Tag: Unite

WHERE IS THE BRITISH MACRON?

 

THE EU STRENGTHENED.

The French people have turned the tide on the 2016 populist surge which led to reckless Brexit and reckless Trump in the White House.

Opponents of the European Union were forecasting it would break up following populist success in Hungary, Holland and France. All three countries have rejected a return to a nationalist Europe with all the potential consequences that could bring. With the UKIP style implosion of the Alternative for Deutschland Party in Germany I predict a victory for Angela Merkel this autumn. Then we will see how strong and stable Mrs May will be when faced with France, Germany and the other 25 European countries insisting that if you are out of a club you must have a worse deal than if you are in.

I saw a report this week on a Shropshire company that makes engine blocks. They must cross 5 European borders in ten days and time is vital. They are desperately worried about how they are going to operate outside the EU. That’s the reality facing business. Let’s hope Jeremy Corbyn’s refusal to rule out staying in the EU wasn’t just another blunder, although the Lib Dems offer the clearest policy on a second referendum.

 

 

BACK IN THE DRIVER’S SEAT.

Geoff Driver is the great survivor of Lancashire politics. After a controversial reign as Chief Executive of Preston Council, he made a successful change to politics leading the Conservatives to victory in the county in 2009. Thrown out of office in 2013, he survived a leadership challenge, police dropped an investigation into him over the One Connect Ltd issue and last Friday I was in County Hall for his return to office.

He faces big challenges to soften the cuts that Labour reluctantly made. Driver insists there will be no sweetheart deals with his government. A final word on this. Jeni Mein, the outgoing Labour leader was one of the most decent hard working politicians I had the pleasure to meet. Good luck to her successor, Nelson councillor Azhar Ali. He will prove a lively opponent for Geoff Driver.

MAYORS.

After snubbing Jeremy Corbin at a victory celebration, Andy Burnham was quickly down to work making two good deputy appointments. Sir Richard Leese is taking on the business portfolio. Does this show Leese is preparing to end his long tenure as leader of Manchester? Anyway, from Burnham’s point of view…..(fill in the tent and urination metaphor here). The other key appointment is Bev Hughes to look after crime and the police. The former Stretford and Urmston MP will be taking over from the ex-Police Commissioner Tony Lloyd who hopes to win the Rochdale seat.

That choice by a panel of Labour’s National Executive has been welcomed by the constituency whereas in Liverpool Walton the choice of a Unite placeman, Daniel Carden, at the expense of Liverpool mayor Joe Anderson has caused outrage. These panels should have the constituency chair as a member and certainly should not have a Unite member as was the case with Walton. But if a party is so dependent on one source of funding, this is what you get.

Joe heading for Westminster was a neat way of solving a

 potential conflict between him and newly elected City

 Region Mayor, Steve Rotheram. We’ll have to see if grown

 up behaviour prevails to the advantage of the city region.

 

GENERAL ELECTION POINTERS.

 

The local elections showed Labour’s fragility in the North

outside its urban heartland. A spectacular defeat to the

Tories in Derbyshire was followed by the loss of

Lancashire and largest party status in Cumbria. There are many marginal seats in these areas for the Conservatives to target.

 

The Lib Dems had a standstill election and will be hoping

for more support when the Brexit issue comes centre

stage in the General Election. UKIP had to rely on a

popular taxi driver in Padiham for their only council

success. They should have developed policies on non-EU

issues to offer a real alternative for blue collar Labour

voters in the North. Instead they squabbled over who

should be leader.

 

In Scotland, the Tories have become the rallying point for

opponents of a second independence referendum, and

even though the fall off in support for the SNP was slight,

that irresistible tide has peaked.

 

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EU SECURITY BLACKMAIL A DISGRACE

 

AN INFAMOUS CLAUSE.

A week after parliament was subject to a horrific terror attack, the Prime Minister is threatening our European partners over security cooperation.

What was already a very sad day for us Remainers was made worse by this from the letter triggering Article 50. “In security terms a failure to reach agreement would mean our cooperation in the fight against crime and terrorism would be weakened.”

Our membership of Europol and the free exchange of intelligence on some of the most evil people in the world should have nothing to do with the terms of our divorce from the EU or the subsequent trade deal. This threat has been taken badly by the countries who we are going to have negotiate with. They were sad when the Prime Minister’s letter arrived. Now they are angry. Don’t the Brexiteers see what damage this whole business is doing to our reputation. I believe in a Britain at the heart of cooperation on trade, security and democratic values. If we go on like this, we’ll be seen as part of the Putin/Trump camp wishing the EU harm.

