In 1964 the Tories won
an unexpected victory in Smethwick as a result of an openly racist
campaign. The Labour Party branded the Conservative tactics as
caving in to racial prejudice and fought back successfully in the
1966 election.
Fast forward to 2013,
the Conservatives and the millionaire press are baying for trade
union blood. Miliband's only response is to "distance himself"
from the trade unions. The Tories and the political elite hate the
unions because the unions are the only people standing up to them,
They also believe that the working classes have no business
interfering in politics. Politics is a matter for their betters.
The media has made much
of the polls which indicate that union members support Miliband's
reforms. Another way of looking at it would be to say that they do
not see the point of unions giving money to the Labour Party when all
they get in response is lectures, abuse and betrayal.
And are the rabid right
satisfied with Miliband's craven attitude? Not a bit of it. Today's
Express claims
'ED Miliband has
“buckled under pressure” to the unions after failing to come up
with new plans to challenge their power over Labour, it was claimed
last night.' The inverted commas indicating that "sources in the
Conservative Party" were saying that. Well they would say that
wouldn't they?
The backwoodsmen seem to be looking
for some kind of dutch auction between the parties over trade unions.
If Tories say ban strikes, Labour says ban some strikes. Tories say
shoot the lot, Labour says only shoot some of them. Tories say send
them all to Hell, Labour says well give some the option of going to
t'other place.
Union money would be
better spent supporting anti-cuts candidates than giving a
carte-blanche to Labour.
http://derekmcmillan.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment