Speaking at the Labour party conference in Liverpool, Burke delivered a speech on an alternative economic strategy.

He said that the "coalition millionaires" had launched a "war against working people", claiming that the Tories were "finishing the job Thatcher started".

"We cannot sit back and watch these attacks happen," he said. "We need co-ordinated, sustained industrial and political opposition to this - or we face the destruction of the social fabric of our country."

His comments come at a time of significant industrial action for the print industry. Unite members at Wyndeham Impact have been striking every Friday since April – last week they were joined by Burke.

Elsewhere, a 24-hour strike took place at API Holographics on Monday, to be replicated next week. Staff at UCP also went in strike over changes to pay in July.

Burke called for a "clear and well-resourced strategy", which puts people before profits.

He said: "We need a Strategic Investment Bank - using assets we already own to rebalance our economy. We need a public procurement policy that ensures that the Bombardier fiasco will never happen again. We need high-skill, high-value industries with decent jobs that will rebuild our manufacturing base."