In Starmer’s Downing St, some unions are more welcome than others
Some unions are just more welcome in Downing Street than others.
A couple of weeks ago, leaders of the 11 trade unions formally affiliated with the Labour party were invited to talks in No 10 with Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his deputy, Angela Rayner. The meeting was called to discuss the Employment Rights Bill (the one that comes with a £5bn cost to employers) and was an opportunity for trade union officials to make sure that ministers weren’t about to row back from any of the policies.
Speaking to LBC after the session the General Secretary of the Fire Brigades Union, Steve Wright, said the PM and his deputy were “receptive and positive”. In contrast, yesterday’s meeting between Treasury ministers and the National Farmers Union descended into anger and acrimony. This is unsurprising, since Starmer last week turned up the heat in his ongoing row with the agricultural sector by saying “…what you can’t have is interest rates coming down, the growth we need in the economy, your waiting lists coming down, and maintain the tax break for farmers.”
Tax breaks? Not levying a tax isn’t the same as a tax break. Ministers deployed the same sophistry in the debate over VAT on school fees, constantly calling the old system – where VAT wasn’t levied on education – “a tax break.”
As if relations with farmers weren’t bad enough, Labour spinners briefed the media before the NFU meeting that they would never u-turn on the inheritance policy, so it’s little wonder that NFU president Tom Bradshaw left the Treasury and told reporters that his members’ reaction will “be one of fury, one of real anger, one of desperation.” Ministers rejected out of hand the NFU’s proposals for a more targeted policy, one they argue would have focused the tax net on wealthier investors while protecting the thousands of family farms that now look set to face devastating decisions about breaking up their businesses in anticipation of an inheritance tax bill that will shatter the intergenerational chain of family-owned farming.
The NFU concluded yesterday that ministers “don’t care about the human impact.” The government, meanwhile, continues to insist that their “commitment to farmers and rural communities remains steadfast.” The farmers beg to differ and have vowed to continue their protests. All power to them.