Paddy Lillis – Usdaw General Secretary says: “Our members were desperate to hear the new Prime Minister lay out a substantial and urgent plan to tackle the cost of living crisis, which would stem rocketing energy prices and bring inflation under control. They wanted to see a commitment to bring forward an employment bill that will end poverty pay and insecure work. However, instead we heard little to help the lives of working people struggling to make ends meet and her number one priority is tax cuts for the rich.
 
“We will await the PM’s plan for energy bills, but fear that it will be too little, too late. We urge the Government to freeze the energy price cap as an immediate measure, but they must ensure that the costs of this are not passed on to consumers in the longer term.
 
“After twelve years of Conservative rule and a summer of zombie government, we are totally underwhelmed by what we heard from Liz Truss today. It appears we are destined for more of the same until we can get a general election and a Labour Government. That cannot come too soon. The new PM would have done much better to adopt Keir Starmer’s plan for an energy price cap freeze that will help protect against future price shocks, along with Labour’s New Deal for Workers. Only Labour has the plans to help the country through the cost of living emergency.”
 
Notes for editors:
 
Usdaw (Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers) is the UK's fifth biggest trade union with around 360,000 members. Most Usdaw members work in the retail sector, but the union also has many members in transport, distribution, food manufacturing, chemical industry and other trades.
 
Labour’s New Deal for Workers: www.usdaw.org.uk/LaboursNDW
 
For Usdaw press releases visit: http://www.usdaw.org.uk/news and you can follow us on Twitter @UsdawUnion