Len McCluskey’s speech to the Unite Policy Conference yesterday has been covered largely in the context of internal struggles in the Labour party. Much of the rest of the speech being ignored, including the rather disturbing fact that the leader of the country’s biggest trade union, and the single largest funder of the Labour party is perfectly happy to break the law.
Don’t take my word for it, take Len’s, speaking about potential changes to trade union law emerging from the Sir Bruce Carr Review into trade union tactics:
The Conservative Party should not assume that we will put respect for unjust laws ahead of our duty to fight exploitation and ruthless employers.
We will fight for our members within the law where possible. But outside it if necessary, while taking all prudent steps to protect our union.
Prudence, however, cannot mean paralysis, as it did for too long in the past in our movement.
Our first obligation is to the members who pay their subs and look to us for support, not to a judiciary implementing class-war laws.
And let the Tories be in no doubt that if they push us outside of the law, they will be responsible for the consequences, not us.
Just to be clear, Unite the Union, who harassed managers’ families in their homes in Grangemouth, and whose officials jumped on the Mayor of London’s car (i.e. criminal damage) when he visited Essex, believe they have the moral right to decide what is a just law.
Just to be clear, the single biggest funder of the One-Nation Labour party believes that the laws of the nation need not apply to them.