Len McCluskey’s attack on Labour councillors
Len McCluskey, general secretary of Unite, urged Labour councillors not to make cuts during his Ralph Miliband lecture – and went on to ask: what would happen if they did? The context of his question suggests he hoped that this would somehow stop the cuts happening at all. However, the reality of what would happen is very different. Far from cuts being avoided they would happen on a greater scale and without any of the priorities Labour espouses being applied. Today councillors do not face surcharge or prison if they vote through an illegal budget. What happens is that the council quickly grinds to halt as a great deal of expenditure is frozen. Eventually an external team arrives with the power to direct or confirm the action of council officers in preventing an overspend and to set a legal budget. Their priority would be saving money, not services. Put another way it will be the appointees of Eric Pickles who are making the decisions not the elected Labour councillors.
Posted by Steve Bullock on 24 January 2013
The real opportunity is for Labour councillors and trade unionists to work together to counter the centralising influence within the party. Both have been excluded from decision-making by an army of lobbyists and advocates (even well-intentioned ones) who prefer all decisions to be made within the ‘Westminster Village’. Well, frankly, that does no favours to the hopes and ambitions of Labour supporters throughout the country. To take one example, outside London we have the highest fares and the worst bus services in Europe because those who make decisions and influence policy never use them. Rather than indulging in pub politics trade union leaders like McCluskey should be working out how they build a coalition in Labour heartlands to raise trade union membership in the public and private sector and restore working-class values to the Labour party mainstream. Trust me, if they did they would win the wholehearted support of Labour councillors.
Posted by Paul Wheeler on 25 January 2013
Shining a light on blacklisting
Blacklisting – the word itself is such a malicious term – to deny, to ostracise, to dismiss. Sadly, it stretches back into the annals of working life here in the UK and, over the past decade, we know that this has continued to be used by powerful construction firms. From the Economic League in 1919 to the Consulting Association since the 1990s, clandestine organisations have sought to conspire to gather information on individuals whom they deem to be a ‘problem’ … We know that more than 3,000 individuals were on the blacklist that was seized by the Information Commissioner in 2009. That list was compiled and held by the Consulting Association – a shady organisation which was set up and funded by the country’s most prominent construction companies. More than 40 firms were vetting people from the blacklists and providing information to the lists. And this is only what we know about. The majority of those blacklisted had no idea they were included on the secret lists and still do not know. They have had their lives ruined by this – marriages and families broken, ill health and stress brought on and livelihoods destroyed.
Posted by Ian Murray MP on 25 January 2013
Lib Dead?
I have a gnawing worry that, while the Liberal Democrats are not thriving, neither are they drowning. They might prove more tenacious than many people expect. The evidence from local by-elections backs this up. On the day that most politicos were talking about the police and crime commissioner ballots, as well as three Westminster by-elections, a host of local contests registered five gains for the party and no losses. Taking seats off the Tories and Labour, this pattern has been repeated throughout England recently. Local Liberal Democrats are not always being blamed for the sins of their Westminster masters.
Posted by Mark Rusling on 21 January 2013
Tantric Dave
‘No government can exist which does not control and restrain the popular sentiments.’ So said Robert Peel, who knew a thing or two about Tory party splits. However, clearly our tantric prime minister knows better – David Cameron finally delivered his ‘jinxed’ speech on Europe, committing Britain to an in-out referendum soon after the next election. It is difficult to recall a political speech longer in gestation or overburdened with such expectation. Only time will tell if the speech manages to square the seemingly impossible circle – appeasing anti-Europe agitators on the Tory backbenches and placating our European allies, while at the same time standing up for Britain’s national interest. If it does, then perhaps the prime minister will consider his hitherto cocksure attitude justified. But judging by initial reaction from European embassies, the omens do not look good.
Posted by Tristram Hunt MP on 23 January 2013
End of the SWP?
The Socialist Workers’ party matters in the sense that it must be constantly guarded against. They sweep up young, idealistic people, take their idealism and energy, and wring them out like sheets of kitchen towel. They turn people off progressive politics for life. They stand alongside decent-minded people, subvert their campaigns, and drive them into the ground. In these ways, they are among the most reactionary and cynical forces in politics, more than the tabloid press or rightwing blogs.
Posted by Paul Richards on 18 January 2013
Female entrepreneurs
Some measures introduced by the current government have been steps forward but fall far short of what is needed to bring about a step-change in female entrepreneurship. With the New Enterprise Allowance Scheme, which was created to help young unemployed people start their own business, just 17 per cent of those benefitting from the scheme in 2011 were female. Recent analysis suggests this now stands at 28 per cent, but it is still much too low … This year we need a new focus on women business owners to make sure we see the next generation of Anita Roddicks and Laura Tenisons.
Posted by Seema Malhotra MP on 8 January 2103