Received from: GMB
In response to the new tax hike on working people announced by Boris Johnson on 7 September, breaking his own manifesto, Congress believes that:
i. he financial burden of rebuilding the economy, and addressing the underfunding crisis in health and care that pre-dated the pandemic, should not be borne by working people who are being hit by a double whammy of tax rises and real-terms pay cuts.
ii. Additional funding should not be raised through the further Conservative attack on those in low-paid and insecure work that the tax hike represents, and which will have severe equality impacts.
iii. Funding should be prioritised for and received by frontline services and all workers who help deliver them, and safeguarding jobs under threat, not the wholesale cronyism that has seen highly lucrative contracts and consultancy opportunities awarded to well-connected profiteers, exemplified by the Greensill scandal, who have accumulated wealth to the cost of our communities – workers must not pay the price.
Congress resolves that the TUC should urgently:
a. campaign against the rise in national insurance
b. call on the government to present a transparent report on all public spending since March 2020 and fully costed alternative proposals for raising revenue for debate by parliament
c. investigate counter-policies for raising funding from those who have profited from the pandemic, and for potential cost savings that could be realised by re-integrating public services – including by ending disguised profits, consultancy contracts, and artificial management fees in the care sector.
Mover: GMB
Seconder: Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen