The Labour party is preparing for power and the unions are deciding what role they might play. Friend or foe? Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor, has already incited their ire by refusing to commit to accepting independent pay-review body recommendations. Unite, the second-largest trade union, this week debated cutting ties with Labour and starting its opposition early.
There is growing anxiety from the left that Starmer is abandoning party traditions in the pursuit of power
The motion was, in the end, rejected. ‘The Labour party has decided we want to win,’ insisted one party figure. The union hit back. It insisted that Starmer has been ‘put on notice’ and that the union’s support (including a still-powerful get-out-the-vote operation) was not to be taken for granted. Sharon Graham, Unite’s general secretary, went further, arguing the pre-election months represent ‘the moment of maximum leverage for the union where we can hold Labour to account’.
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