TRADE UNIONS GET COLD SHOULDER

Tony Benn always famously says that politics is not about personalities - but policy. So let's remind ourselves WHY many of us opposed Gordon Brown becoming Leader . It wasn't his lack of charisma, his prudent Presbyterian ways ( of which being a Northern Ireland hybrid I know plenty) or any other personal deficiencies.
It was the fact we knew that the path Gordon Brown was going to take, pro business and anti trade union, was not a Labour agenda which would win back our core supporters. Now, at a time when the trade unions are basically propping Labour up from bankruptcy, and appealing in very reasonable terms for some modest reforms at Warwick 2 , here's his answer.
If it sounds familiar, that is because it is the same neo-liberal guff he was spouting when he debated with John McDonnell and Michael Meacher . Now, as then, it's simply unacceptable rhetoric from a Labour Prime Minister

"Successful governments are those whose eyes are fixed on the future not harking back to the past. The countries that prosper in the future will be those that combine fairness with flexibility to achieve full employment.
"So there will be no return to the 1970s, the 1980s or even the 1990s when it comes to union rights, no retreat from continued modernisation and there can be no question of any re-introduction of secondary picketing rights.
"While we will push ahead with our family-friendly agenda we will do nothing that puts employment and future prosperity at risk."

TRADE UNION BILLS BLOCKED AGAIN

Quelle surprise. John McDonnell reports back this afternoon that the Government managed to block both his Trade Union Rights and Freedom Bill and Paul Farrelly's Agency Workers' Bill. These modest measures to restore and extend trade union rights were backed by 10 trade union General Secretaries and around 100 MPs. Last night, about 500 people attended a rally in support of the legislation at the House of Commons.Yet our "listening" leadership just ignores the groundswell of feeling from its core supporters. I find this utterly sickening and news like this that makes me feel like tearing up my Party card . However, I hope the thousands backing this legislation will not give in and come back time and time again until we win. PS: Despite extreme provocation, I am not tearing up my card.........