PM preparing for war with union leaders ahead of TUC conference

Published

10 months ago

September 7, 2024

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Union leaders will this week go to war with Sir Keir Starmer on wages, winter fuel payments and workers’ rights.

As the first TUC conference under a Labour government for 15 years opens in Brighton, the prime minister faces a massive list of demands.

Ahead of the conference, the TUC is claiming workers were “cheated” out of £2bn of holiday pay last year under the Conservatives.

“The Conservative government sat back and let bad employers cheat their staff out of their basic workplace rights,” said general secretary Paul Nowak.

“Tory ministers were more concerned about stopping people getting what they were due by introducing anti-union measures, than funding enforcement bodies properly.”

The unions’ latest demands come after inflation-busting pay deals for train drivers and doctors which senior Tories claim were payback time for bankrolling the Labour Party.

Sir Keir is due to address the conference on Tuesday and Angela Rayner, the deputy prime minister, will speak at the traditional TUC general council dinner on Monday evening.

On holiday pay, the TUC claims more than a million workers – one in 25 – did not get any of the 28 days paid holiday or equivalent they were entitled to last year, adding up to £2bn in lost holiday pay at an average £1,800 per employee.

Low-paid workers were said to be most at risk and the jobs with the highest numbers of staff losing out were waiters and waitresses (59,000), care workers and home carers (55,000), and kitchen and catering assistants (50,000).

The TUC also claims millions of workers are missing out on other employment rights due to a lack of enforcement and that 365,000 workers – more than one in five – are underpaid the minimum wage.

Unions are launching a five-point plan for stronger enforcement of employment rights, including fines, more inspectors and inspections, extending licensing and a crackdown on exploitation of migrant workers.

Despite the bumper pay deals for train drivers and doctors to end their strikes, Mr Nowak is also demanding “pay restoration” for public sector workers, a big increase in capital gains tax and a wealth tax.

Delegates in Brighton will also debate demands on Sir Keir and Chancellor Rachel Reeves to restore winter fuel payments for all pensioners. Some 10 million are set to lose payments of up to £300.

Ahead of a Commons vote on Tuesday, a motion in Brighton proposed by the giant Unite union, the shopworkers’ union USDAW and the public sector union PCS is expected to be backed by the conference.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said this weekend: “Why are Labour picking the pockets on the winter fuel payments instead of making those with the broadest shoulders actually pay.”

And in today’s Sunday People newspaper she calls on the chancellor to tax the rich to fund winter fuel payments, with a wealth tax to pay for a benefit U-turn.

Unions will also demand reassurances that Ms Rayner’s promised workers’ rights legislation, due next month, will not be slimmed down in response to pressure from employers.

Sir Keir has committed himself to introducing the legislation within 100 days of taking office and unions have already warned the government there will be outrage if that timetable slips.

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Starmer and Macron agree need for ‘new deterrent’ to stop small boat crossings

Published

13 hours ago

July 10, 2025

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Starmer and Macron agree need for 'new deterrent' to stop small boat crossings

Sir Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron have agreed the need for a “new deterrent” to deter small boats crossings in the Channel, Downing Street has said.

The prime minister met Mr Macron this afternoon as part of the French president’s state visit to the UK, which began on Tuesday.

High up the agenda for the two leaders is the need to tackle small boat crossings in the Channel, which Mr Macron said yesterday was a “burden” for both the UK and France.

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The small boats crisis is a pressing issue for the prime minister, given that more than 20,000 migrants crossed the English Channel to the UK in the first six months of this year – a rise of almost 50% on the number crossing in 2024.

Sir Keir is hoping he can reach a deal for a one-in one-out return treaty with France, ahead of the UK-France summit on Thursday, which will involve ministerial teams from both nations.

The deal would see those crossing the Channel illegally sent back to France in exchange for Britain taking in any asylum seeker with a family connection in the UK.

However, it is understood the deal is still in the balance, with some EU countries unhappy about France and the UK agreeing on a bilateral deal.

French newspaper Le Monde reports that up to 50 small boat migrants could be sent back to France each week, starting from August, as part of an agreement between Sir Keir and Mr Macron.

A statement from Downing Street said: “The prime minister met the French President Emmanuel Macron in Downing Street this afternoon.

“They reflected on the state visit of the president so far, agreeing that it had been an important representation of the deep ties between our two countries.

“Moving on to discuss joint working, they shared their desire to deepen our partnership further – from joint leadership in support of Ukraine to strengthening our defence collaboration and increasing bilateral trade and investment.”

It added: “The leaders agreed tackling the threat of irregular migration and small boat crossings is a shared priority that requires shared solutions.

“The prime minister spoke of his government’s toughening of the system in the past year to ensure rules are respected and enforced, including a massive surge in illegal working arrests to end the false promise of jobs that are used to sell spaces on boats.

“The two leaders agreed on the need to go further and make progress on new and innovative solutions, including a new deterrent to break the business model of these gangs.”

Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, seized on the statement to criticise Labour for scrapping the Conservatives’ Rwanda plan, which the Tories claim would have sent asylum seekers “entering the UK illegally” to Rwanda.

He said in an online post: “We had a deterrent ready to go, where every single illegal immigrant arriving over the Channel would be sent to Rwanda.

“But Starmer cancelled this before it had a chance to start.

“Now, a year later, he’s realised he made a massive mistake. That’s why numbers have surged and this year so far has been the worst in history for illegal channel crossings.

“Starmer is weak and incompetent and he’s lost control of our borders.”