Sir Keir Starmer must tackle the cost of living crisis in 2026 or risk a further surge in support for Nigel Farage, the boss of Britain’s trade unions has warned.
Paul Nowak has told Sky News that many voters are disillusioned with mainstream politics because change is not coming fast enough.
In a hard-hitting New Year message, his organisation – the Trades Union Congress (TUC) – has published research showing many people are skipping meals, cutting back on heating and feeling financially worse off.
Unveiling a joint TUC and 38 Degrees study by pollsters Survation, the TUC general secretary told Sky News: “The cost-of-living crisis may no longer be in newspaper headlines every day, but lots of ordinary people are struggling to get by.
“One in three are not turning on the heating because they’re worried about paying those bills at the end of the month.
“One in five are skipping meals and a whopping 80% of people say that their finances aren’t getting better.
“That’s why the government has to absolutely focus on driving up people’s living standards.
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“We saw some moves towards that in the budget this year: help to tackle heating bills, raising the minimum wage, holding down train fares, and crucially, lifting that two-child benefit cap.
“But the government really does need to focus this year on putting more money in people’s pockets.”
Mr Nowak also told Sky News the government faces a “real danger” from people “who are disillusioned with mainstream politics, who feel that change isn’t coming and isn’t coming fast enough”.
He added: “That’s what they voted for at the last general election and why the government has to be absolutely focused on not just growing the economy, but growing the economy in a way that puts money in people’s pockets.
“And if they don’t, then there’s real danger that the far and populist right, Nigel Farage and the likes of Tommy Robinson, the politics of division, the politics of fear and the politics of despair, will take hold.
“We need to give people hope.”
Asked if Labour should replace Sir Keir Starmer with Andy Burnham, Angela Rayner or Wes Streeting, Mr Nowak responded: “It’s not my job to play cabinet Top Trumps.
“My job is to make sure that whoever is in Number 10 is delivering for working people and their communities.”
He said there will “always be speculation about leadership” when a PM is “trailing in the polls”.
“But from my perspective, it’s really important that the prime minster and the government don’t take their eyes off the day job, which is delivering for working people, their families and communities up and down the country.
“Our members want to see that boost to the economy that they can feel in their pockets. That’s their priority, rather than who’s up and who’s down in the cabinet.”
He also hit out at Reform as a “dead end”.
“Working-class people in this country can’t afford Reform. Nigel Farage would scrap those new rights for millions of workers. He would privatise our NHS. Reform would let loose deregulation in the City of London.
“That’s not an agenda that works for working people.”
The union boss also gave his first reaction to the election of left-winger Andrea Egan, who was expelled from Labour under Sir Keir, as general secretary of Britain’s biggest union, Unison.
“It’s a democratic union, and it’s Unison members that decide who leads that union,” he said.
He said he is “looking forward to working with Andrea and 46 of the TUC’s other unions to… make sure we stand up for millions of low-paid workers”.
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Mr Nowak also said the timetable for implementing measures in the new Employment Rights Act, which received Royal Assent on 18 December, must “not slip” and there must be no “half-baked” ban on zero hours or “paltry fines” for employers.
“The Employment Rights Act has the potential to transform life at work for millions of people,” Mr Nowak explained. “Sick pay from day one, an end to exploitative zero hours contracts and giving people a union voice at work. The Employment Rights Act is a huge step forward.”
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He warned against a “Diet Coke version” of the law.
Mr Nowak said: “I think the government is fully intent on delivering the Employment Rights Act in spirit as well as in the letter of the legislation.
“But there will be voices calling on them to dilute and to delay different aspects of the act.
“I’m convinced that if the government acts at speed, delivers the act in full, it will deliver a huge boost in workers’ rights for millions of people across the country.”
Mr Nowak recognised the act involved a “compromise” on unfair dismissal rights – these will now come into effect after six months instead of two years, but not on day one as Labour pledged in their manifesto.
He said: “It will be the biggest upgrade in workers’ rights in a generation.
“What we need to see now is for it to take effect in workplaces”.
