Government ‘picking pockets of pensioners’ by cutting winter fuel payments, says Unite boss

Published

1 year ago

September 8, 2024

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Firebrand union leader Sharon Graham has told Sky News that Chancellor Rachel Reeves is guilty of “picking the pockets of pensioners” by cutting winter fuel payments.

The leader of the Unite union was speaking on the opening day of the TUC conference in Brighton, where she spearheaded demands for a wealth tax on millionaires to fund restoring the winter cash for pensioners.

“Britain is in crisis, and we need to make very, very different choices,” said Ms Graham.

“We’re calling on Labour not to pick the pockets of pensioners, but to have a wealth tax on the biggest and richest 1% in society.”

She said her proposal would create £25 billion, more than enough to fill the £22 billion “black hole” blamed by the chancellor and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer for the cuts.

“Job’s done, let’s move on and change society,” she added.

“We’re calling for the government to think again. This issue isn’t going to go away. We’re coming up to winter. People are going to be freezing cold.

“You’re going to have older people not wanting to put on their heat.”

14 years of ‘queueing for a pay rise’

On unions’ calls for pay to be restored to 2010 levels, Ms Graham said: “Workers and communities have been back of the queue for over 14 years. They’ve been right at the back of the queue. They’ve had pay freezes.

“They haven’t had pay rises in line with inflation. And the inflation is baked in. So while inflation is going up more slowly, those prices are still baked in.

“And what we’re saying, as the union movement, is that workers need to be paid properly and that is something that we should be proud of.

“We should be proud to say that workers should be paid properly. And that’s what I’m pushing for.”

Politics

Senator Tim Scott pushes for December vote on crypto market bill

Published

2 hours ago

November 19, 2025

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Senator Tim Scott pushes for December vote on crypto market bill

Senate Banking Committee Chair Tim Scott says he’s looking to mark up a crypto market structure bill next month to have it on President Donald Trump’s desk by early next year.

Scott told Fox Business on Tuesday that the committee has been negotiating with Democrats to reach a deal, but accused the party’s senators of stalling.

“Next month, we believe we can mark up in both committees and get this to the floor of the Senate early next year so that President Trump will sign the legislation making America the crypto capital of the world,” Scott said.

Law, Senate, US Government, Bills — *Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott says a vote on the market structure bill could occur in December. Source:* *YouTube*

The House passed the CLARITY Act in July, which outlines the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission’s power to regulate crypto, and the Senate has been working on its own version of the bill.

Republicans on the Senate Banking Committee released a discussion draft on their section of the bill in July and suggested it would marry up with the CLARITY Act, and the Senate Agriculture Committee released its discussion draft on Nov. 10, which left much of the bill up for change.

The Agriculture Committee has jurisdiction over the CFTC, while the Banking Committee oversees the SEC and is leading parts of the bill relating to securities laws.

Bill will create clear rules and unlock crypto: Armstrong

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said in a video posted to X on Tuesday that he was in Washington, DC, “pushing for market structure legislation,” and noted there had been “a lot of progress.”

“Senate banking is also working nights and weekends to get the next iteration of their text out, so we’ve got a good chance, I think, of a markup for this bill in December, hopefully get it to the president’s desk shortly thereafter,” Armstrong said.

“This would be a big milestone to get crypto unlocked with clear rules in the US, which would benefit all companies,” he added.

Where the bill will go from here

The CLARITY Act was one of three major crypto bills the House passed in July after a 10-hour voting session alongside the GENIUS Act, which aims to regulate stablecoins and the Anti-CBDC Surveillance Act, which outlaws central bank digital currencies.

As the Senate is working on its own version, the CLARITY Act will return to the House for final approval if it’s passed by the Senate. It would then be sent to Trump to be signed into law.