Barber launches scathing attack on the Tories

Out-going TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber

The out-going General Secretary of the Trade Union Congress, Brendan Barber, has used his last conference speech to launch an attack on the Government's economic policies and the Conservatives in particular. 

Speaking to delegates in Brighton he said " When it comes to economic policy, the lesson is clear: don't believe a word this Chancellor says. And what about David Cameron? He tells us that scrapping employment rights will boost jobs, but with no evidence to back his claim up. At least he has not got all his own way on this. It's right to acknowledge Vince Cable and his Liberal Democrat colleagues for resisting the full Beecroft bundle, including no-fault dismissals".

Moving from the Prime Minister to the Chancellor he continued: "But we have still seen reduced protection against unfair dismissal and fees for employment tribunals. Many threats remain. Yet I see no investment boom. I still see big companies on an investment strike and workers afraid to spend. Frankly, if the Prime Minister really believed in sacking underperforming workers, then why is George Osborne still in a job? Congress, it's time for change". 

On the Coalition government's economic policies Mr Barber said: "The government's strategy is failing Britain. The economy is on its knees. Services are being devastated. And our society is becoming more fractured as benefits are cut for the poor and taxes slashed for the rich. But austerity isn't just some temporary sacrifice. It could be with us for the duration. A self-perpetuating economic nightmare. And it's already beginning to happen. Beyond the boutiques of Notting Hill and the mansions of Kensington, there is another country. A Britain of boarded up high streets, pawnbrokers and food banks."

Talking about unemployment and "inequality" in the UK he said: "A Britain of stratospheric inequality where the rich float free and the poor sink further into penury. A Britain of hopes denied for millions of our young people. With more than one in five under-25s without work, it's time to stop talking about the risk of a lost generation; they're with us now. Congress, our level of youth unemployment is a national scandal and the government's response has been pathetically, shamefully and woefully inadequate".

Continuing: "When I addressed you in Liverpool in 2009, I warned that the economic crisis could fuel social disorder. Two summers later, we experienced the worst rioting in a generation. I do worry desperately about the country we are becoming. What we are staring in the face is many years of stagnation. Our own lost decades. And it won't be the West London rich who suffer. No, it will be the rest of us. The victims of a government that thinks it can buck the central lesson of economic history. That austerity simply begets more austerity. Of the 173 austerity packages carried out around the world since 1973, the IMF concluded that all led to recession not growth."

Concluding his speech he said: "Britain is at a historically important crossroads. The choice we face is clear. In one direction is decline, depression and despair. In the other is recovery, regeneration and renewal. So, at this defining moment, let it be our movement that shows the way. Let it be us who give working people a sense of hope about their prospects. Let it be us who show a better future can be within our grasp. And together let's build a new Britain we can all be proud of." 

The conference is continuing, currently the Leader of the PCS Union Mark Serwotka is on the platform and has said there must by strike action "sooner rather than later" in response to the government's pay freeze and pension deal. Downing Street have condemned reports of "coordinated strike action" the Prime Minister's Official Spokesman saying "negotiations on public sector pensions will not be reopened and threats of strike action and strike action itself will help nobody".