{"id":10587,"date":"2016-11-15T14:44:50","date_gmt":"2016-11-15T14:44:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=10587"},"modified":"2016-11-16T14:50:07","modified_gmt":"2016-11-16T14:50:07","slug":"actions-speak-loudest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=10587","title":{"rendered":"Actions speak loudest"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

Prime minister Theresa May used her first speech following Donald Trump\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s US election victory to castigate the financial elite for being out of touch with ordinary people \u00e2\u20ac\u201c at an event where May and this very same financial elite quaffed from \u00c2\u0141300 bottles of wine.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Last night\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s (November 14) Lord Mayor\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Banquet speech<\/a> heard May deliver many of the same clich\u0102\u00a9s and vague, contradictory rhetoric that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s characterised her tenure as prime minister so far.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

She spoke of supporting those who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve lost out under the globalisation that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s created such stark income inequality \u00e2\u20ac\u201c but moments later spoke of her government being \u00e2\u20ac\u015bthe strongest global advocate for free markets and free trade.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

May vowed to do something about the \u00e2\u20ac\u015bnew global elite who sometimes seem to play by a different set of rules\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 but failed to proffer any concrete steps for reining them in.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

She hinted that her government would develop a \u00e2\u20ac\u015bnew industrial strategy\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 that will ensure working people \u00e2\u20ac\u015bbenefit from opportunities that trade brings\u00e2\u20ac\u0165.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

And which industries will this \u00e2\u20ac\u015bnew\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 strategy support?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe will pro-actively support industries of the future, as well as those like financial services,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she said \u00e2\u20ac\u201c in other words, the same industries that have created low-pay, insecure jobs for some while lavishly enriching others who dodge taxes and refuse to play by the rules.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In response to last night\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s speech, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn argued that Theresa May \u00e2\u20ac\u201c by giving a nod to those who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been dispossessed by globalisation \u00e2\u20ac\u201c is \u00e2\u20ac\u015btrying to catch up with a changing world the Conservatives do not understand.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThere can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be a globalisation that works for all without taking on the billionaires club that controls this rigged system,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0098Ballooning inequality\u00e2\u20ac\u2122<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe Conservatives have presided over ballooning inequality,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Corbyn noted. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThey\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve given tax cuts to the richest 1 percent while the incomes of 70 per cent have stagnated or fallen.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bLabour will take on the interests holding our country back. We will invest to rebuild and transform Britain, so no-one and no community is left behind.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

His words echoed those of shadow chancellor John McDonnell, who gave a speech this morning<\/a> (November 15) ahead of next week\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Autumn Statement, calling for an economy driven by government investment.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

He urged the government to take concrete steps to bring shared prosperity to all, including an end to austerity, long-term investment to create \u00e2\u20ac\u015bsecure, well-paid jobs\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 as well as tax system reform \u00e2\u20ac\u015bso the richest pay and the rest don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t shoulder the burden.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

McDonnell also pushed the government to draw up clear plans for Brexit \u00e2\u20ac\u201c a point that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s become all the more significant after a memo was leaked this morning<\/a> revealing Whitehall to be in chaos over Brexit.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The memo \u00e2\u20ac\u201c thought to be written by a consultant at the professional services firm Deloitte \u00e2\u20ac\u201c noted that \u00e2\u20ac\u015bno common strategy has emerged\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 over Brexit and warned that 30,000 new civil servants would need to be hired to handle additional work related to the UK leaving the EU.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unite assistant general secretary Steve Turner agreed with McDonnell that we need government action now.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe chancellor Phillip Hammond has already admitted that the austerity policies of the last Tory government have failed when he spoke of a \u00e2\u20ac\u0098reset\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 last month,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Turner said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bLet\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s now see what actions the government will take.”<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bImmediately reversing cuts to ESA and Universal Credit \u00e2\u20ac\u201c which have left a large swath of people who are already struggling thousands of pounds worse off each year \u00e2\u20ac\u201c ending the public sector pay cap and raising the minimum wage should be priorities in next week\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Autumn Statement.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bInvestment in our infrastructure and spend on our public services to jumpstart an economy that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been hobbled by years of austerity should also take precedence,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he added. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe NHS is on its knees and the government does no one any favours by fooling the public into thinking that it has already given the health service the funding it has asked for. The NHS needs substantial funding and it needs it now.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe government must also explain exactly what its industrial strategy will entail,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Turner noted. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bAre they simply appropriating the language of Labour and trade unions or do they mean to take action to restructure and rebalance our economy with well paid, high skilled jobs, including support for our foundation industries such as steel?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bAbove all, we need a concrete plan for Brexit that ensures working people don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t shoulder the inevitable costs of leaving the EU \u00e2\u20ac\u201c that means retaining tariff-free access to the single market and ensuring that all workers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 rights and protections derived from the EU are unequivocally preserved.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Stay tuned next week for UNITElive\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s exclusive coverage of the Autumn Statement, when the chancellor will outline the government\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s future economic plans.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Prime minister Theresa May used her first speech following Donald Trump\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s US election victory to castigate the financial elite for being out of touch with ordinary people \u00e2\u20ac\u201c at an event where May and this very same financial elite quaffed from \u00c2\u0141300 bottles of wine.   Last night\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s (November 14) Lord Mayor\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Banquet speech heard […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10123,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[76,631,486,561],"wps_subtitle":"Will the government end austerity next week?","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10587"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10587"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10587\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10588,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10587\/revisions\/10588"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/10123"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10587"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10587"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10587"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}