THE next Labour government must deliver on its manifesto promises to “make work pay,” TUC LGBT+ conference heard today.

TUC general secretary Paul Nowak told delegates that it has been “a historic victory” when the Employment Rights Act became law last year, noting that LGBT+ workers “who so often are on the front line of insecurity will be among those who benefit most from that legislation.”

“None of that happened by accident. It didn’t drop from the sky,” he said.

“It happened because the trade union movement fought for it, campaigned for it.”

But he said that “there is a lot more” for the government to do to deliver on its “Make Work Pay” commitment.

He said: “Whoever is leading the [next] government needs to deliver the change that people voted for in July 2024.

“Now there’s been some progress. But if we’re being honest, a lot of it has been overshadowed by the government’s own self-inflicted mistakes.

“And frankly it is simply not enough, because for far too many people change feels like a slogan rather than a lived reality.”

In a message to the next prime minister, Mr Nowak said: “It’s time to show working people that you’re on their side.

“It’s time to deliver the manifesto promise that Labour that was elected on and it’s time to be bold and ambitious.”

Mr Nowak also told delegates that hate crimes have reached an all-time high, with 18,000 incidents motivated by sexual orientation in the last year alone.

He added: “The abuse of LGBT post workers is a growing problem.

“If you believe in a fundamental tenet of this movement – an injury to one is an injury to all – then we cannot let that stand.”