Sharon Graham tells Andy Burnham to reduce tax burden on working class

The General Secretary of Unite, Labour’s biggest union backer, has warned Prime Minister Andy Burnham that he must reduce the tax burden on the working classes, as the Prime Minister prepares to deliver his first major address to Labour Party conference.

Graham warned that unless tax-burden on working people reduces they “will turn their back on politics for good”, which could have a severly detrimental affect on democracy.

She made the comments in an op-ed for the New Statesman, where she said: “There is now the very real danger that a clear majority of working-class voters will turn their back on politics for good. If they do, who knows what will then follow. But it will likely be far worse than anything Farage can dream up.

“No matter what the bond markets might expect, the working-class are not going to keep paying. At least not without serious consequences for us all.”

It comes ahead of next month’s budget which could include tax rises as Burnham seeks to fund policies while also maintaining fiscal discipline.

Unite is proposing a motion at Labour Party conference asking the government to lift the freeze on the personal allowance and the point at which taxpayers begin paying the higher rate of income tax in the budget in October, to be funded by the introduction of a wealth tax.

The Prime Minister has promised to rewire Britain and deliver the biggest change in the country’s political and economic system for 40 years.