Labour's union paymasters demand wealth tax and more employment rights as TUC leader warns Burnham not to ignore them - or cap donations to party

See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred Source Published: 06:09 EDT, 10 September 2026 | Updated: 06:16 EDT, 10 September 2026 The head of the TUC today said Labour should hammer firms with wealth taxes and bring in a fresh wave of worker-friendly rules despite the precarious state of the UK economy. General secretary Paul Nowak called for a series of measures to help workers ahead of the body's annual conference next week.In a series of interviews he backed more taxes on the financial sector, insourcing of public services and delivering new employment rights in full. Labour has already brought in a wave of new rights in the Employment Rights Act, including covering sick pay and paternity leave, with more measures making it harder for firms to sack due to come into effect next year.But speaking to Politico, Mr Nowak said: 'I think it's entirely legitimate to say, at the next election, what is Labour's manifesto going to say about employment rights?'The idea that the Employment Rights Act is the finished article in terms of UK employment law, that nothing else needs to change, I think clearly is not the case.' And speaking to the Press Association he added: 'We have an economy that is not working for too many people, a tax system that is better at taxing people than wealth.'But one group he wanted to escape any sort of financial restraint was trade unions, as he demanded they be exempted from any move to cap political donations. TUC general secretary Paul Nowak called for a series of measures to help workers ahead of the body's annual conference. The TUC's submission to next month's Budget will include calls for a windfall tax on banks as a result of the 'huge' profits and bonus payments they makeJoin the discussionShould wealthy companies pay more taxes to support greater rights and protections for workers?What's your view?The Prime Minister backed a £500,000 limit on cash gifts to parties when he was campaigning to return to Westminster in May, amid a row over £15million donated to Reform by Thailand-based billionaire Christopher Harborne.But he has since backed away from lending Government support to efforts by Labour backbenchers to bring in a similar cap, following lobbying from unions who give Labour millions of pounds every year. Mr Nowak said: 'We all want to see our politics cleaned up, but I don't want to see the voices of ordinary working people excluded from politics because we have a badly designed law.'Until somebody can give me an assurance that you can design a law that doesn't silence those voices, then I'm going to be skeptical about it.' The TUC's submission to next month's Budget will include calls for a windfall tax on banks as a result of the 'huge' profits and bonus payments they make. His comments are likely to alarm businesses who have already been targeted by a wealth of measures since Labour came to power. Ahead of the TUC Congress, which opens in Brighton on Sunday, Mr Nowak said workers were still facing high energy bills, insecure work and stagnant pay.He said: 'Too many are struggling to get by and feel like the odds are stacked against them.'The Prime Minister has been quick out of the blocks with measures to ease the cost of living, but challenges the country faces are so stark that it will take time to turn things around for good.'That's why the Prime Minister must now focus relentlessly on creating an economy that works for working people and go further and faster in the coming months.'Mr Nowak told the Press Association that the Prime Minister would have to face down some vested interests, including employers who had enjoyed 'one-sided flexibility' ahead of new rights on contracts for workers.'He will have to have the confidence to face them down, just as he knows there will be fierce resistance to the ban on trade with the occupied West Bank,' he said.'He has made the right call and has the overwhelming support from the British public.'Mr Nowak added that polling for the union organisation showed that people's number one priority was the cost of living, with a majority citing energy bills as the top concern.