Union leaders, who are significant donors to Labour, plan to meet with John Healey on Thursday to advocate for policy changes ahead of next month's Budget. Sharon Graham from Unite is calling for an end to the freezing of tax thresholds and a reversal of cuts to winter fuel allowances, claiming these policies affect low-income workers adversely. Additionally, unions like Unison propose increasing taxes on tech companies and studying whether shifting taxation from income to wealth could benefit public sector investment and green energy initiatives.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-16,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
Unite, the UK’s second biggest union, is pressing for increased tax thresholds and reversing winter fuel allowance cuts ahead of next month's Budget. Unite leader Sharon Graham told Andy Burnham that freezing tax thresholds pulls low-income earners into paying taxes and called the winter fuel allowance cut a "disgrace." The meeting with John Healey, scheduled for Thursday, is aimed at influencing the upcoming Budget and defining Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s direction of travel. Unions are also advocating for higher taxes on tech companies as part of their demands to Chancellor John Healey. Graham believes these policies, like the winter fuel payment restriction introduced by Sir Keir Starmer's government, can be politically damaging if not addressed.
Written for “Tax Threshold Increase Demands” on 2026-09-17,
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- Published
Unions who donate to Labour will meet John Healey on Thursday to press home their demands ahead of next month's Budget.
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who → publish → Budget
Unite, the UK's second biggest union, has called for a reversal of the freezing of tax thresholds, that see the lowest paid drawn into paying tax.
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lowest → call → tax
The union's leader, Sharon Graham, said she told Andy Burnham that the cut to the winter fuel allowance, carried out under former Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, was a "disgrace", adding: "What to you need to do is winter fuel in reverse - something that says to everyday people I am on your side."
The call is one of a number of policy proposals unions are taking to the chancellor, including increased taxes on tech companies.
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unions → say → companies
Unions say they believe Healey's first budget will define Andy Burnham's direction of travel as prime minister.
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budget → say → minister
Unite took legal action against Sir Keir's government when the winter fuel payment was restricted to the poorest pensioners, and Graham believed this policy - which was not in Labour's manifesto - was politically poisonous.
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which → take → manifesto
Burnham said the freezing of tax thresholds had come up on the doorsteps when he was campaigning to return to Westminster as MP for Makerfield.
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he → say → Makerfield
In her last Budget, then-Chancellor Rachel Reeves froze tax thresholds until 2031.
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Reeves → freeze → 2031
The basic rate of 20% is paid on annual earnings between £12,571 and £50,270.
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rate → pay → 12,571
The higher rate of 40% is paid on earnings between £50,271 and £125,140.
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rate → pay → 50,271
By not uprating those rates in line with inflation, more lower paid people have paid tax for the first time and more better-off workers, including public service workers such as senior nurses, police officers and teachers, are now paying tax at the higher rate.
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workers → uprate → rate
Graham said: "We must see things happen immediately.
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things → say → ?
I told him [Burnham] that you have to make working class people believe their best days are in front of them.
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days → tell → them
"That tax threshold of around £12,500 - if that hadn't been frozen for the past few years it would have moved up to over £16,000 now.
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it → freeze → 16,000
People at the lower end are paying eye-watering amounts of tax."
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People → pay → tax
The country's biggest union Unison is calling for the chancellor to increase tax on large tech companies to finance public sector investment and the transition to green energy.
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chancellor → call → energy
It is also calling for the Treasury to commission research into whether the balance of taxation needs to move from income to wealth.
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balance → call → wealth
The union's general secretary Andrea Egan is not expecting dramatic change from Healey straight away at the Budget, but is expecting a new direction to be mapped out.
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direction → expect → Budget
Her union is demanding that Labour makes clear it too is under new leadership and isn't just "continuity Starmer" with a more affable face.
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it → demand → face
The third biggest union, GMB, also has significant financial links to the Labour Party.
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union → have → Party
Leader Gary Smith has long advocated raising revenue from the oil and gas industries by approving the new Rosebank and Jackdaw fields in the North Sea.
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Smith → advocate → Sea
A decision on whether these will go ahead seems unlikely until after the October by election in Sir Keir's former seat in north London - though the government maintains the timing is out of its hands as it is a quasi judicial decision.
Smith said: "The government really needs to get on with this.
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government → go → this
We are going to need oil and gas for generations to come.
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We → go → generations
Rosebank and Jackdaw are good for jobs, good for the economy, but also good for the environment as we won't have to import so much from abroad as that is carbon intensive."
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that → have → much
Smith also wants to see confidence building measures for the construction industry in the Budget.
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Smith → want → Budget
He said: "We have half a million bricks stockpiled in this country - enough to build two Kidderminsters - and factories are being mothballed because we are not getting on with the house building programme.
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we → say → programme
They have to cut through the red tape."
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They → have → tape
In the next couple of weeks, TUC officials and representatives of those unions which don't donate to Labour will also meet the chancellor.
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which → donate → chancellor
TUC leader Paul Nowak told me his main demand was for Healey to reverse the last government's cut in the surcharge paid by banks to raise around £9bn to subsidise energy bills.
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Healey → tell → bills
But he also wants to see the remit of the independent Budget watchdog, the OBR, revised, so it takes into account the value of long term investment and not just short term book-balancing.
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it → want → investment
The Aporia
