An excellent BBC Radio 4 investigation into the Falkirk row was broadcast on Thursday evening following the Scottish police announcement that there was insufficient evidence to justify an investigation, never mind bringing any charges. It described the row as “much ado about nothing” and concluded that there was no major vote rigging scandal. You can listen […]
Posts Tagged ‘Labour-Union Link’
Our union link: the status quo is worth defending
Jul 26th, 2013 by Andy Newman.The conciliatory tone of Len McCluskey’s recent speech on the Labour Party, and Ed Miliband’s proposed reforms, should be welcomed, as it steps away from escalating what seemed to be a growing crisis. There has been a witch hunt atmosphere surrounding Unite, that we need to defuse. Len says: Ed Miliband has made some bold […]
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It’s time to really mend the Labour trade union relationship
Jul 26th, 2013 by Mark Seddon.News that the police have dropped their inquiry into the Falkirk selection because of a lack of evidence does not come as a surprise to me. Having spoken at length to people who had read the Labour Party’s internal investigation and to a number of those directly involved in the selection, it became pretty clear that this […]
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London Young Labour defends the trade union link
Jul 25th, 2013 by Newsdesk.Britain’s biggest regional Young Labour group last night (Wednesday) vowed to defend the link between trade unions and the Labour party, following Ed Miliband’s announcement that he will seek to end automatic affiliation of membership. The London Young Labour executive committee voted in favour of a motion that also resolved to call on Labour chiefs […]
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Unite is at a turning point in its relationship with the Labour Party
Jul 24th, 2013 by Len McCluskey.This is the abridged text of a speech made today at a meeting of the Unite executive council and regional political committees at the TUC’s conference centre in London It is clear we are at a turning point in the historic relationship Unite and its predecessor unions have had with the Labour party. This will […]
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Why Lord Ashcroft’s polling on Unite is worthless and should be discounted
Jul 24th, 2013 by Jon Lansman.Lord Ashcroft published a poll of Unite members yesterday which made uncomfortable reading for Unite’s leadership – “just under half (49%) of Unite members said they would vote Labour in an election tomorrow; 23% would vote Tory,” revealed Lord Ashcroft for example. It also gave some encouragement to Ed Miliband’s plan to restructure the party-union link — […]
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Is this the roadmap to the end of Labourism?
Jul 23rd, 2013 by Jon Lansman.Ed Miliband’s father, Ralph, warned in Parliamentary Socialism of the futility of Labourism – “that genuine compromise between revisionism on the one hand, and socialist purposes on the other is impossible” but “ensures in practice the predominance of the policies favoured by a revisionist leadership“. Although Ed yesterday presented his “mending not ending” of the […]
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Yes to a union voice, no to state funding
Jul 19th, 2013 by Mark Seddon.July has been a hot month. It has been especially hot in the hothouse world of Westminster politics, where lobby hacks mix with media savvy politicians, stories and plots are hatched and exposed. In the immediate aftermath of Ed Miliband’s shock announcement that in future he wanted Labour’s affiliated members to ‘opt in’ to party […]
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A defining moment for trade unionism
Jul 15th, 2013 by Keith Ewing.Trade union leaders are now under great pressure. They and they alone have the opportunity to stop Miliband’s breath-taking changes from happening, and the opportunity to defend the principle of collective affiliation. It is true that Miliband’s proposals will not need legislation in order to be implemented. But they will require a change to the […]
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Ed Miliband – guilty not of Blairism but of wishful thinking
Jul 11th, 2013 by Peter Willsman.When they joined the party, most Labour members had a belief that they would have some influence in their party. But under the Blairites, power was centralised and members were patronised. In the future, in the mooted new model party being cobbled together, individual members would be expected to pay some £45, work hard and […]
