In last week’s local elections, the Tories took a hammering at the ballot box. Losing nearly 500 council seats is anything but a ringing endorsement of the party in power, and losing flagship councils in the capital is a bad look for a former London mayor.
At UNISON, it was just as we expected, because we know our members’ biggest concern – just like many voters across the UK – is the cost of living crisis.
It’s a crisis that deepens with every day the Tories remain in power in Westminster. There’s no sign of it abating and news coverage tells us every day about how much people are struggling.
As the results were still coming in on Friday, the Bank of England issued a prediction that inflation will surpass 10% by October. When the UK is already experiencing the worst deterioration in living standards for decades, many will dread to think what a continued surge in prices will mean for them and their families.
We need an urgent government intervention. The Queen’s Speech today could have shown a government in touch with working people. It could have shown a government taking action to make sure there are no more reports of millions of British adults going without food for a day.
And it could have shown a government serious about tackling insecurity at work by banning bad bosses from firing their workers and rehiring them on worse terms and conditions. But I was sure it wouldn’t and, sure enough, it didn’t.
Instead, we saw promises of bills focusing on the wrong things at the wrong time.
UNISON members need legislation that addresses the housing crisis and means public service workers aren’t priced out of the areas they work in. They need legislation to boost workers’ rights and they need proper plans for social care and ‘levelling-up’.
I watched closely today to see what the Westminster government offers, but I saw no sign that they have yet grasped the seriousness of the crisis we are stuck in.
So, get ready to join me on 18 June, for the TUC demo and rally, to make sure our demand for urgent action on the cost of living crisis is heard.
