Reacting to the announcement today (Monday) that Liz Truss is to be the new Conservative leader, UNISON general secretary Christina McAnea said:
“Leaving the country rudderless all summer at a time of great emergency has been nothing short of a national disgrace.
“The government has got to get back to governing immediately. Liz Truss must do what should’ve happened months ago and deliver help to the millions unable to cope with their crushing bills.
“Many family finances may never recover without an urgent assistance plan. Tackling the cost-of-living crisis must be the Prime Minister’s number one priority, not wasting precious time attacking unions for trying to help working people through the pain.
“Hard on the heels of an energy lifeline must be an above-inflation wage rise for the public services currently haemorrhaging staff to better-paying parts of the economy. If there’s no-one left to run the hospitals, schools, town halls, police stations and care homes communities rely on, we’ll all be done for.
“Cutting taxes only assists the better-off. It won’t help the hospital porters, teaching assistants, care staff or other low-paid workers one bit.
“The new leader also must do what Boris Johnson promised and failed to do – fix the broken social care system once and for all.”
Notes to editors:
– UNISON is the UK’s largest union with more than 1.3 million members providing public services in education, local government, the NHS, police service and energy. They are employed in the public, voluntary and private sectors.
