Labour’s biggest supporter among the unions has accused Rachel Reeves’s Treasury of showing a lack of vision in government and hampering investment in the UK.
Sharon Graham, the general secretary of Unite, accused the chancellor of being too focused on fiscal prudence at the expense of economic reform and growth.
In an interview with the House magazine published as Labour party’s annual conference got under way in Liverpool, Graham said: “You want a Labour government to come in and not just manage better. You want them to come in and be visionary.”
“I worry that the Treasury, particularly, has got a hand in stopping some of the vision, and certainly stopping some of the investment. That’s what you’d have to conclude from what I’m seeing.”
Graham, who has been critical of Keir Starmer and Reeves, renewed her call for ministers to rip up the fiscal rules so they can borrow more to invest in infrastructure and public services.
She made the remarks as Reeves’ first budget approaches in October and after Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, said the Treasury needed to change the way it thinks to achieve its goal of promoting growth.
In an interview with the Financial Times, Burnham said “there are a number of ‘growth tests’ looming – not least on rail infrastructure – and we will find out soon whether the Treasury is able to transform itself into the growth department”.
He added that the Treasury “needed to understand that growth came from giving hope and planting seeds, rather than saying no to everything”.
Reeves has vowed to lead the UK’s most “pro-growth” Treasury but Downing Street has repeatedly said that the budget in October will involve some painful decisions, which are expected to include tax rises.
Unite and many Labour MPs are unhappy with the government’s decision to withdraw winter fuel allowance from all except the poorest pensioners.
Unite-funded billboards calling on ministers to reverse the cut were unveiled in Liverpool on Sunday. The union is planning to push the issue to a vote at conference during the week.
Speaking on Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips on Sky News, Graham attacked the “cruel policy” and called on the prime minister to ditch it.
“I’d like him to say that he’s made a misstep and to reverse that policy. I’d also like him to say that we’re not going to take this country down austerity mark 2,” she said. “People voted for change. They need to see change.”
She added: “The reality here is it’s a misstep. You’ve got a situation where the poorest in our society, the first thing that Labour does is take away the winter fuel allowance from the poorest in our society while they leave the most wealthiest people pretty much untouched.”
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Writing in the Observer, the Unite leader said the government’s first steps were critical and about-turns “absolutely necessary”.
“Dying in an early ditch for policies most people hate is not only silly politics, but it can also set the public mood,” she wrote.
Matt Wrack, the general secretary of the Fire Brigades Union, said the cut was “politically inept” and “out of touch”, and said the government would face the blame when people died over the winter.
He told a fringe meeting at conference: “Ordinary voters are baffled by the decision. Within the first few weeks of the government, there are some worrying trends.
Starmer met union general secretaries in Liverpool on Saturday afternoon before the conference opened. He has insisted that cutting the winter fuel allowance is necessary because the Conservative government left a £22bn black hole in the public finances.
