The UK’s most powerful union leader has called on Andy Burnham to “go further and faster” in solving the cost of living crisis by slapping a tax on banks.
Paul Nowak, the general secretary of the TUC, has put forward a series of measures including more taxes on the financial sector, insourcing of public services and delivering new employment rights in full.
Ahead of the TUC Congress, which opens in Brighton on Sunday, Mr Nowak said workers were still facing high energy bills, insecure work and stagnant pay, while a new poll commissioned by the union shows energy bills are the biggest concern for the public.
In an interview with The Independent, he said: “There might be a few less Porsches… Who knows? But when you’ve got families struggling to put food on the table, it’s not unreasonable to ask them [bankers] to pay a fair share.”
He added: “We have an economy that is not working for too many people, a tax system that is better at taxing people than wealth.”
The TUC are calling on the prime minister to introduce a windfall tax on banks as a result of the “huge” profits and bonus payments they make, and use the money to cut energy bills with a social tariff for two in three households.
The poll found that 7 in 10 of those asked (68 per cent) support reducing energy bills with a tax on banks, with just 20 per cent opposed. Labour, Reform, Lib Dem and Tory voters all backed the idea.
The poll also found 56 per cent ranked the top priority for the government as the cost of living.
Mr Nowak praised Mr Burnham for being “quick out of the blocks” in No 10 with policies such as the bus fare cap and the VAT cut on energy bills.
But, he added: “Whether it’s sky-high energy bills, insecure work or stagnant wages – too many are struggling to get by and feel like the odds are stacked against them.
“This has profound consequences for the country at large and faith in democracy. The prime minister has been quick out of the blocks with measures to ease the cost of living. That’s been the right approach – but challenges the country faces are so stark that it will take time to turn things around for good.
“That’s why the prime minister must now focus relentlessly on creating an economy that works for working people and go further and faster in the coming months.
“That means taxing banks’ enormous profits to cut bills, it means tackling the scourge of insecure work by delivering the Make Work Pay agenda in full and it means tackling the youth unemployment crisis by delivering good quality work in every corner of the country.”
Hold Sway surveyed a nationally representative sample of 2,019 adults in Britain between 24 and 30 July.