So, what happens next? We will not be offered the same terms as we now enjoy nor will the talks lead to a tariff free future with lorries trundling over the Irish border and through Dover as the triumphant Brexiteers claim. Indeed, officials at Dover are already looking at new lorry parks to accommodate the freight waggons as they queue for their security checks. Operation Stack every day!

I hope the Leavers noticed that in a major BBC interview the Prime Minister gave no guarantees on reducing immigration or what Whitehall will do with the money we get from leaving the EU. Nor would she discuss the divorce bill. Well it will start at £50bn and the Germans want that sorted before anything else. Finally, our European friends living here and UK citizens working in Europe may have to wait a long time to end the uncertainty of their status if the principle of “nothing is agreed until everything is agreed” is enforced.

BATTLE FOR THE LABOUR PARTY.

Labour is reported to be losing supporters as fast as it gained them in the Corbyn surge. This is being put down to people disappointed by their waiving through Article 50. Quite right, they deserve to be punished. Let’s see if they use their votes when Theresa May EU negotiations turn sour.

Meanwhile there are mixed signals concerning the strength of the left in the party. The election for General Secretary of Unite, The Union (as if there are no others) is very important. It is the biggest bankroller of the party. Moderates hope that Gerard Coyne can beat Corbyn supporter Len McCluskey and then work for an electable Labour leader. However, “the reality is” (Len’s favourite phrase) that the wily Liverpudlian is likely to win a second term. How Len explains that it is in Unite’s interest to have Labour out of power for decades is his business.

When it comes to parliamentary by election candidate selection, it doesn’t seem as if the party has been taken over wholesale by Momentum activists. In Copeland, Stoke and now Gorton, moderate candidates have been selected.

Afzal Khan in Gorton is facing a challenge from that political popinjay George Galloway. Some people have suggested to me that he could repeat his successes in the Bethnal Green and Bradford West by elections earlier this century. I think that is unlikely

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COME DINE WITH ME

So now we know how those millionaires secured their tax break in the recent budget…. dining at Dave’s Dodgy Downing Street diner.

Mind you Labour is in no position to point fingers with the Unite union effectively choosing the next Labour leader and possible Prime Minister.

Nor are the Lib Dems in the clear on the issue of party funding, remember their association with donor Michael Brown who was convicted of fraud?

We’re told politicians hate these fund raising dinners when they have to sit for hours over the rubber chicken listening to some boring, but hopelessly wealthy donor, droning on about the 50p tax rate.

Well let’s put them out of their misery.

I’m a member of the Richard the Third Society. We campaign to correct the wholly distorted image of this fine king by that Tudor spin doctor Will Shakespeare. We can only spend the subscriptions we receive. It is the same for thousands of clubs and organisations all over the country.

So let the political parties survive on what they can get individual members to pay, with a ceiling of £5000.

I can hear the howls of anguish now. The democratic process will grind to a halt! The parties won’t be able to communicate with the voters!

What does this communication amount to? In the years between elections the parties tick over, selecting candidates, fighting local elections and spending modest amounts of money. When the General Election comes all reason is cast to the wind and millions are spent on posters, battle buses and political consultants. The mounting debts can be left for another day.

Most of what that money is spent on irritates the public profoundly. That’s why the concept of state aid (you and I paying for it in our taxes) is a non runner.

There is an argument that the political parties should be able to communicate with us directly on TV without the interference of journalists. So I propose that the BBC be charged with producing the party political broadcasts out of the licence fee money.

Not an appropriate use of the licence fee? Sorry that principle has been breeched already with BBC money being siphoned off to pay for digital switchover.

Most attention has focused on the Tories but Labour has become far too dependent on the unions. Union barons bankroll the party up to 90%. Ed Miliband denounces most strikes, so we can’t say this arrangement buys the barons much effect on policy. But the unions did bring their influence to bear in the leadership election. With rank and file members and MPs backing David Miliband, it was the union vote that secured Ed his victory. After the Bradford West debacle many in the party think the unions made a bad call.

Union members should have to positively opt in to having part of their sub paid to the Labour Party. I think most would and if not, that’s tough.

In any other walk of life if you want someone to give you money, you have to provide a product or service that they want. So it should be in politics. Then we stop this endless cycle of scandal as parties try to raise money either from dodgy characters or people expecting influence.