Cameron: Labour should hand back Unite donations over Olympics threat

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2012/feb/29/cameron-labour-unite-donations-olympics

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David Cameron has said Labour should start handing back donations from the Unite union after its general secretary called for civil disobedience during the London Olympics.

The prime minister seized on Labour leader Ed Miliband's reaction to comments given by Len McCluskey in an interview with the Guardian, in which he said attacks on public sector workers were so deep and ideological that targeting the Games would be justified. McCluskey also urged the public to engage in "all forms of civil disobedience within the law" in the campaign against cuts.

The union leader's comments prompted a cross-party backlash. The TUC also appeared to distance itself from the call.

Miliband tweeted his own displeasure earlier on Wednesday, saying: "Any threat to the Olympics is totally unacceptable and wrong. This is a celebration for the whole country and must not be disrupted."

But Cameron told MPs it was not good enough to send a condemnatory message on Twitter, given Unite's financial support for the Labour party.

Speaking at prime minister's questions on Wednesday, he said: "Unite is the single biggest donor to the party opposite, providing around a third of their money, and had more role than anybody else in putting the right honourable gentleman [Miliband] in his place.

"It's not good enough for them just to put out a tweet. They need to condemn this utterly and start turning back the money."

He said the Tory MP Richard Graham, who said McCluskey's remarks would damage the reputation of the UK, represented the views of the whole country.

Earlier in the day, the Labour deputy party leader, Harriet Harman, went on air to condemn the union leader's comments. She told the BBC: "I've already actually spoken to Len McCluskey this morning and said that both Ed Miliband and I think he's wrong and we think that he shouldn't even be floating the prospect.

"We all need to be rallying behind the Olympics … we want to make a great success of it, and I've already had the opportunity of saying to Len that I think that he was wrong even to raise this."

The leader of the country's largest trade union told the Guardian that no precise plans for action during the event had been drawn up, but added that action could include strikes.

"If the Olympics provide us with an opportunity, then that's exactly one that we should be looking at," he said.

He also said any attempt by ministers to tighten anti-strike legislation would lead to unions deliberately breaking the law.

McCluskey's comments came as the RMT union increased the pressure on the London mayor, Boris Johnson, to deliver a strike-free event by declaring a formal dispute after rejecting an Olympics pay deal for London Underground staff.

Earlier on Wednesday, Nick Clegg, the deputy prime minister, said people would be appalled by McCluskey's call for the public to engage in civil disobedience to defend public services during this summer's Games.

Before Harman and Miliband's comments, Clegg had seized on Unite's funding link with the Labour party, telling ITV Daybreak: "I just think people will be gobsmacked, appalled, that someone thinks that, at a time when we are finally hosting one of the greatest events in the world, he is calling for civil disobedience.

"I know he is the sort of paymaster of the Labour party, but I hope Ed Miliband will rein him in."

Lady Warsi, the Conservative party co-chairman, said McCluskey's comments were "an appalling display of naked self-interest by Labour's biggest financial backer".

"The London Olympics will be a great occasion for this country," she said. "It is disgraceful for a trade union boss to be calling for mass disruption when the eyes of the world will be on Britain."

McCluskey's comments also received short shrift from the TUC.

Brendan Barber, the TUC general secretary, said Britain's unions wanted a Games of which "we can all be proud".

"The TUC and Britain's unions have been strong supporters of the London Olympics. This was reflected in the agreement we reached with London 2012 in 2008, which included proper procedures for the speedy resolution of any disputes should any arise during the Games themselves."

He added: "Of course unions seek fair reward for the extra work and long hours that will be required during what will be the busiest ever time for public transport and other public services, and not all such negotiations have been concluded. But of course unions want a Games of which we can all be proud."

McCluskey said industrial action over government plans to cut the value of public sector pensions would "drag on and on" and involve "all forms of different protest and action".

Though some unions have scaled back their opposition to the proposals since staging the biggest strike for three decades in November, Unite is among those planning to fight on.

"The attacks that are being launched on public sector workers at the moment are so deep and ideological that the idea the world should arrive in London and have these wonderful Olympic Games as though everything is nice and rosy in the garden is unthinkable," McCluskey said.

"Our very way of life is being attacked. By then, this crazy health and social care bill may have been passed, so we are looking at the privatisation of our National Health Service. I believe the unions, and the general community, have got every right to be out protesting."

McCluskey said his union represented London's 28,000 bus drivers and staff, who are involved in their own row about extra payments during the Olympics.

The bus workers want £500 in supplementary pay for the Games, in line with deals at Network Rail, Virgin Trains and London Overground. "They will be examining what leverage points we have, and the Olympics will clearly come into play," he said.

McCluskey said that, because of the seriousness of the issues, he was encouraging the public to engage in "all forms of civil disobedience within the law" in the campaign against cuts.

The next strike over public sector pensions is expected to take place on 28 March, with Unite's health workers, civil servants in the Public and Commercial Services union and the National Union of Teachers contemplating combined action.

More than 1 million public sector workers took part in the national walkout on 30 November, but numbers could be lower next month because the country's largest public sector union, Unison, is focusing on settlement talks.