My view: Britain must stay out of Iran and protect households here
Torsten’s opinion piece can also be read in Swansea Bay News.
We’re all worried about the conflict in Iran – what it means for the world, for the UK, and for households here in Swansea. This is a war we did not start and the UK Government’s approach is the right one: stopping the UK being drawn into the conflict abroad while supporting households and firms at home. We’re doing what is right for Britain, not what keeps Donald Trump happy.
Were Nigel Farage or Kemi Badenoch in power Britain would now be at war, participating in a conflict with no clear objectives. At this start of this conflict, Reform and the Conservatives called enthusiastically for Britain get involved alongside Donald Trump, without a thought for the consequences across Wales for the cost of heating homes and filling up cars.
The contrast with the Prime Minister’s calm-headed leadership couldn't be plainer. The UK Government didn’t support offensive military action because we are not in the business of trying to deliver regime change from the air. We are pushing for urgent de-escalation, using every diplomatic avenue available to re-open vital trade routes. And we’re working now on how we can support households with what lies ahead.
More widely, the crisis underlines why the Government's domestic economic strategy – helping make sure people are more resilient for when these crises happen – is so important. The first measures of the Employment Rights Act, a historic expansion in rights and protections for working people, are coming into force. This month, for the first time in history, there will be sick pay for low earners, so they won’t have to work when they’re ill. New dads will get the right to spend time with their kids from day 1 at a job. In future we will ban exploitative zero-hour contracts and end the situation where people can have their shifts cancelled at the last minute, without notice or pay.
Incomes, not just rights, are being boosted. As of this month, people working full-time on the National Living Wage will be £900 better off. Thousands of people across Swansea – working in supermarkets, care homes, on building sites – will benefit. As Pensions Minister, I’m raising the state pension by up to £575 a year to support older people. And we’re taking £150 off household energy bills – cushioning households against the challenges ahead.
We all know we face real and serious challenges as a country. But recognising success when it happens is a vital part of how we face up to them. And it’s a reminder that choices – that politics – makes a real difference to working people. Opposition parties fought to block all these changes and were ready to leap to war without a second’s thought for the impact here. The Tories have turned against the minimum wage. Reform have said they’ll scrap these new workers rights. Labour, the party of working people, will keep fighting to make sure they don’t get a chance to.