Union leaders urge Burnham's first Budget to make the wealthy pay
Ahead of Chancellor John Healey's Wednesday Budget, the leaders of Unite and Unison urged PM Andy Burnham's government to raise taxes on the wealthy and ease living costs. Coverage so far comes from two left-leaning outlets.
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The story, neutrally told
Left · 1Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said Andy Burnham's first Budget as prime minister must be a "turning point", in an exclusive Daily Mirror report and an article she wrote for the paper on 25 October. Daily MirrorL “Andy Burnham's first Budget in power must be a turning point for Britain, one of Labour's most influential union backers has insisted.” Read at Daily Mirror ↗ Daily MirrorL “This Budget is Andy Burnham's first real test.” Read at Daily Mirror ↗ Left · 1Chancellor John Healey, the former Defence Secretary, is due to deliver the Budget on Wednesday. Daily MirrorL “Chancellor John Healey, the former Defence Secretary, prepares to deliver his crunch Budget on Wednesday” Read at Daily Mirror ↗ Left · 1Graham called for immediate cost-of-living measures, including an end to the freeze on the income tax threshold, which has been fixed at £12,570 since 2021. Daily MirrorL “The threshold has been frozen at £12,570 since 2021 meaning more and more low-income workers are dragged into paying income tax as earnings increase.” Read at Daily Mirror ↗
Left · 1She also called for a cap on energy company profits to cut bills. Unite says its proposals would give the average double-income household an extra £700 a year. Daily MirrorL “End the tax threshold freeze, and cap energy company profits to cut bills. Our proposals would give the average double income household an extra £700 a year.” Read at Daily Mirror ↗ Left · 1The Mirror reports that Unite would fund its plan with extra taxes on the super-rich, a higher banks' surcharge and a levy on excessive energy profits. Daily MirrorL “paid for extra taxes on the super-rich, a hike in the banks' surcharge, and a levy on excessive energy profits” Read at Daily Mirror ↗ Left · 1Graham argued that workers have repeatedly borne the cost of crises while governments "refuse to tax the wealth being piled up by the richest one per cent". She said the threshold freeze would cost the average worker £5,800 if it continues to 2031. Daily MirrorL “Workers keep paying more tax because governments refuse to tax the wealth being piled up by the richest one per cent.”“This will cost the average worker £5,800 if it carries on as planned to 2031.” Read at Daily Mirror ↗
Left · 1For the longer term, Graham called for public investment to rise by 1% of GDP, around £28 billion a year. She suggested channelling pension fund money into industry through the National Wealth Fund. Daily MirrorL “Unite's consistent demand has been to boost public investment by 1% of GDP, or around £28 billion per year.”“We should use our National Wealth Fund to attract and pool pension fund investment and channel it into rebuilding industry.” Read at Daily Mirror ↗ Left · 1Graham said Burnham had given Labour "a second chance and a welcome change of tone", but that hope would "soon evaporate" without real change. Daily MirrorL “There is no doubt he has given Labour a second chance and a welcome change of tone. But hope will soon evaporate” Read at Daily Mirror ↗ Left · 1The Mirror reports that Healey is expected to raise the surcharge on bank profits, which the TUC would welcome. It also says Healey is said to have ruled out higher taxes on wealth, including capital gains tax. Daily MirrorL “This week the Chancellor is expected to hike the surcharge on banks' bumper profits”“Mr Healey is said to have ruled out higher taxes on wealth, including hiking capital gains tax” Read at Daily Mirror ↗
Left · 1Housing Secretary Angela Rayner declined to give details on Sky News, saying the Chancellor had been clear that "people need breathing space and so do British businesses". Daily MirrorL “people need breathing space and so do British businesses” Read at Daily Mirror ↗ Left · 1Compass director Neal Lawson said Burnham should look to tax wealth and introduce rent controls. Former Bank of England chief economist Andy Haldane reportedly feared a "mañana budget" that delays tricky decisions. Daily MirrorL “I think he should be looking to tax wealth, looking for rent controls.”“he feared the government would deliver a "mañana budget" and delay tricky decisions” Read at Daily Mirror ↗ Left · 1In the Guardian on 26 October, Unison general secretary Andrea Egan wrote that the Budget must match Burnham's rhetoric against neoliberalism. She called for a multiyear funding plan for public services, paid for by making the wealthy pay more tax. The GuardianLC “So the budget must be the moment that the prime minister's programme starts to match his rhetoric.”“These measures should be funded by finally making the wealthy few pay their fair share of tax.” Read at The Guardian ↗
Left · 1Egan urged Burnham and Healey to resist pressure from the business lobby and the rightwing media against changes such as equalising income and capital gains tax. She said unions would back him if he sticks to his ambition. The GuardianLC “defy pressure from the business lobby and the rightwing media to reject changes such as equalising income and capital gains tax”“the trade union movement will be by his side” Read at The Guardian ↗
Every sentence links to the reporting it rests on. The pill in front of each says where its sources sit: Left, Centre or Right when one side supplies at least half of them, Mixed when they are evenly split. The number is how many outlets it cites.
