Public sector cashes in, private sector pays
The mission of most socialist regimes is to redistribute wealth from the rich to the poor. This Labour government has a slightly different take on that principle.
After six weeks in power, it is already clear that its plan is to redistribute wealth from the private to the public sector.
Latest to cash in are the train drivers, who have graciously agreed to end their ruinous two-year campaign of strikes in return for a 14 per cent pay rise.
No strings attached, no increased productivity required, no end to 1970s-style Spanish practices, no guarantee they won't be back for more next year.
All payments backdated for up to two years, meaning drivers will be handsomely compensated for any money they may have lost while on strike. Even some who have left or retired since the action began are in line for a tidy lump sum.
Junior doctors pictured on the picket line at St Thomas' Hospital in Westminster
Empty platforms at London King's Cross during Aslef industrial action in October
And of course, their gold-plated pension rights, also paid from the taxes of private sector employees, will increase with their salaries – which now average £70,000.
They are effectively being rewarded for bringing the rail network to its knees.
Some observers interpret this as a cave-in, but that would suggest some form of resistance to the strikers' demands. In fact, ministers supported them with enthusiasm.
This government and the unions are practically indistinguishable. In education, the NHS, the rail industry and elsewhere they speak with one voice.
A 22 per cent bonanza for junior doctors, inflation-busting rises for teachers and NHS staff, 14 per cent for the train drivers – welcome to the new normal.
GPs are the latest group to take industrial action and will no doubt soon be followed by a queue of other public sector unions with cap in hand. All must now have prizes.
And who pays the price? Rail passengers in higher fares, pensioners stripped of winter fuel payments, aspiring parents who make sacrifices to send their children to independent schools and anyone else Labour chooses to fleece to enrich its comrades.
Empty tracks at Clapham Junction in London during an Aslef strike in September
The real crunch will come with Chancellor Rachel Reeves' October budget, when she is expected to announce a raft of tax rises
The real crunch will come with Chancellor Rachel Reeves' October budget, when she is expected to announce a raft of tax rises.
Private pension reliefs, inheritance and capital gains taxes are said to be top of her hit list.
As cover for egregiously failing to mention this assault on Middle England in the Labour manifesto, she has had to invent a previously unknown £22 billion 'black hole' in the nation's books.
It's humbug. The only black hole is the one she and her colleagues have created by agreeing to inflationary and growth-crushing pay claims. And they're still digging.
Don't take us for fools
Great news about the UK's economic recovery. Great, that is, for everyone except Chancellor Ms Reeves, who is probably gnashing her teeth over yesterday's encouraging figures.
They confirmed a growth surge in the first half of this year, which, along with low inflation and falling unemployment, exposes her risible claim to have been handed the worst economic inheritance since the Second World War as a downright lie.
We currently have the fastest growing economy in the G7, an admirable legacy given recent global shocks. Yes, national debt as a proportion of GDP is high because of the pandemic and energy crisis, but even that was higher in the 1960s.
Meanwhile, the deficit and unemployment are roughly half what the Tories inherited in 2010. So please, Chancellor, just tell the truth and stop taking the public for fools.
Sir Keir Starmer prioritising Labour's union paymasters over rail passengers, pensioners and taxpayers.
Transport Secretary Louise Haigh
Aslef general secretary Mick Whelan on the picket line at London Euston station
In a 'no strings' deal struck between the Government and Aslef, rail workers who staged a series of strikes are set to see their average salaries rise to nearly £70,000
At the same time, Labour is axing winter fuel payments for millions of pensioners (Chancellor Rachel Reeves)
Charities said many 'angry' retirees who face losing their winter fuel payments felt they were being treated as a 'lower priority' by the Government
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