I am a member of the Labour Party and a trade unionist, and I find Len McCluskey’s attitude chilling (£):
Len McCluskey, general secretary of the Unite union, which has given Labour £6m in the past two years, pledged to “kick the new Labour cuckoos out of our nest” and win back the party for the trade union movement. He called for Ed Miliband, the Labour leader, to “reject the siren voices” of the “Blairite dead”, such as his brother David.
He went on to say:
“We should only be supporting those constituencies where their vision of the type of future that we want is in line with ours”
This seems outrageous. I voted for a more Progress type candidate in my own constituency, but it hadn’t occurred to me not to support the more Unite-friendly candidate who won. Leaders have condemned Progress as a ‘party within a party’ yet McCluskey openly supports entryism.
The strategy, described as a “struggle for Labour’s soul”, involves persuading 5,000 trade unionists to sign up to the Labour party by December. McCluskey said the union was on course to exceed its target.
The new recruits have been asked to exert influence on local Labour parties and ensure “union friendly” candidates are selected to stand as MPs in 2015.
Ed Miliband has responded:
“But there is a bigger message also about the Labour party that I lead – I am not for pushing people out of the Labour party. I want more people in the Labour party. There is no future for this party as the party of one sectional interest of society. We must be the party of the private sector just as much as the party of the public sector,” he said.
Does anyone think that a Labour Party remade in Len McCluskey’s image would be likely to win the next election?
