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Ed Miliband urges changes to Labour-union links Ed Miliband urges 'historic' changes to Labour links with unions
(35 minutes later)
Ed Miliband is promising to make politics more "open, transparent and trusted" by reforming Labour's relationship with trade unions. Ed Miliband has pledged to end the automatic "affiliation" fee paid by three million union members to Labour, in an "historic" move for the party's relationship with the unions.
The party leader is pledging to end the automatic "affiliation" fee paid by three million union members to Labour. The Labour leader said union members must make a "deliberate" choice to back the party and be active supporters.
In a speech in London, he is also setting out how the choice of election candidates should be widened, with the general public helping to choose them. The row over union influence over candidate selection in Falkirk was "the death throes of old politics", he said.
It follows a row with the Unite union over picking a candidate in Falkirk. He also called for a limit on how much MPs could earn from second jobs.
Unite, one of the party's biggest donors, is accused of signing up its members to Labour in Falkirk - some without their knowledge - in an effort to get its preferred candidate selected. Mr Miliband has promised to make politics more "open, transparent and trusted" by creating a "modern" relationship with trade unions, saying he wanted "to take action and seize the moment that Falkirk represents".
The internal party changes would be introduced as "soon as possible" and definitely before the next general election, Mr Miliband said.
The announcement came after Unite, one of the party's biggest donors, was accused of signing up its members to Labour in Falkirk - some without their knowledge - in an effort to get its preferred candidate selected.
The union's leader Len McCluskey denies people were recruited without knowing about it, and says Unite worked within the rules.The union's leader Len McCluskey denies people were recruited without knowing about it, and says Unite worked within the rules.
The BBC's political editor Nick Robinson said the Labour leader hoped the changes would put him on the front foot after coming under sustained attack from David Cameron in recent weeks as well as galvanise the party's direct links with union members.The BBC's political editor Nick Robinson said the Labour leader hoped the changes would put him on the front foot after coming under sustained attack from David Cameron in recent weeks as well as galvanise the party's direct links with union members.
Former Labour leader Tony Blair has backed the changes, saying they were "long overdue".
'Death throes''Death throes'
In his speech on Tuesday, Mr Miliband will call for a system which is "open, transparent and trusted - exactly the opposite of the politics we saw in Falkirk. That was a politics closed, a politics of the machine, a politics hated - and rightly so. In his speech, Mr Miliband called for a system which was "open, transparent and trusted" and "exactly the opposite of the politics we saw in Falkirk".
"What we saw in Falkirk is part of the death throes of the old politics. It is a symbol of what is wrong with politics. I want to build a better Labour Party - and build a better politics for Britain." "What we saw in Falkirk is part of the death throes of the old politics. It is a symbol of what is wrong with politics. I want to build a better Labour Party - and build a better politics for Britain.
He will call for an end to affiliation fees - where members of supportive unions pay an automatic levy to Labour unless they opt out - and instead involve only those who "deliberately" choose to join the party. "There is no place in our party for bad practice wherever it comes from. I am determined to uphold the integrity of this party."
He called for an end to affiliation fees - where members of supportive unions pay an automatic levy to Labour unless they opt out. Instead he is proposing that only those who "deliberately" choose to join the party will do so.
The fees are worth about £8m a year to Labour. Insiders estimate making them non-automatic would cost the party about £5m.The fees are worth about £8m a year to Labour. Insiders estimate making them non-automatic would cost the party about £5m.
Mr Miliband will say: "We need to do more, not less, to mobilise individual trade union members to be part of our party: the three million shop workers, nurses, engineers, bus drivers, construction workers, people from the public and private sector, that are affiliated to the Labour Party. Mr Miliband said unions should have political funds "for all kinds of campaigns and activities as they choose" but individual members should not pay Labour any fees "unless they have deliberately chosen to do so".
"The problem is not that these ordinary working men and women dominate the Labour Party. The problem is that they are not properly part of all that we do. They are not members of local parties; they are not active in our campaigns." "In the 21st century, it just does not make sense for anyone to be affiliated to a political party unless they have chose to do so.
The Labour leader will argue that unions should have political funds "for all kinds of campaigns and activities as they choose" but individual members should not pay Labour any fees "unless they have deliberately chosen to do so". "We need to do more, not less, to mobilise individual trade union members to be part of our party...The problem is not that these ordinary working men and women dominate the Labour Party.
He will add: "I believe we need people to be able to make a more active, individual, choice on whether they affiliate to the Labour Party. "The problem is that they are not properly part of all that we do. They are not members of local parties; they are not active in our campaigns. I believe we need people to be able to make a more active, individual, choice on whether they affiliate to the Labour Party."
"So we need to set a new direction in our relationship with trade union members in which they choose to join Labour through the affiliation fee: they would actively choose to be individually affiliated members of the Labour Party and they would no longer be automatically affiliated." Former Labour Party general secretary Ray Collins will lead discussions with the trade unions on the plan, which Mr Miliband said would have "massive financial implications" for the party.
'Strict''Strict'
This could raise the current Labour membership from the current 200,000 to a "far higher number", Mr Miliband will say. The change could raise the current Labour membership from the current 200,000 to a "far higher number", Mr Miliband said
He will also promise to look at the idea of holding open "primaries", where all adults, not just party members, can vote for the selection of a candidate in their constituency. He also promised to look at the idea of holding open "primaries", where all adults, not just party members, can vote for the selection of a candidate in their constituency, including possibly in Falkirk.
He will say such a system will be used to select Labour's runner for the London mayoralty in 2016. He said such a system will definitely be used to select Labour's runner for the London mayoralty in 2016 - anyone in the capital who registers as a Labour supporter would get a vote, he said.
Mr Miliband will also argue the party should impose a code of conduct for those seeking selection and "strict" spending limits on them and organisations backing them. Mr Miliband also said there should be curbs on the amount that MPs could earn from outside interests and rules to stop conflicts of interest.
"Being an MP is not a sideline. It is a privilege and a duty and the rules should change to reflect that," he said.
He also reiterated his call for the other party leaders to re-open talks on reforming party funding.
'Not new''Not new'
One union leader said making the political levy voluntary had been first tried by Conservative prime minister Stanley Baldwin in the 1920s and repealed by the Labour government in the late 1940s.One union leader said making the political levy voluntary had been first tried by Conservative prime minister Stanley Baldwin in the 1920s and repealed by the Labour government in the late 1940s.
"It is not a new idea," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. "It was introduced to weaken the trade unions' links with Labour. People have the right to opt out if they want to. I don't think it is a good idea." "It is not a new idea," the CWU's Billy Hayes told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. "It was introduced to weaken the trade unions' links with Labour. People have the right to opt out if they want to. I don't think it is a good idea."
Mr Hayes suggested the country was run by a "political elite" which was "excited" by attacking the unions and Labour's relationship with the unions was vital to keeping them in touch with the "concerns and affairs of ordinary people".Mr Hayes suggested the country was run by a "political elite" which was "excited" by attacking the unions and Labour's relationship with the unions was vital to keeping them in touch with the "concerns and affairs of ordinary people".
"The political class in this country needs an injection of ordinary working people," he said. "If you look at some of the biggest changes in the history of the country, they have been as a result of the input of the trade union movement.""The political class in this country needs an injection of ordinary working people," he said. "If you look at some of the biggest changes in the history of the country, they have been as a result of the input of the trade union movement."
Mr Blair suggested it could be a "defining moment" for the party and said it would send a "very strong message" to the public that Mr Miliband would "govern for for all the country and not simply one section of it". Former prime minister and Labour leader Tony Blair suggested the changes could be a "defining moment" for the party and said it would send a "very strong message" to the public that Mr Miliband would "govern for for all the country and not simply one section of it".
"It is bold and strong. It is real leadership," he told Sky News. "I think it is important not only in its own terms but... he is carrying through a process of reforms in the Labour Party that are long overdue and probably I should have done when I was leader.""It is bold and strong. It is real leadership," he told Sky News. "I think it is important not only in its own terms but... he is carrying through a process of reforms in the Labour Party that are long overdue and probably I should have done when I was leader."
The Conservatives have said Labour should refuse to take any more money from the unions until an entirely new system of funding is agreed.The Conservatives have said Labour should refuse to take any more money from the unions until an entirely new system of funding is agreed.