EMPTY RHETORIC AGAIN FROM THE UNIONS

Across the blogosphere, bemused Party mebers have been trying to ascertain what happened at Warwick. We were told, were we not, that now the unions had the upper hand they would fight for a Labour agenda , a return to core values. The reality is they did no such thing.
The FT reports this morning that Gordon Brown has been praised by business for resisting "the worst" union demands on policy. As follows:
Business reacted with undisguised relief to the measures for Labour's next manifesto hammered out at the party's National Policy Forum over the weekend. Reports yesterday claimed the prime minister had "caved in" to the unions, which represent the sole funding lifeline for his cash-strapped party. But employers pointed out that the reality was somewhat different. Facing a list of 130 union demands, Mr Brown rejected the vast majority outright and gave little ground on the remainder.
"Everybody appears to have seen some sense and understood the current economic climate," David Frost, director-general of the British Chambers of Commerce, told the Financial Times. "The business community must be heartened by this." Richard Lambert, director- general of the CBI employers' body, said the government had "resisted the worst of the union demands".
Employers said the document that emerged from the weekend talks between ministers, unions and Labour activists - a central plank of the party's policymaking machine - contained little to cause them alarm.