Let’s be clear — the shift from opt-out to opt-in is what the Tories have long wanted, and what Progress have campaigned for inside the party. The Tories wanted it because it will damage the party’s finances, and weaken the party. And Progress want it because they want to eliminate union influence on the party, […]
Posts Tagged ‘Labour-Union Link’
On the problems with reforming the Labour-union link the Tory/Progress way
Jul 9th, 2013 by Jon Lansman.
“Mending not ending” – the speech
Jul 9th, 2013 by Newsdesk.Let me start by saying how pleased I am to be here at the St Bride’s Foundation. Only a few hundred yards from where the Labour Party was founded over a century ago. And especially to be here with so many community organisers and Labour Party members from right across the country. I am here […]
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Shouldn’t it be up to affiliates themselves how they manage their link with Labour?
Jul 9th, 2013 by Dominic Curran.This morning Ed Miliband will make a speech in which he will lay out his support for changes to the trade union link including the limited use of primaries, but possibly more crucially forcing trade unions to get their members to “opt in” for Labour party affiliation rather than “opt out”. This proposal will not […]
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Yes, Labour’s selection process has been abused, but not by the unions
Jul 9th, 2013 by Len McCluskey.Getting those who pay into unions’ political funds engaged in the life of the Labour party, is worth pursuing. Today Ed Miliband will spell out his proposals to mend, but not end, the historic relationship between trade unions and the Labour party. Clearly, whatever he proposes will need to be considered seriously. Change is needed, and for […]
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The union link and challenging inequalities of wealth and power
Jul 8th, 2013 by Andy Newman.The controversy over the Falkirk West selection reached a new level over the weekend with article in the Observer by Ed Miliband calling for the link with the unions to be “mended not broken”, and Unite’s General Secretary, Len McCluskey, writing in the Sunday Mirror to explain the important context: If your son or daughter fancies becoming a […]
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Breaking the link with the unions is not warranted by Falkirk & would be fundamentally wrong
Jul 7th, 2013 by Michael Meacher.It’s time to quieten down over Falkirk and await the true facts now that Ed Miliband has referred the whole matter to the police. As long as this row goes on, it only benefits two interests. One is the Blairites who have been seeking to break the link with the union for the last two […]
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Daily Mail says 70% of Labour candidates have union links – inquiry demanded
Jul 3rd, 2013 by Jon Lansman.The Daily Mail this morning fulminates about its finding that “70% of Labour candidates for 2015 election have links to unions.” Worse still, it finds that “more than half of those are affiliated to Unite, the giant Left-wing union which is targeting as many seats as possible to exert maximum influence over Ed Miliband.” All […]
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All union levy-payers should be able to vote in Labour selections
Jul 2nd, 2013 by Jon Lansman.The current row between Progress and Unite is really about class politics and union influence – not one parliamentary selection in Scotland. However, perhaps it is worth taking at face value the claim by Peter Mandelson in his plea for “no more Falkirks” that he is “trying to defend the rights of grassroots members of the […]
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Setting the record straight on Falkirk West
May 28th, 2013 by Pat Rafferty.Over the last few weeks there has been a lot said about Unite’s involvement in the selection of Labour’s candidate for Falkirk West. First off, let me spell this out clearly for the off the record gossips and muck-spreaders, who have been hiding in the shadows, Unite has done absolutely nothing wrong. Unite’s political strategy […]
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Peter Mandelson and trade unions – two classes of party member
May 23rd, 2013 by Peter Willsman.Peter Mandelson’s attitude to class politics is widely seen as typified by his comment that the New Labour government was “intensely relaxed about people getting filthy rich”. He, like rival political parties and hostile voices in the media, continually questions the role of trade unions and of their members within our party – in parliamentary selections, […]
