Labour is facing mounting pressure from two fronts — with the new leader of the country's biggest union warning it must “change course drastically” to avoid handing power to Reform, as a backbench MP reintroduces the assisted dying bill that threatens to reignite a divisive internal debate.
Andrea Egan, who defeated incumbent general secretary Christina McAnea to lead Unison in December, told the BBC her members had a clear message for ministers: “I have been very frank with the government. When Labour came into power there was a sense of relief. But sadly we've been left wanting.”
“Unison leader warns Labour must change course or risk handing power to Reform as assisted dying bill returns.”
Egan, a grassroots campaigner for more than 30 years who described the union as previously “a sleeping giant” too “subservient” to Labour, added: “Communities are really struggling. They [Labour] haven't delivered and my election demonstrated that members were desperate to have their voices heard.”
She argued that if the government did not pay more attention to her members' concerns, Labour would pay a political price. “It isn't us that will hand the keys to No10 to Reform — it's them, unless they change course. And drastically,” she said.
Egan, who was expelled from Labour for reposting messages from Socialist Appeal, a Marxist group now proscribed by the party, said Unison would not debate disaffiliation at its conference this week, instead leaving it to regional members to decide. She rejected Nigel Farage's offer to unions to affiliate to Reform UK.
Meanwhile, Labour MP Lauren Edwards has said she will reintroduce assisted dying legislation on Wednesday (17 June). The bill, unchanged from Kim Leadbeater's version which cleared the Commons in June 2025, seeks to grant adults considered to have six months or less to live access to life-ending medication, subject to approval by two doctors and an expert panel.
Leadbeater's bill had fallen after peers tabled more than 1,200 amendments in the House of Lords. “It is not my intention that the Parliament Acts should apply to this Bill,” Edwards wrote in a letter explaining her decision.
The bill's fate could hinge on whether the government chooses to allow time for its passage — and offer support — as it did with Leadbeater's. A major difference this time could be if the government is led not by Sir Keir Starmer, who is in favour of changing the law, but by Andy Burnham.
Burnham, speaking to BBC Manchester in November 2024, said he would “probably vote in favour” of the principle of assisted dying, but added a major caveat: “While I would vote in favour of the principle of the bill, in terms of the implementation of it, I would say there should be a kind of requirement that the hospices of this country get properly funded and sorted out before that law change comes in.” He argued that palliative care was “not in the strong position it should be in” and that “consequently, you can't have this law change with an underfunded hospice movement.”
Burnham's position appears far closer to that of his Labour leadership rival, Wes Streeting, who also voted for the principle but argued end-of-life care was not ready for the change. With Labour already under fire from its union base, the assisted dying vote could expose further fault lines within the party.