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The Labour party needs unions to keep it in the real world The Labour party needs unions to keep it in the real world
(3 months later)
As a veteran who served – and survived – eight years on Labour's national executive committee, I have witnessed a number of controversial parliamentary selections in my time. I have also fallen foul of a few fixed selections myself, having been kept off shortlists and seen favourites repeatedly parachuted in by the mother ship. But nothing quite compares with the sound and fury surrounding the row over the Labour Falkirk selection, which is turning into a full on anti-trade union foam-flecked tirade from the Fleet Street union bashers. If allowed to continue unchecked, many trade unionists may conclude that they are no longer valued by the Labour party, since the political and media establishment now appears bent on driving them from legitimacy and civic society altogether. I suspect this is what may have partly fuelled Tom Watson's sad and premature resignation on Thursday.As a veteran who served – and survived – eight years on Labour's national executive committee, I have witnessed a number of controversial parliamentary selections in my time. I have also fallen foul of a few fixed selections myself, having been kept off shortlists and seen favourites repeatedly parachuted in by the mother ship. But nothing quite compares with the sound and fury surrounding the row over the Labour Falkirk selection, which is turning into a full on anti-trade union foam-flecked tirade from the Fleet Street union bashers. If allowed to continue unchecked, many trade unionists may conclude that they are no longer valued by the Labour party, since the political and media establishment now appears bent on driving them from legitimacy and civic society altogether. I suspect this is what may have partly fuelled Tom Watson's sad and premature resignation on Thursday.
It is to Ed Miliband's credit that he has tried to restore basic and essential democratic rules to Britain's version of the US primaries – the parliamentary selections – since he became leader. Right now he should continue to avoid the trap being set for him by the anti-union brigade, who are attempting to pit him against trade unions such as Unite, in some kind of High Chaparral stand-off. The Conservative-supporting media may like to harp on about the backing Miliband received from the trade unions in Labour's leadership elections. But the same voices had nothing to say when Tony Blair was a beneficiary of the same system that allows parliamentarians, members and union affiliates to elect leaders. Neither do they have anything to say about Lord Sainsbury's funding of the shadowy Progress organisation, which has quietly been involved in a whole sheaf of Labour selections. There is seemingly not only a real bias of omission at work here, but until we see the Labour party report into Falkirk published, as Tom Watson called for in his resignation letter, there is also a very palpable sense of injustice.It is to Ed Miliband's credit that he has tried to restore basic and essential democratic rules to Britain's version of the US primaries – the parliamentary selections – since he became leader. Right now he should continue to avoid the trap being set for him by the anti-union brigade, who are attempting to pit him against trade unions such as Unite, in some kind of High Chaparral stand-off. The Conservative-supporting media may like to harp on about the backing Miliband received from the trade unions in Labour's leadership elections. But the same voices had nothing to say when Tony Blair was a beneficiary of the same system that allows parliamentarians, members and union affiliates to elect leaders. Neither do they have anything to say about Lord Sainsbury's funding of the shadowy Progress organisation, which has quietly been involved in a whole sheaf of Labour selections. There is seemingly not only a real bias of omission at work here, but until we see the Labour party report into Falkirk published, as Tom Watson called for in his resignation letter, there is also a very palpable sense of injustice.
The Guardian has led with much of the coverage and commentary around the Falkirk row, but has apparently done so without seeing the internal report commissioned by the Labour party. The paper even devoted an editorial to the row, which is something I do not recall happening during the Blair/Brown Labour years, when parliamentary selection panels were routinely gerrymandered and the special selections unit drew up shortlists of centrally approved candidates.The Guardian has led with much of the coverage and commentary around the Falkirk row, but has apparently done so without seeing the internal report commissioned by the Labour party. The paper even devoted an editorial to the row, which is something I do not recall happening during the Blair/Brown Labour years, when parliamentary selection panels were routinely gerrymandered and the special selections unit drew up shortlists of centrally approved candidates.
The situation has been a good deal better as of late, and it goes without saying that there is no command structure of party or unions which forces candidates on local members. They decide for themselves – as should now be the case in Falkirk.The situation has been a good deal better as of late, and it goes without saying that there is no command structure of party or unions which forces candidates on local members. They decide for themselves – as should now be the case in Falkirk.
Channel 4 chief political correspondent Michael Crick, who has had a glimpse of the report, has revealed that a contender for the Falkirk selection, Gregory Poynton, signed a cheque for 11 members he recruited last year, which is clearly against Labour party rules. Poynton is the London political director of Blue State Digital, which has a contract with the party, and is married to Gemma Doyle MP, who in turn is a member of Jim Murphy's Labour Commons defence team. This pertinent fact, actually gleaned from the report, has so far strangely managed to elude most of the commentariat.Channel 4 chief political correspondent Michael Crick, who has had a glimpse of the report, has revealed that a contender for the Falkirk selection, Gregory Poynton, signed a cheque for 11 members he recruited last year, which is clearly against Labour party rules. Poynton is the London political director of Blue State Digital, which has a contract with the party, and is married to Gemma Doyle MP, who in turn is a member of Jim Murphy's Labour Commons defence team. This pertinent fact, actually gleaned from the report, has so far strangely managed to elude most of the commentariat.
The Labour party is short of members, as it was when individuals were signing up for £1 in the Trimdon Labour Club in Blair's constituency in the early 1990s. The uncomfortable truth is that in many parts of the country, often safe Labour seats for decades, the membership of the party is small and it is ageing. All parties are suffering from the same problem. Trade unions such as shopworkers' union Usdaw have for many years sought to get their members to join the party, as have the GMB and Unite more recently. The need to do so has become more apparent as working class representation in parliament has fallen away to the sort of minuscule numbers that gave birth to the Labour Representation Committee in the first place.The Labour party is short of members, as it was when individuals were signing up for £1 in the Trimdon Labour Club in Blair's constituency in the early 1990s. The uncomfortable truth is that in many parts of the country, often safe Labour seats for decades, the membership of the party is small and it is ageing. All parties are suffering from the same problem. Trade unions such as shopworkers' union Usdaw have for many years sought to get their members to join the party, as have the GMB and Unite more recently. The need to do so has become more apparent as working class representation in parliament has fallen away to the sort of minuscule numbers that gave birth to the Labour Representation Committee in the first place.
The trade unions keep Labour rooted in the real world. If their affiliations actually bought influence, they would surely have a lot more to show for them. Without union donations, Labour would be forced – in the absence of state funding – to rely on the corporate donors who fund the other main parties, and who have increasingly come to call the tune over public policy over the past two decades. Sadly, to our detriment and unlike in the rest of Europe, there is a near uniform hostility towards trades unions by both the media and political establishment. The increased pauperisation and privatisation of Britain would not be happening if the unions were stronger. They need to be.The trade unions keep Labour rooted in the real world. If their affiliations actually bought influence, they would surely have a lot more to show for them. Without union donations, Labour would be forced – in the absence of state funding – to rely on the corporate donors who fund the other main parties, and who have increasingly come to call the tune over public policy over the past two decades. Sadly, to our detriment and unlike in the rest of Europe, there is a near uniform hostility towards trades unions by both the media and political establishment. The increased pauperisation and privatisation of Britain would not be happening if the unions were stronger. They need to be.
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