Sharon Graham: 'Budget is Andy Burnham's first real test - it's time to take a different path'

Sharon Graham: 'Budget is Andy Burnham's first real test - it's time to take a different path' Unite General Secretary Sharon Graham calls for immediate cost of living measures as she writes for The Mirror ahead of Andy Burnham and his Chancellor John Healey's Budget on Wednesday Add to preferred sources Comments News opinion Sharon Graham, Unite General Secretary 17:30, 25 Oct 2026 Updated 17:31, 25 Oct 2026 View Image Unite union General Secretary Sharon Graham (Image: Vuk Valcic/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock) This Budget is Andy Burnham's first real test.There is no doubt he has given Labour a second chance and a welcome change of tone. But hope will soon evaporate unless there is real change that workers and communities can feel and touch. ‌ ‌ For the working class, for members of my union, that means two things above all. First, immediate measures to address the cost-of-living crisis: money back in people's pockets. And for the long term, investment to bring back industry and create jobs. ‌ The budget's big question is: who pays? In 2008, the city bankers crashed the economy. Since then, we have reeled through crisis after crisis. Austerity, pandemic, energy crunch, Cost of Living crisis, Trump's tariffs and wars. ‌ Every time it has been the working class who has paid. The government doubled our national debt to bail out the banks after 2008, then told the working class there was no money left, 10 years of austerity followed. In real terms, the average worker now makes £10,000 less than if wages had kept growing at the same rate as before 2008. In 2021, as prices rocketed, the government hit workers again. The stealth tax, freezing income tax thresholds so they don't rise with inflation. This will cost the average worker £5,800 if it carries on as planned to 2031. And now the latest hit, energy bills are forecast to jump by another £400 in January. READ MORE : Andy Burnham's first Budget must be 'turning point' for Britain, union chief demands READ MORE : Andy Burnham's 'resurgent' Labour secures poll boost over Reform and Tories ahead of crunch week These raids on workers by successive governments are not accidents of fate, they are political choices. When bills jump, energy companies bank higher profits. Workers keep paying more tax because governments refuse to tax the wealth being piled up by the richest one per cent. ‌ If Andy Burnham wants to win back the working class, he needs to take another road. Here are two concrete suggestions: End the tax threshold freeze, and cap energy company profits to cut bills. Our proposals would give the average double income household an extra £700 a year. A serious first step towards shifting the burden onto those making extreme wealth and excessive profits. But working-class people also want to see a good future ahead. To live, not just survive. The roots of decline go back 40 years. Free market economics didn't just sell off our "national silver", privatising water, energy, steel, transport and communications systems. It also meant the Government withdrew from its role as the "investor of first resort", from planning for future industry and jobs. ‌ So, we have the energy grid collapsing, sewage spills and crumbling hospitals. We had the closures of refineries like Grangemouth and Lindsay - good working-class jobs vanishing. And a £500 billion public investment backlog. We need Government to take a lead on rebuilding our industries. Unite's consistent demand has been to boost public investment by 1% of GDP, or around £28 billion per year. ‌ One way to make that happen is through the National Wealth Fund. Currently it sits idle with less than £30 billion capital, compared to £580 billion in Germany's infrastructure bank. Meanwhile, UK pension funds hold £3 trillion: but they invest more of that money in overseas stock markets, than domestic industry. We should use our National Wealth Fund to attract and pool pension fund investment and channel it into rebuilding industry. Pandering to the "free market", to the super-rich and profiteers, has hit the working-class in the pocket, and robbed them of the aspiration of a better future. This Budget must be a turning point. It's time to take a different path. Article continues below It's time to stop reaching for the lever of the working-class pocket. Who pays in the Burnham Budget? We shall see.