The Unions Strike back

The Unions Strike back

Conservatives like me have been rubbing our hands together with glee at the recent battle between the Labour leadership and their union backers Unite.  We have become used to Conservative infighting Eurosceptic fighting Europhiles, Cameron’s moderniser’s verses the right and many others.  Labour has also had it problems with divisions but their own infighting has not been as public of late, however this latest spat could be damaging for Labour.

Neil Kinnock, John Smith and finally Tony Blair had to work hard to modernise Labour and dislodge the party from the grasp of the trade unions, it seems that Len Mccluskey may be trying to increase the presence of the Trade Unions within Labour once again.  Don’t get me wrong even under Blair the Labour party had a group of strong left wing MP’s who were sympathetic to the Unions but they lacked power, the power of the left grew under Brown but they still did not hold power within the party.  But now the left see an opportunity under Ed Miliband to increase their influence over the Labour and this is damaging for the party.  Polls have already shown Labours lead over the Conservatives shrink due to the whole Falkirk candidate selection incident and Labour are still confused over economic policy, which gives the unions an opportunity to try and frame Labours 2015 manifesto.

Tony Blair won the battle for Labours soul when he created New Labour along with Gordon Brown and Peter Mandelson, and since then Labour has been an electoral force keeping many of the lefts good ideas while banishing many of its crazier aspects.  Now Ed has a problem he was the candidate of the left of the party he got his job due to the unions, Blairites feel alienated under Ed’s leadership, if Ed strikes out against the unions he risks losing support from Unite which is one of Labours biggest donors.  If he lets the Unions gain more influence any lingering support he has from Blairites will crumble and Labour will lose the next election.  However although this issue of increasing Union power is currently damaging Labour, if Ed plays his cards right and knocks the Unions back he will look strong and may win some support from the right of the Labour party and it could be the start of an election winning coalition.  When Blair won in 97 he framed New Labour as offering the heart of Labour with the brains of the Conservatives, If Ed knocks back the unions he will shake of his left wing image while making himself look strong and that would be a good starting point for him to rebuild Tony Blair’s 97 election winning coalition.  If he plays this wrong he lets the Conservatives keep the keys to Number 10 and gives us a nice stick to hit Labour with as they once again show they are not ready to govern.