TUC conference: Frances O’Grady warns of ‘Downton’ society

The TUC General Secretary, Frances O’Grady, addresses union delegates at their annual conference in Liverpool (Reuters)

Britain’s “below-stairs, above-stairs” class system is being restored, as the gap between rich and poor grows wider, the leader of the trades union movement claims.

Frances O’Grady, General Secretary of the TUC, was addressing the body’s annual conference in Liverpool. She said: “Are we going to settle for a nastier and poorer Britain – a Downton Abbey-style society, in which the living standards of the vast majority are sacrificed to protect the high living of the well-to-do?”

Although economic growth has returned and unemployment is falling, the unions complain that the benefits of recovery are being felt unequally, with thousands forced into insecure, low-paid employment. Ms O’Grady also took a swipe at changes to the welfare system, including the five-week wait for those who qualify for universal credit.

“No matter how long you’ve worked, or how much you’ve contributed, if you lose your job you will have to wait five weeks before you get a penny. It’s welfare for Wonga – a policy guaranteed to line the pockets of loan sharks,” she said.