Tony Blair and Sir Keir Starmer at the Tony Blair Global Change Institute's Future of Britain conference. Photo: Stephan Russo/Pennsylvania.
This weekend, Sir Keir Starmer will have a “showdown” with the unions who are trying to force him to forego child support payments.
Major labor-linked unions are expected to try to force a turn from the leadership on National Policy Forum in Nottingham. The Forum will draft a Labor manifesto to be voted on at the party's annual conference in Liverpool later this year.
The trade unions and the County Labor Party (CLP) have submitted hundreds of amendments that they hope will be passed by Parliament. Sir Keir as Labor Politics. Among the most contentious is the debate over the child allowance ceiling, which limits parents from claiming allowances for two children.
Labour MPs, including several from Sir Keir's first bench, called the cap “disgusting” but the leader refused to withdraw it, citing budgetary constraints.
Sir Keir had a tense relationship with Labor. -affiliated trade unions, which are one of the largest financial sponsors of the party.
Christina McAney, General Secretary of Unison, said Child benefit ceiling is “cruel and should be abolished” Credit: Jeff Pugh for Telegraph
Christina McAney, general secretary of Unison, said the benefit cap “still brutal and must be lifted” while Sharon Graham, her Unite colleague, warned “there are no blank checks” and the union could withdraw funding. if it is cancelled. does not agree with the policy of the Laborites.
The Labor Party source said that this weekend the unions are expected to try to turn things around in talks with Jonathan Ashworth, secretary for shadow work and pensions.
Unless they get concessions, the unions may refuse to vote on the “consensus text” of the political forum, which will weaken the documents before the party conference in October.
“There's going to be a showdown this weekend,” the source said. “The final document is a document that everyone has to agree on.” However, on Tuesday, Lucy Powell, shadow secretary for culture, said there was “no money left,” and said that Labor must face the “economic reality” that if it wins the next election, it may not have enough money to repeal “a lot of bad policies.”
Removing the restriction will lift some 270,000 families out of poverty with children at a cost of around £1.4bn in the first year.
At his shadow cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Sir Keir also sought to quell his top team's uprising over spending plans. “It doesn't matter if it's an unfunded tax cut or an unfunded liability – workers are suffering,” he said. “I will not let the new Labor government lose control of the economy because I know what it will do to the workers.”
Asked about spending by his predecessor, Sir Tony Blair, at an event on Wednesday, he said Labor must be “even tougher, even more focused, even more disciplined” in the future.
Turning to its critics, he added: “We keep saying we have to make tough decisions. In the abstract, everyone says, “That's right.” And when we make tough decisions, they don't like it.”
Sir Keir is unlikely to reverse his stance on the two-child restriction, but two Labor Party sources said he could announce his party will lift it later when the economy improves. Labor has already said the same about the overseas development budget, which they have promised to restore to 0.7% of gross national income “as soon as possible.”
Lucy Powell, secret culture secretary, said there was no money left to cut the child benefit ceiling. Photo: OLI SCARFF/AFP
During a speech at the Sir Tony think tank, the Labor leader said his priority in government would be “growth, growth, growth”. He warned that the UK was entering “a new era of instability, and we are not even close to that level”, and promised to “restore the foundations of our economy”.
In a conversation with Sir Tony – for the first time the two appeared together on to the public — he also dismissed comparisons to the 1997 Labor landslide.
“The mood was set for growing optimism, far from it now,” Sir Keir told an audience in central London. “The economy is badly damaged and the mood in the country is rather gloomy. It would be a mistake on our part to speak to the country as if it were 1997.”
Sir Keir's appearance at the event was seen as a sign that he is fully embracing the legacy of Blairism ahead of the expected elections. Next year. During the Q&A session, the couple exchanged jokes, with the current Labor leader thanking his predecessor for “all the support you have given me”.
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