Left2 outlets
- Framing
- Both outlets carry union leaders' calls for the Budget to shift the tax burden onto the wealthy. They present Burnham as having raised expectations that he must now meet. The Mirror adds a news report with Graham's demands, Cabinet comment and expected measures.
- Emphasis
- Cost of living, the threshold freeze, taxes on the richest 1%, banks and energy profits, public investment and public ownership. Both frame the Budget as a test of Burnham's rhetoric.
- Leaves out or plays down
- No centre or right outlets, business groups or Treasury responses are included. There is little costing or scrutiny of the unions' proposals beyond Unite's £700 figure, and no counter-argument on tax rises.
- Charged language
- “lever of the working-class pocket”“stealth tax”“profiteers”“super-rich”“profiteering vultures”
- For example
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“Describing Wednesday's high-stakes Budget as "Andy Burnham's first real test"” — Daily Mirror
“Pandering to the "free market", to the super-rich and profiteers, has hit the working-class in the pocket” — Daily Mirror
“kicking profiteering vultures out of the public sector through bringing services back in-house” — The Guardian
Centre0 outlets
No centre outlet in our sources has covered this story yet.
Right0 outlets
No right outlet in our sources has covered this story yet.
What every side reports
- Chancellor John Healey is due to deliver Andy Burnham's government's first Budget on Wednesday.
- Union leaders Sharon Graham (Unite) and Andrea Egan (Unison) are urging higher taxes on the wealthy.
- Both leaders say they welcome Burnham's tone but expect concrete Budget measures.
Sharon Graham person
Says the Budget is Burnham's first real test. She wants the tax threshold freeze ended, energy profits capped, taxes raised on the richest 1% and public investment boosted.
“If Andy Burnham wants to win back the working class, he needs to take another road.” — Daily Mirror
“Who pays in the Burnham Budget? We shall see.” — Daily Mirror
Andrea Egan person
Writing as Unison's general secretary, she says the Budget must begin matching Burnham's anti-neoliberal rhetoric. She wants multiyear public service funding paid for by taxing the wealthy, and says unions will back him.
“We expect a big, multiyear funding plan to restore investment and wages in our public services” — The Guardian
John Healey person
As Chancellor he is preparing the Budget. The Mirror reports he is expected to raise the banks' surcharge and is said to have ruled out higher wealth taxes. It cites no direct statement from him.
“Mr Healey is said to have ruled out higher taxes on wealth” — Daily Mirror
Andy Burnham person
The prime minister has framed his project as breaking with decades of neoliberal policy. Unions say they welcome his tone and early measures but expect Budget action.
“how radically the new prime minister has framed his project for the country” — The Guardian
Left3 articles
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Daily MirrorL · · Opinion
Sharon Graham: 'Budget is Andy Burnham's first real test - it's time to take a different path'
Critical Graham's first-person Mirror column says workers have paid for successive crises and calls for taxing the richest 1%.
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Andy Burnham's first Budget must be 'turning point' for Britain, union chief demands
Sympathetic Mirror news report leads on Graham's demand for a "turning point" and adds Cabinet, TUC and expected Budget context.
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The GuardianLC · · Opinion
Sympathetic Guardian opinion by Unison's Andrea Egan backs Burnham's anti-neoliberal ambition but warns that piecemeal measures are not enough.
Centre0 articles
No coverage yet.
Right0 articles
No coverage yet.
- 25 Oct 17:30 First Daily MirrorL Sharon Graham: 'Budget is Andy Burnham's first real test - it's time to take a different path' Opinion
- 25 Oct 17:31 +1m Daily MirrorL Andy Burnham's first Budget must be 'turning point' for Britain, union chief demands
- 26 Oct 10:00 +16h 30m The GuardianLC If the PM reboots the UK for working-class people, unions will be with him. But the time for talking is over | Andrea Egan Opinion
Times are when each article was published, or when we first saw it if the outlet gave no time.
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