Call to raise tax thresholds among union demands ahead of Budget

Unions who donate to Labour will meet John Healey on Thursday to press home their demands ahead of next month's 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.

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.

Unions say they believe Healey's first budget will define Andy Burnham's direction of travel as prime 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.

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.

In her last Budget, then-Chancellor Rachel Reeves froze tax thresholds until 2031. The basic rate of 20% is paid on annual earnings between £12,571 and £50,270. The higher rate of 40% is paid on earnings between £50,271 and £125,140.