, whether it’s the winter fuel allowance, Universal Credit, the two-child cap, there is so much that is broken that the Chancellor has to think about in the round.”

He urged the Government to “make it clear that those with the broadest shoulders are expected to do the bulk of the heavy lifting and give people a sense of optimism that we’re moving in the right direction.”

Keir Starmer warned last week that the Budget would be “painful” due to the £22billion black hole the Tories left in the public finances. Labour has repeatedly promised not to hike taxes on working people. But Ms Reeves has not ruled out increasing levies on wealth like inheritance tax or capital gains.

The TUC leader said: “People who go to work in supermarkets or in warehouses or in schools, they shouldn’t be paying a higher rate of tax than someone who gets their income through shares or through property. I think levelling that playing field would be a good step in the right direction and would raise billions that’s desperately needed for our public services.”

Keir Starmer has hit the ground running since Labour’s landslide election win but the Government has been left with a toxic legacy by the Tories, he said.

“We know it’s not all going to be plain sailing, but now we’ve got a Government that is on the side of working people,” he said. “I think we’ve got a real opportunity to make work pay, to rebuild our public services, to improve the quality of work.”

Mr Nowak said recent public sector pay hikes were a “down payment” on the need to improve public services and recognise hard-working staff. He added: “It’s not the end point by any stretch of the imagination but it’s changed the mood dramatically from the previous government.”

Voters overwhelmingly think public services have deteriorated over the last five years, a poll shows today.

Nearly three quarters (73%) believe hospitals, schools and other parts of the public sector are in a worse state after years of Tory neglect.

The Opinium poll for the TUC found more than 7 in 10 (76%) say the NHS has got worse over the last five years, compared to just 7% who think it has got better.

More than 6 in 10 (62%) say social care has worsened, while only 7% think it has improved.

Half (49%) think schools and public transport have deteriorated and more than 6 in 10 (63%) say policing and criminal justice has got worse.

TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak said unions are ready to work with the government to fix a decade of “Tory mismanagement and neglect”.

The TUC has today (Thursday) called for a “fresh start” for public services with the formation of a Public Services Workforce Commission, bringing together unions, employers and independent experts to tackle the key challenges facing the sector.

Mr Nowak said: “The last Conservative government drove our public services into the ground. This has had a devastating impact on communities up and down Britain – and has left our country poorer and weaker.

“We know that fixing 14 years of Tory mismanagement and neglect won’t be an overnight job.

“But unions are ready to roll up their sleeves to help rebuild our broken public realm.”

:: Opinium surveyed 3,129 UK adults between July 5-10

Share.
Exit mobile version