As Starmer pushes for more austerity and trade unions remain limited, the need to build an anti-cuts movement is clear, argues Simon Midgely 

Unite General Secretary Sharon Graham made a splash last week at the Labour Party Conference. Despite anti-democratic manoeuvring by the Labour Party machine to try to avoid an embarrassing defeat for Starmer, Unite’s motion to reinstate winter fuel payments was debated, and was carried loud and clear on the very last day. 

This was an important win. A great result for those who oppose austerity policies, whichever party is implementing them. But within hours, Wes Streeting was pointing out that Conference votes are non-binding and that it is the Parliamentary Labour Party that controls Labour policy. 

To its credit, Unite has not been resigned to this betrayal and are already campaigning against it. They are calling for Labour to tax the rich rather than penalise pensioners, pointing out that a 1% Wealth Tax would raise £23 billion per year and fill the alleged ‘Black Hole’ in government finances. 

As we approach Budget Day, where Labour could announce it is reversing the decision, Unite are joining with pensioners’ groups to try to make it so. They are organising a ‘mass’ lobby of Labour MPs inside Parliament on Monday 7 October, and have called a protest rally outside to support this. 

To be successful, the campaign cannot be limited to a one-time lobby of MPs on a weekday. Unite must call for the trade-union movement more broadly to mobilise its members, join the campaign, and organise mass demonstrations against this and other austerity policies. Only if the massive scale of opposition to austerity is shown on the streets outside of parliament will the MPs being lobbied inside take notice. 

We cannot rely on trade-union leaders, no matter how vocal they are, to build this movement against austerity. We must start to build it from the bottom up, and push our union leaders into action. Sharon Graham has until now been somewhat anti-politics, her recent intervention is welcome but her demands remain limited. She remains silent on arms spending on Ukraine and Palestine. 

We must support and publicise as widely as possible any union, workers or campaign taking action against austerity cuts. We must demand proper investment in our public services. We must campaign for economic policies that will improve the lives of working people. We must withdraw support for any Labour MPs that vote for austerity cuts. We must get our unions to affiliate to the People’s Assembly Against Austerity, both locally and nationally. Counterfire has published a model motion to use here. 

Building an anti-austerity movement 

And what happens next, if Starmer and his toady MPs flatly refuse to ditch their policy? When instead they double down on their so-called ‘difficult decision’ to attack pensioners? 

As it becomes clearer that Starmer’s Labour government is making working people pay for the financial mess the Tories left behind, what will be the response? In the words of Sharon Graham, ‘this is not what people voted for’. One question they will ask is who should they vote for instead? The danger is that if there is no serious left alternative, many will turn to Reform. 

Trade unions give millions of pounds of members’ money to the Labour Party, every year, in affiliation fees. Many gave millions more this year to fund Labour’s general election campaign. And for what? To be ignored? 

Starmer will gladly take this money from the trade unions, but doesn’t want to take any notice of their demands. Every time this happens, rank-and-file trade-union members will rightly ask why they should keep funding Labour, when they get so little in return. Every time this happens, more members will cancel their political levy subscriptions, and look to others to support. 

All too often, trade-union leaders vocally condemn these betrayals, but at the same time claim that there is no alternative but to keep voting for, and funding, the Labour Party. Sharon Graham has talked tougher than this. 

Back in 2021, she stood for election as Unite General Secretary on this basis: 

‘I will not just hand over our members’ money and the entire political fund to the Labour Party. This will not happen. Our political work needs to exist outside of Parliament and one Party, and we will need the resources to campaign politically for our members’ independent of the Labour leadership.’ 

After she was elected to General Secretary of Unite, she said, ‘…we cannot keep asking, lobbying, demo-ing, and then getting told to ‘bog off’ and winning nothing.’ She added, ‘…we have a big political fund and there are other ways to use that political fund.’  

It seems the time is right to fund a major campaign against Starmer’s Austerity Mark 2. Times are changing in UK politics. Over the last year, due to Starmer’s craven support for Israel’s genocidal onslaught in Gaza, we have seen millions of voters turn away from Labour in disgust to vote for Independents, Greens and other left-wing challengers. 

If Starmer’s Labour implements this attack on pensioners, and other austerity policies which make ordinary working-class people pay instead of the rich, the potential for a serious left-wing challenge to Labour will only grow.