Unite's Sharon Graham: Labour has one year to get it right. Farage is on their tail'

"They have one year to get this right because Nigel Farage is on their tail. And don't get me wrong, Farage is not the answer, but he is a good communicator. And whether we like it or not, when he is talking about net zero, and about what's happened to communities and workers, people are hearing what Labour used to say."

"She said that, with high inflation already taking a toll on household budgets, mooted tax rises in Rachel Reeves's autumn budget would be the final straw for many Labour voters. Graham said Labour needed to avoid taxing workers to fill the gap in the public finances and start drawing up plans for a wealth tax. If this keeps happening, the feeling that workers always pay, but they're leaving the super-rich totally untouched I think they won't recover from it, she said."

Labour scaled back planned changes to ban zero-hours contracts and exploitative fire-and-rehire practices, prompting union alarm and potential voter disillusionment. Unite warned that failure to adopt proposals to create jobs in fossil fuel industries and to strengthen employment rights could drive support toward Nigel Farage and Reform UK. High inflation and proposed tax rises in an upcoming budget heighten the risk of alienating working-class voters. The union urged Labour to avoid taxing workers to plug public finance gaps and to consider a wealth tax to address perceptions that the super-rich remain untouched while workers shoulder burdens.

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