Unite general secretary Sharon Graham has delivered a blunt and ominous warning to the Labour government, stating that its failure to champion workers in 2026 will lead to it "sowing the seeds of its own destruction."
A Stark Warning Against Distraction
In a forceful column for The Times, Ms Graham criticised the party for being distracted by internal debates about Sir Keir Starmer's leadership and potential successors. She argued this focus comes at the expense of tackling the nation's critical problems. She depicted a "rudderless" Britain lacking direction, where ordinary people have repeatedly borne the cost of crises they did not create.
"The Government needs to decide what it stands for and who it stands for. If we have to ask, it is not working," Graham challenged. She dismissed the inevitable speculation about Labour's future leadership as secondary, warning that a new face with the same policies would be insufficient to break what she termed a "doom loop" of mild austerity.
Policy Clashes and a Call for Investment
Unite, which notably was the only affiliated union not to endorse Labour's election manifesto, has consistently opposed key government decisions. Ms Graham highlighted their firm stance against the cut to the winter fuel allowance and net zero targets that, in her view, constitute "self-harm" without parallel investment in new industries.
She further criticised the recent budget for opting for stealth taxes on workers instead of imposing a wealth tax on the mega-rich, labelling it a profound mistake. "Trade unions are there to fight for workers, not to side with politicians," she asserted, urging Labour to stop being embarrassed to be the voice of the workforce.
The Root of UK's Productivity Crisis
Ms Graham attributed the UK's chronically poor productivity not to its workers but to an "investment strike in UK plc." She described a collective failure to invest in industry while maximising shareholder returns, leaving Britain near the bottom of the OECD rankings for industrial investment.
Lamenting the nation's fall from leading the first Industrial Revolution to being "nowhere in the fourth," she called for a fundamental policy shift. Her demand for 2026 is clear: the government must "deliver real growth" and borrow to invest in Britain to build a sustainable future.
An Ultimatum for the Year Ahead
Concluding with a reiterated warning, Sharon Graham stated that the Labour government's fate hinges on its choices in the coming year. "In the coming year, if this Government does not depart from its current path, it will surely be sowing the seeds of its own destruction," she wrote, framing 2026 as a decisive moment for the party's relationship with its core supporters.
