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Unions blame politicians for problems in public services

By Mark Mansfield
TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak. Photo Stefan Rousseau PA Images

The deterioration in public services may be linked to declining trust in politicians, new research suggests.

The TUC and Hope Not Hate said a study showed the importance of restoring public services for the economy as well as preventing a slide towards extremism.

Their survey of 7,000 people found that two thirds agreed they would have more trust in politicians if the government delivered better quality public services.

Seven in 10 respondents said they agreed that “the wealthy should pay more tax to fund decent public services”.

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'Disarray'

TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said the Conservatives had left public services in “disarray”, adding: “After more than a decade of cuts, services across the public sector are short-staffed, cash-strapped and overwhelmed.

“Funding them properly is essential to bringing Britain out of decline.

“The Labour government has committed to doing things differently.

“With the global economy becoming more challenging, it’s more important for the Chancellor to stay the course.

“Fixing the foundations will make the UK more resilient and enable stronger growth.”

Mr Nowak said people trusted politicians more when public services worked well.

“But after 14 years of Tory cuts, everyone is saying the same thing – ‘nothing seems to work anymore’.

“Austerity damaged more than services like schools and hospitals, it damaged faith in politics too, and this has created opportunities for populists and extremists to exploit.”

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5 comments

Adrian

The public sector has never been more heavily staffed, or more expensive than it is now, public sector productivity has been in decline for years, and public sector net debt is winging its way towards £3 trillion. I don't think a lack of trust in politicians is the problem.

Reply
Bert

It didn't help that your lot chose to onshore loads of jobs from Brussels. It's baffling that so many blame the jump in civil servants on covid while ignoring that Johnson's oven ready deal kicked in at the same time.

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Neil Anderson

Let's then cut appointments with doctors to 2min instead of 10. 5x increase in productivity! The productivity fetish just overworks staff in any sector. Profitability at any cost is a bad modern idea that won't last. What are important are service quality and service delivery. Private sector doctors understand that, which is why you pay their premium. NHS doctors also understand that which is why they do their best in constrained circumstances. Queueing is one outcome. And, Adrian, you clearly don't understand 'public sector net debt' either. Think two column accounting - hint: there is a valuable asset there with an important function.

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Neil Anderson

Why is it we get such such intelligence and empathy from union leaders like Paul Nowak, and complete nonsense from Labour and most other politicians? Despite this, it is not economic growth - which will be near-unobtainable as we don't have cheap or sufficient resources anymore (see Piketty) - that will make a difference. Growing the (real) cake won't happen. It is redistribution that will make the difference. Not a wealth tax (too costly and inefficient to collect) but other taxes that can be levied on high net-worth individuals. My preference is for lower income taxes on lower and middle-income earners, higher taxes on higher incomes, and increased purchase taxes. More money in most pockets and more choice in how to spend it. Plus much enhanced benefits and pensions. A more equitable society will be happier and more successful, with increased personal, cultural, social and other non-material growth.

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Bert

That unnecessarily plays into the "tax on success" narrative beloved by the RefCon coalition when there's huge gains to be had by just ensuring the wealthy pay the same rates as middle income earners. We learnt during the election that Sunak paid an effective tax rate 10% lower than Starmer. Fix that. Plugging legal avoidance isn't even raising taxes so no commitment is broken.

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Why is it we get such such intelligence and empathy from union leaders like Paul Nowak, and complete nonsense from Labour and most other politicians? Despite this, it is not economic growth - which will be near-unobtainable as we don't h...

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