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Falkirk row: McCluskey urges Miliband to 'step back from the brink' Falkirk row: Miliband vow to 'mend' union relationship
(about 3 hours later)
Labour leader Ed Miliband should "step back from the brink of a ruinous division", the Unite union's general secretary Len McCluskey has said. Labour leader Ed Miliband has pledged to "mend, not end" his party's relationship with unions amid the row over the Falkirk candidate selection.
In an article for the Sunday Mirror, Mr McCluskey accused Mr Miliband of playing into the hands of the Tories by prolonging a row with his union. In an Observer article, he says changes are needed so the process of choosing potential MPs becomes more transparent.
Mr Miliband has said he hopes to "mend, not end" the Labour-union relationship. It is understood Mr Miliband will set out specific reforms this week.
He said alleged irregularities in a candidate selection race in Falkirk "betrayed" the party's values. BBC political correspondent Iain Watson said they would aim at a "level playing field" between local applicants for selection and union-backed opponents.
According to an internal Labour report, Unite members have been signed up to the local party without their knowledge in a bid to influence the selection. They are likely to include a code of conduct for Labour candidates and a cap on the money that can be spent during selection contests, said our correspondent.
Writing in the Observer, Mr Miliband said: "What happened in Falkirk is not only unacceptable but is unrepresentative of what is happening in Labour parties across the country... According to an internal Labour report, members of the Unite union were signed up to the local party in Falkirk without their knowledge in a bid to influence the selection.
"Too many people see politics as distant from their lives, irrelevant to their concerns and practised by a set of people who seem to live in a different world. Mr Miliband wrote in the Observer: "The events we have seen in Falkirk have betrayed the values of our party. The practices we have seen should be unacceptable in any political party. But they are certainly unacceptable in the Labour party."
'Usual suspects'
He went on: "Too many people see politics as distant from their lives, irrelevant to their concerns and practised by a set of people who seem to live in a different world.
"Too often, they think that those who engage in politics are in it for themselves. An episode like Falkirk just confirms people's worst suspicions.""Too often, they think that those who engage in politics are in it for themselves. An episode like Falkirk just confirms people's worst suspicions."
Mr Miliband said forthcoming Labour reforms would ensure future selections "are always fair, open and transparent".Mr Miliband said forthcoming Labour reforms would ensure future selections "are always fair, open and transparent".
Labour has asked the police to examine the case but Mr McCluskey said in his article that no "criminal wrongdoing" had occurred. In an article for the Sunday Mirror, Unite's general secretary Len McCluskey urged Mr Miliband to "step back from the brink of a ruinous division".
Mr McCluskey complained that the union had been "smeared by the usual suspects - the Tories and the right-wing media, who want to see both trade unions and Labour weakened. Labour has asked the police to examine the claims but Mr McCluskey said that no "criminal wrongdoing" had occurred.
He complained that the union had been "smeared by the usual suspects - the Tories and the right-wing media, who want to see both trade unions and Labour weakened.
"Shamefully, some in Labour's own ranks have joined in.""Shamefully, some in Labour's own ranks have joined in."
'Out of touch'
The party's investigation into events at Falkirk was a "shoddy fraud", he said.The party's investigation into events at Falkirk was a "shoddy fraud", he said.
"For the record, Unite has worked entirely within the rules in Falkirk," Mr McCluskey added."For the record, Unite has worked entirely within the rules in Falkirk," Mr McCluskey added.
"Let me be clear, we are happy to cooperate with the police, but we reject the idea that any criminal wrongdoing has occurred.""Let me be clear, we are happy to cooperate with the police, but we reject the idea that any criminal wrongdoing has occurred."
'Hubristic and irresponsible'
Mr McCluskey said: "Unite is proud that it is trying to reclaim Labour from the people that bought in to the free-market myth wholesale, who bet the country's future on the City of London - and who sometimes fiddled their expenses while they were at it."Mr McCluskey said: "Unite is proud that it is trying to reclaim Labour from the people that bought in to the free-market myth wholesale, who bet the country's future on the City of London - and who sometimes fiddled their expenses while they were at it."
Parliament had become "increasingly the preserve of an out-of-touch elite - Oxbridge-educated special advisers who glide from university to think tank to the green benches [of the House of Commons] without ever sniffing the air of the real world", he said.Parliament had become "increasingly the preserve of an out-of-touch elite - Oxbridge-educated special advisers who glide from university to think tank to the green benches [of the House of Commons] without ever sniffing the air of the real world", he said.
"That is what Unite is trying to change. We want to give our democracy back to ordinary working people.""That is what Unite is trying to change. We want to give our democracy back to ordinary working people."
The row began after Falkirk MP Eric Joyce was convicted of assault in a Commons bar and announced he would not stand for election again in 2015.
After alleged irregularities in the selection process to find the next Labour candidate for Falkirk, Labour HQ intervened but, after taking legal advice, has decided not to say why it has involved police.
Meanwhile, Mr Joyce accused Unite union officials of acting arrogantly and irresponsibly.
"The amateur, hubristic and irresponsible actions of a small number of Unite officials at the top of the organisation will require some rules to be changed to prevent another Falkirk," he wrote in an article for the Guardian.
Conservative Party chairman Grant Shapps said if wrongdoing had taken place in Falkirk then selection procedures should be suspended "in all the other seats that Unite have been trying to rig".
Mr Shapps said: "This is serious because it goes right to the heart of the way Labour selects potential MPs. The police are involved, because what has happened represents a fundamental attack on our democracy.
"People are shocked by the turmoil in the Labour party but Miliband's response isn't now just weak, it's also two-faced."
Falkirk selection row: Who's who?Falkirk selection row: Who's who?