‘Let’s be Labour’

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham gave a rousing speech on the economy at Labour Party Conference on Monday (September 29) to widespread applause in the hall.

Graham began by highlighting the 2008 financial crisis, which she said “was a disaster caused by greed, yet few experts saw it coming”.

“Just weeks before, the Bank of England clapped the City like seals and without any serious questions being asked, let alone any criminal conviction being sought, the bankers were bailed out using taxpayers’ money – and how the champagne must have flowed,” she said.

Graham went on to highlight the ten years of austerity that followed, with jobs, homes, pay and services “all lost, decimated – with workers and communities paying the price”.

In its wake, Graham said, there followed Covid, what she called a “once in a 100-year event”.

“While the rich sat at home, with parcels arriving by the hour, everyday people went out to deal with the crisis in PPE that did not work,” she noted. “Nurses, supermarket workers, bus workers. Yet again, workers and communities paid the price.”

“And now we have a different crisis – a black hole that must be filled – £22bn or £50bn take your pick,” Graham noted. “The solution this time? Workers pitted against pensioners; communities pitted against the disabled. Different government, same decisions. We have no choice – that’s what we’ve been told. We’re stuck in the cycle of a broken system where everyday people always, always pay.”

Graham decried the idea that these decisions are inevitable.

“Of course there is a choice,” she said.  “Look at this room – we are the labour movement, we are the stake in the ground.

“This is supposed to be a Labour government. Instead of picking the pockets of pensioners  – tax the rich!” the general secretary added, to thunderous applause.

“Instead of letting an energy crisis spiral out of control, renationalize our energy,” she went on to say, to yet more applause.

“What is wrong with these choices? I don’t understand; people do not understand what is going on here. Bankers given back their bonuses. Food prices are up by 38 per cent and rising, while Tesco has profits in one year of £3.1bn! It is obscene.”

Calling for change, Graham said that it “can be done; it must be done”.

“People are crying out for us to redefine our story; to rediscover our hinterland,” she concluded to cheers in the hall. “We get only one shot. Let’s put our arms around the working-class — and be Labour.”

By Hajera Blagg

Photo by Mark Thomas