WE ARE now in a class war of the Tories’ making. 
 
We were already in a huge cost-of-living crisis, impacted by historic levels of inflation caused by huge energy bills and surging food prices. 
 
The new Chancellor’s so-called “plan for growth” or mini-budget two weeks ago, which lashed out at the politics of redistribution, in fact doubled down on the Conservative agenda of redistributing from the poorest to the wealthiest. 
 
The working class must fight back. 
 
That’s why it is welcome that Unison Wales and Wales TUC are bringing together a cost-of-living crisis rally in Cardiff this evening. 
 
That Conservative agenda of austerity and redistribution has been twelve years in the making. It is the backdrop to the current crisis and it is those decisions which explain why it is currently so damaging. 
 
The inflation we are facing now is more difficult to handle, because the Conservatives have held down working-class incomes for so many years. 
 
The Chancellor’s plans are hugely regressive and that shows the ruling class’s willingness to go on the offensive. 
 
They have put in place a raft of legislation to prevent scrutiny and ride roughshod over the devolved governments, from the Internal Market Act, Policing Bill, to the Elections Bill, the Public Order Bill currently going through Parliament and the announcement of new legislation putting in place new red tape for trade union balloting. 
 
We the working class, through organised labour, need to be ready to defeat it.
 
And it is needed.
 
The Chancellor’s mini-budget is designed to benefit the richest at the expense of the majority of people and will plunge millions more into poverty. 

It ended caps on bankers’ bonuses, it cut the 45p additional rate of income tax and by far the largest tax change was cancelling the planned increase in corporation tax.
 
The Energy Price Guarantee will limit bill increases for the average household, but even then that is an increase of £500 on where we already were. And more than double what it was a year ago.
 
And they’re not charging that bill to the oil giants booming with profits and paying dividends to shareholders, but they will bill the taxpayer. 
 
As the TUC said, in stark contrast to the boom for the wealthy, workers’ pay is once again under attack. 
 
And what else did we hear at Conservative Party conference?
 
Under heavy fire, they've U-turned on the 45p additional rate of income tax — at least for now. But they still thought it the the right thing to do in principle.
 
Even after that U-turn, the Resolution Foundation estimate that the richest 5 per cent of households still stand to gain almost 40 times as much as the poorest 20 per cent of households.
 
So the U-turn is welcome but it is only a fraction of this regressive package. It’s still largely a handout to the wealthy and big business, particularly through corporation tax but also through dividend tax, as Gordon Brown has condemned.
 
The Chancellor has said there will be no more money for government spending — despite those budgets having to deal with inflation. That means local government, or schools, or social security, and many others all facing cuts. 
 
On top of that, they’re now saying that social security should not increase by inflation, but by earnings, because earnings are lower. 

And the reason earnings are lower? Well, if you’re in the public sector, the Conservatives are holding down your pay. Since 2010 we have seen pay freezes or a 1 per cent pay cap for the majority of that time. They kept the pay ceiling to 5 per cent in July when CPI inflation was already 10.1 per cent. 

And we are seeing a return to the demonisation of social security recipients and asylum-seekers.
 
So what do we do? 
 
Well firstly in Wales, we need the Welsh government to continue fighting Whitehall for fairer funding to pay better.
 
At Labour Party Conference, Mark Drakeford said public-sector workers’ pay should at least match inflation. He has demanded a meeting with the Chancellor to discuss public-sector pay. 
 
We need those negotiations backed up by a major campaign to demand a pay rise. 
 
When unions strike for fair pay, we need the Wales TUC mobilising support from Labour MPs, MSs, council leaders, councillors and CLPs.
 
In my constituency of Cynon Valley, I’ve sought to listen to voters, build awareness of the crisis, and bring people together to identify solutions and campaigning activities. 
 
I’ve helped re-establish Rhondda Cynon Taf Trades Union Council, ran a cost-of-living survey in April and May, organised a coach to the TUC demo in London in June, been collecting signatures on a cost-of-living petition and organised a cost-of-living rally in early September, which demonstrated the willingness of people to mobilise right now — as the enormous Enough is Enough meetings around the country have since confirmed. 
 
We need to be doing this in every constituency, in every community. 
 
We need to get organised in the way we used to be. Trades unions and communities coming together to organise, campaign, fight for each other, but also to care for each other. 
 
We need to unite, get out there and fight back.