Workers, pensioners and children: all better off. Ignore the critics – we really are standing up for working people

## Summary
Photograph: Leon Neal/Getty Images Workers, pensioners and children: all better off. Ignore the critics – we really are standing up for working people Keir Starmer Day-one rights to statutory sick pay and paternity leave begin on Monday, and that fits the pattern. From my own life, I know people’s anxieties, and I will respond Starmer attacks Greens, saying vote for Labour rivals puts new workers’ rights at risk T his week 27 years ago, a Labour government introduced the minimum wage. Keir Starmer is the UK prime minister Explore more on these topics Labour Opinion Economic policy UK cost of living crisis Child benefits Children Minimum wage Benefits comment Share Reuse this content

## Article Content
The chancellor, Rachel Reeves, flags help for working people as she addresses Labour supporters in Swindon before the upcoming local elections, 31 March 2026.
Photograph: Leon Neal/Getty Images
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The chancellor, Rachel Reeves, flags help for working people as she addresses Labour supporters in Swindon before the upcoming local elections, 31 March 2026.
Photograph: Leon Neal/Getty Images
Workers, pensioners and children: all better off. Ignore the critics – we really are standing up for working people
Keir Starmer
Day-one rights to statutory sick pay and paternity leave begin on Monday, and that fits the pattern. From my own life, I know people’s anxieties, and I will respond
Starmer attacks Greens, saying vote for Labour rivals puts new workers’ rights at risk
T
his week 27 years ago, a
Labour
government introduced the minimum wage. At the time, the voices of the status quo lined up against it, but Labour made a choice: to stand up for working people. My government is doing the same.
On Monday, the
biggest strengthening of workers’ rights in a generation
comes into force. For the first time, workers gain day-one rights to statutory sick pay and paternity leave. No one should be forced to choose between their health and their wages, or miss those first precious days with their child because of insecurity at work.
We are
increasing the state pension
, putting more money in the pockets of millions of people who have worked hard all their lives. And we have
abolished the two-child benefit cap
. That is one of the proudest moments of this Labour government. Because it will lift nearly half a million children out of poverty. It means fuller cupboards, less anxiety at the end of the month, and a fairer start in life for children who had no say in the circumstances they were born into. And it tells you something fundamental about this government – when faced with a choice, we act.
At every stage, we faced those same voices of opposition. They warned of costs, of disruptions, and said the time was not right. But once again, we made a different choice. We chose working people. Nothing Labour has achieved came easily. Every success was hard fought and hard won against the pull of vested interests. And each time, those warnings were proved wrong.
That is the lesson we carry forward. Because the test of any government is not what it promises, but whose side it is on when it matters most, and it has rarely mattered more than it does today.
Because for many families, things are still tough. The cost of living is still too high, and the pressure on household budgets has not gone away. I know what that feels like. Growing up working-class in the 1970s, I saw first-hand what happens when bills rise. I still remember my parents having those anxious conversations around the dinner table, and the knot in my stomach when the phone was cut off for months at a time. Those pressures are now compounded by an increasingly uncertain world. International conflicts are no longer distant events – they reach into our own homes and on to kitchen tables. Families will rightly be asking what that means for them.
That is why the choices we make today matter so much. They are the difference between families feeling secure or being left exposed – and between a country that works for working people and one that leaves them behind. We have seen where the wrong choices lead, and I will not let us go back.
The decisions we have already taken mean we are better equipped for what lies ahead. The changes coming into effect on Monday mean greater security at work and stronger protections against rising costs. And the choices we have made since day one to stabilise the economy mean we are in a far better position to withstand shocks than we were before.
The truth is simple: to make families better off, you need a serious, credible economic strategy – and the political will to use it to support those who need it most. That is what this Labour government is delivering, and that is what sets us apart. No other party offers both the economic credibility and the political will to do this. A vote for any other party puts that progress at risk – whether through choices that would take us backwards, or approaches that simply don’t stand up to the realities of governing.
There is more to do: there will be more choices ahead, and we will continue to make them in the same way we always have: in the interests of working people.
Because it is that choice that defines us. Twenty-seven years ago, Labour made that choice with the minimum wage. Today, we have made it again, and we will keep making it. Because when we stand up for working people, we build a stronger Britain for all.
Keir Starmer is the UK prime minister
Explore more on these topics
Labour
Opinion
Economic policy
UK cost of living crisis
Child benefits
Children
Minimum wage
Benefits
comment
Share
Reuse this content

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## Expert Analysis

### Merits
- And we have abolished the two-child benefit cap .
- Every success was hard fought and hard won against the pull of vested interests.
- A vote for any other party puts that progress at risk – whether through choices that would take us backwards, or approaches that simply don’t stand up to the realities of governing.

### Areas for Consideration
- From my own life, I know people’s anxieties, and I will respond Starmer attacks Greens, saying vote for Labour rivals puts new workers’ rights at risk T his week 27 years ago, a Labour government introduced the minimum wage.
- A vote for any other party puts that progress at risk – whether through choices that would take us backwards, or approaches that simply don’t stand up to the realities of governing.

### Implications
- From my own life, I know people’s anxieties, and I will respond Starmer attacks Greens, saying vote for Labour rivals puts new workers’ rights at risk T his week 27 years ago, a Labour government introduced the minimum wage.
- No one should be forced to choose between their health and their wages, or miss those first precious days with their child because of insecurity at work.
- Because it will lift nearly half a million children out of poverty.
- Families will rightly be asking what that means for them.

### Expert Commentary
This article covers labour, working, government topics. Notable strengths include discussion of labour. Areas of concern are also raised. Readability: Flesch-Kincaid grade 0.0. Word count: 861.