There is something distasteful about the latest Tory assault on the Trade Union movement. I hold neither candle nor torch for Len McCluskey and am, generally speaking, opposed to the kinds of policies much-favoured by Union bosses (sorry “Barons”). But the Tory attack on organised labour still jars.
It may well be that the unions do a poor job of representing the interests of their members. It may also be that they have an outsized influence on the Labour party. These seem matters for union members and the Labour party to decide for themselves. It’s not really anyone else’s business.
And, to be frank, the distinction between attacking Union bosses (sorry “Barons”) without simultaneously seeming to attack union members (sorry, “hardworking, ordinary Britons”) is a tricky one to make. Lions led by donkeys is a fine rhetorical ploy but the suspicion persists that the Tories wouldn’t mind shooting the lions too. I mean, read Priti Patel for yourself.
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