Jonathan Reynolds says ‘the nature of what we’ve inherited required immediate decisions’, as MPs set to vote on means-testing paymentsKeir Starmer is about to give his speech to the TUC conference.According to an extract released in advance, he will promise a “politics of partnership”, saying that is what voters want. He will say:I call now, as before the election, for the politics of partnership. With us in government, with business, and most importantly of all, with working people … the mood is for partnership. And not just on pay – on everything. To turn around our NHS, give our children the start in life they deserve, make our public services fit for the future, unlock the potential of clean energy. A new era of investment and reform. The common cause of national renewal.
Partnership is a more difficult way of doing politics. I know there’s clarity in the old ways, the zero-sum ways: business versus worker, management versus union, public versus private. That kind of politics is not what the British people want.
We have the chance to deliver for working people: young people, vulnerable people, the poorest in society, because we changed the Labour party. So when I say ‘country first, party second’ – that isn’t a slogan. It’s the guiding principle of everything this government will do. We ran as a changed Labour party and we will govern as a changed Labour party. So I make no apologies to those, still stuck in the 1980s, who believe that unions and business can only stand at odds, leaving working people stuck in the middle.
“nd when I say to the public our policies will be pro-business and pro-worker, they don’t look at me as if I’m deluded, they see it as the most ordinary, sensible thing in the world. And I know there will always be disputes, but there is a mood of change in the business world, a growing understanding of the importance of good work and the shared self-interest that comes from treating the workforce with respect and dignity. The productivity gain of fairness which is an opportunity to be grasped. Continue reading…
Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2024/sep/10/labour-winter-fuel-payments-means-testing-vote-keir-starmer-tuc-conservatives-uk-politics-latest-updates
Author : Andrew Sparrow
Publish date : 2024-09-10 10:02:45
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