Sir Keir Starmer has failed to prove to working people in the UK that he is one of them and risks opening the door for Nigel Farage to seize power, the leader of Labour’s biggest backer has warned.
Speaking ahead of the annual meeting of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) in Brighton next week, TUC general secretary Paul Nowak told The Independent that “for too many people, ‘change’ feels too much like a slogan and they don’t feel it in their pockets”.
It comes as the TUC is set to use the annual congress to push the agenda on wealth taxes to fill the spending gap in Rachel Reeves’ budget.
Nowak and his fellow trade unionists are championing a permanent hike in the banking surcharge to as much as 35 per cent; an annual wealth tax of 2 per cent on people with assets worth £10m or more; a gambling tax of 50 per cent on online casinos; and equalising capital gains tax to the level of taxation on wages to 36 per cent.
The left-wing agenda has privately been supported by some ministers, including beleaguered deputy prime minister Angela Rayner, who proposed wealth taxes to avoid cuts in the spending review.
And Nowak pointed to polling for the TUC that showed the moves would be popular among voters, including people considering switching from Labour to Reform.
A Hold Sway poll of 5,024 British adults from 15 to 19 August found that a rise in capital gains taxes was backed by 51 per cent overall, rising to 57 per cent among Labour voters from the 2024 election now leaning to Reform.
A tax on the profits of banks and other financial institutions has 66 per cent support, rising to 73 per cent among Labour voters switching to Reform.
A 2 per cent annual wealth tax paid by people with assets worth more than £10m has 68 per cent support, increasing to 75 per cent among Labour voters from 2024 now leaning to Reform.
Nowak admitted that he would be “surprised” if Reeves takes all their suggestions straight away even though a gambling tax and rise in capital gains are said to be on the agenda.
But he added: “There is clearly an appetite out there from the British public for a grown-up conversation about tax and about the fact that there is a big inequality in our country that is less about income inequality. It’s about those who’ve got assets and wealth and those who haven’t.”
While he has praised the speed with which the Labour government has pushed through a package on workers’ rights that will get royal assent in weeks, and praised moves like putting inheritance tax on farms, VAT on private school fees and tackling non-dom status, he fears that not enough is being done.
The TUC general secretary admitted, “There’ll be some in the trade union movement who think that Jeremy Corbyn and his Your Party is part of the solution” as he noted “people are disillusioned by what they see is the mainstream politics.”
And he warned: “Keir Starmer people want the government to show whose side they’re on.”
He pointed out that the Labour election manifesto had one big word on the front – “change” – but suggested voters were not feeling it, allowing Farage to fill the gap.
“For far too many people, ‘change’ still feels like a slogan rather than their lived reality. They’re still facing the same cost of living pressures. They haven’t seen the improvements come through in terms of public services.
“That is partly because you cannot turn around 14 years of decline quickly, and partly because that’s been some self-inflicted mistakes, whether it was winter fuel allowance [cuts] or the way that welfare reform was handled.”
And Nowak insisted that he could foresee an election victory for Farage and Reform UK “supported by a right-wing rump of the Tories”.
With many union members being attracted to Reform’s message, he said that Farage was “a right-wing wolf in left-wing sheep’s clothing” offering some left-wing policies on nationalising steel and some utilities.
“Nigel Farage can appear that he’s got some simple solutions to some of the big problems the country faces.”
He said that Farage importing Elon Musk’s disastrous Doge project to cut spending in councils Reform runs has underlined the chaos he would bring to national government.
He added: “I think that the prospect of Nigel Farage anywhere near No 10 should scare the life out of anyone who really is genuinely a patriot in this country, who cares about this country.
“He doesn’t care, despite waving the union jack and the cross of St George. All he is interested in is the interests of Elon Musk, Donald Trump and his right-wing backers. He doesn’t give one jot about working-class people in this country.”
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