We need action: TUC name the date for trade union demo
Eira Ekenberg-Jones, Rhondda Cynon Taff Socialist Party
28 October will mark the release of the 2026 Autumn Budget, the first with Andy Burnham as prime minister. Despite radical-sounding language that this Budget will ‘move money and power out of Westminster’, Labour Chancellor John Healey described his budget as being built on “financial discipline”.
Previous Budgets have shown us what Labour sees as ‘financial discipline’ – leaving the bill for capitalist dysfunction and greed at the feet of the working class. Last year’s Budget saw £26 billion in tax rises, with no improvements to council, NHS, or other vital services – we’ve instead seen quite the opposite! It’s no surprise then that 67% of people in 2025 reported fears that the economy would worsen – a prediction that has evidently become true.
Labour’s tenure is set to become the worst parliament on record for living standards, a recent report by poverty charity the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) found. JRF predicted that in 2029-30, real household incomes will be between £440 and £770 lower than when Labour first came to power. Even the lower end of this range would represent the biggest decline in living standards since the 1960s! This is a direct result of Labour’s fiscal policies, which JRF warned will require “bold policy action” to undo.
Burnham has commissioned two government taskforces to create a ten-year plan to improve living standards. But working-class people who are struggling to get by haven’t got ten years to wait! More than seven million families are already skipping necessities like food and toiletries to get by, and four million children are living in poverty.
Ultimately, we didn’t need a report to notice the sharp decline in our living standards. Despite hopes amongst some that Burnham will somehow be kinder than his predecessor, all signs point to more austerity. The only remedy to this financial crisis is mass working-class mobilisation to win the resources back out of the hands of the super-rich. Under the pressure of members for action, three unions are preparing to ballot for strikes nationally in the public sector.
The TUC (Trades Union Congress) passed a motion to organise a mass demo against Labour austerity. A demo built for by the over six million-strong trade union movement would give workers a chance to feel our collective strength, and pile pressure on Labour. We need an end to benefit cuts, funding for our NHS, our councils, and other vital services.
