Tories "scent blood" over Labour union deals
The Politics Show
The New Statesman
4.2 • 1.5K Ratings
🗓️ 21 August 2024
⏱️ 18 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Labour have agreed pay deals with NHS staff, public service workers and now train drivers - but they've handed the conservatives an effective attack line.
Are Labour really beholden to "union paymasters"? And can they sustain pay rises while cutting the winter fuel allowance?
Hannah Barnes and George Eaton discuss on the New Statesman podcast.
Also in this episode, Hannah and George look at the crisis in prisons, and Labour's plan to house inmates in police cells. Can Keir Starmer and new prisons minister James Timpson hold Britain's overflowing prison estate together?
Read Hannah Barnes interview with Charlie Taylor, Prisons Inspector, here: https://www.newstatesman.com/ns-interview/2024/07/the-prison-system-is-broken
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | To enjoy more of our analysis of politics, news and events, plus world-class literary and |
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| 0:28.0 | You're listening to the new Statesman podcast. |
| 0:31.0 | Hello, I'm Hannah Barnes and I'm joined in the studio by our senior |
| 0:34.3 | editor George Eaton. Hi George. Right so one of the big political stories or |
| 0:39.6 | talking points of the week has been that Labor's relationship with the trade unions. We knew |
| 0:43.3 | this was going to come up and really it's thanks to another settled, arguably |
| 0:47.6 | generous, a pay deal, this time with Azleff the train drivers union. |
| 0:52.9 | Now, back in July, we had those significant NHS pay deals. |
| 0:56.2 | The junior doctors getting 22%. |
| 0:58.2 | Then this week, Aslef, the rail union, |
| 1:00.4 | has agreed to put a deal to its members which offers a 5% backdated pay rise for |
| 1:05.2 | 2022-23, a 4.75% rise for last year, 2324 and 4.5% this financial year 2024, 25. |
| 1:15.8 | Now it's been touted by some as a 15% pay rise, but obviously a little bit misleading. |
| 1:21.0 | Importantly though, George, this was different to what they've been |
| 1:24.0 | offered before because there were really no strings attached this time. |
| 1:26.8 | Drivers didn't have to accept changes to their terms and conditions. |
| 1:30.0 | Unsurprisingly, Labour said this is the end of these crippling strikes that we've been seeing over the last year or so. |
| 1:35.8 | Great news. Oh no, as left then announced another strike. |
... |
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