Responding to defence minister Ben Wallace’s attack today on the trade unions, Sharon Graham Unite general secretary said:

"This government is spinning a web of lies to divert the blame for who is really responsible for the economic crisis engulfing the country. The unions ‘holding the country to ransom’ is another to add to their long list.

"Ben Wallace’s comments are puerile. The truth is that it is bandit capitalism that's holding the country to ransom. The FT 350 whose profit margins soared 73 per cent during the pandemic; big energy whose £170 billion ’‘excess profits’ are forecast for this year and next; and City bankers’ £33bn excess profits predicted for this year are holding the country to ransom. And they are but a few.

“Government ministers used to applaud NHS workers every Thursday for their courage and sacrifice; now that they are striking to break years of pay freezes they are ‘holding the country to ransom’. This government is presiding over a broken economy that works just for the rich and not for everyday people.”

 

ENDS

Notes to editors

For media enquiries ONLY please contact Unite senior communications officer Barckley Sumner on 07802 329235 or 0203 371 2067.

Email: [email protected]

Unite is the UK and Ireland’s leading union fighting to protect and advance jobs, pay and conditions for members working across all sectors of the economy. The general secretary is Sharon Graham.