In his New Year address, Keir Starmer promised to "tackle" the cost of living (COL), claiming "this Labour Government is on your side, doing everything we can to ease the cost of living - and make life better". Yes "life" is bad. Food prices are 40% higher now than 5 years ago; average rents are at least 30% up and still rising!
But never mind, Starmer pointed to the first freeze in rail fares for 30 yrs. Forget that last year under his watch they were increased by 5.1% and are over 20% higher than 5 yrs ago! He claims that the £150 cut in energy bills, due in April, will help. But it's too little, too late! Energy bills are more than 50% higher than they were 5 yrs ago. And spare a thought for the "poor" energy companies, whose profits skyrocketed to £30bn this year! Not quite high enough, apparently. So for Starmer, a cap on energy prices is not part of his "doing everything we can to ease the COL" plan...
Of course, he had to mention the COL crisis in his New Year message: it was the reason behind the 2022/23 strike wave and the thought of another wave of discontent haunts him and the bosses he represents. This month, 30 sixth form colleges will be on strike, against a 4% pay offer. Teachers and school workers could well follow after a 6.5% pay offer over 3 years, while they face impossible workloads. At the end of 2025, bus workers were on strike in West London, Cambridge, South Wales, and Manchester over pay, but with their different strikes and wage demands organised separately. The same is true in the NHS - where resident doctors struck on their own, when wages and workload are a problem for all workers!
Indeed, like during the 2022/2023 strike wave, the union leaders keep strikers apart. Birmingham's refuse workers have been on strike exactly one year on 6 January, all by themselves, when it is obvious that the most effective way to win, would be to bring these fights together! So our wish for 2026 is to instill fear in the hearts of the bosses and their mouthpieces like Starmer, by breaking artificial divisions amongst workers and fighting back together as one strong, united, class!