ANDREA EGAN: ‘There’s no level sugarcoating it, these outcomes are a catastrophe for Labour and full nation’
UNISON general secretary Andrea Egan writes for The Mirror as Labour suffers a bruising set of local election results in England and a hammering in Scotland and Wales
Labour has suffered heavy defeats across England, Scotland and Wales(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
There’s no point sugarcoating it, these results are a disaster. Not just for the Labour Party, but for the trade union movement and the entire country.
Reform UK has been cleaning up where Labour’s vote has collapsed and unless the government changes direction, we are on course for the most extreme right-wing government in the history of this country. That will spell unprecedented attacks on workers, migrants and the most vulnerable in our society. Keir Starmer and those around him are responsible for this terrible situation.
Instead of delivering the change people voted for, we’re mired in a worsening cost-of-living crisis and beset by scandals which recall the dying days of the Tories. Few really doubt there’ll sooner or later be a new leader and therefore Prime Minister.
Endless speculation over the how and when of Keir Starmer’s inevitable demise might excite political pundits and Westminster-watchers, but it’s a diversion frm the real debate that needs to be had. This is the time for those of us who care about the future of the country to be constructive, focusing on what can Labour do to turn things around and rebuild.
For Labour to survive, it must return to its roots as the party of the labour movement. It must act in the interests of workers and communities. That requires confronting the powerful minority head on and prioritising the interests of the majority.
By autumn, whoever the prime minister is must be rapidly executing a plan to improve the lives of working people. That means massive investment – funded by new taxes on extreme wealth – to repair our public services. We also need a determined strategy to drive wages up and bills down, so people can afford to live. Restoring the pay of public service workers is the obvious place to start.
Labour simply must start making good on its promises, Ministers promised a massive insourcing of public services and to create a National Care Service. It’s time to deliver. As UNISON leader, I am rooting for those who want to change Labour’s direction and correct the failures of the current leadership. But would-be Labour leaders need to understand that our support isn’t personality based. We want to know what you’ll do for working people.
The next Labour leader can’t just carry on with the same failed approach as this one. They have to be bold. If they bottle it the public won’t give them another chance. Continuing to hike spending on weapons while leaving workers, and the services we all rely on, in the lurch is unacceptable.
Equally intolerable would be further deference to city bankers or treasury mandarins whose mission is to deny workers a fair share of the wealth we create. UNISON is made up of 1.4 million workers, the heroes who keep our public services, including the NHS, ticking. With Farage eyeing up a path to Downing Street, we can’t afford for Labour to get this wrong. The stakes could not be higher.
