Fight of our lives

Unite general secretary Len McCluskey gave a rousing speech today (February 2) in Birmingham, calling upon the union’s members and organisers to get working for a Labour victory.

 
Addressing Unite’s 1200-strong officer and organiser core in Birmingham, McCluskey warned that the Tories’ immense spending power, allied to their wealthy backers and a loyal media, means the country faces a one-sided campaign in May, placing a ‘duty of democracy’ on Unite to support Labour.

 
McCluskey contrasted the politics of fear – represented by the likes of Ukip – to the politics of hope in the shining example of Syriza’s victory in Greece last week.

 
“The electorate is today poised between fear and hope,” he said. “Fear is the basis of the Ukip menace – blame someone else for all the problems, usually immigrants or foreigners, and seek refuge in an imagined past.

 
“But it is hope that is blossoming today as we have seen in last week’s magnificent election result in Greece,” he added. “Labour needs to bottle some of the Syriza spirit and take that anti-austerity agenda to the people here.”

 
McCluskey called for a break from the politicians of Labour’s past, saying, ““What [Labour] doesn’t need is the Blairite grandees – the people who sucked the life out of the last Labour government – attacking every progressive impulse, like the mansion tax and saving our NHS.”

 
The general secretary argued that the stakes this May have never been higher and condemned those who have sought to undermine the Labour party and its leader Ed Miliband.

 
“So I say to Peter Mandelson, Alan Milburn and John Hutton: stick to counting your thirty pieces of silver from the bosses – the people you’ve always represented – and stop stabbing Labour in the back.

 
“And I say to Ed Miliband – have the courage of your convictions and ignore these blasts from the past,” he went on to say.

 
McCluskey called the upcoming election a “fight for the future of our society”, and pointed out that the Conservative party’s policies will only benefit the very rich, to the detriment of everyone else, with the poor and vulnerable being hit the hardest.

 
“The Tories are plotting a reduction in the scope and role of the state which even Thatcher could only have dreamed of, taking us back to the days of the 1930s, under the pretext of balancing the books without, of course, asking the rich or big business to contribute,” he said.

 
McCluskey declared that the Tories’ attempts to “tear to bits every advance working people have secured” were “not going to happen”, and went on to highlight the poor public support that the Conservative party has.

 
“If a government with the backing of less than one voter in four tries to deny the rights of a movement of millions, we will treat that with the contempt it deserves,” he said. “And if we are pushed outside the law, so be it. If Unite is ever to die, it will not die on its knees.”

 
Labour support is our duty

 
As UNITElive reported last week, Unite’s executive council has agreed to provide donations to Labour’s election in order to overcome the resource disadvantage the party faces against the Tories’ brimming coffers of business cash.

 
McCluskey regarded this pledge from the executive council as ‘doing our duty to democracy’.

 
“Let the Tories get their millions from hedge funds and from shadowy dinner clubs of big businessmen,” he said. “Our money is clean, transparent to the public, democratically-sanctioned and honestly accounted for. It’s the pennies of our members each week, not the ill-gotten gains of the ruling elite.”

 
The general secretary highlighted Labour’s proposed policies that stand to benefit working people and create a more equal society, including a freeze on energy bills, an end to the bedroom tax, a ban on zero-hour contracts, and a rollback of NHS privatisation, among other policies.

 
“There can be no doubt that Labour’s commitments will make a huge difference – there’s no need to be mealy-mouthed or half-hearted about this – and will provide a platform for tackling the crippling inequalities in our society,” he said.

 
But, he added, “If we lose the election, we understand how much harder that life will be for the people we serve.

 
“That’s why I’m appealing to each and every one of you – step up to the plate,” McCluskey continued. “Get behind your union and its political strategy, and get behind a Labour victory in May. Answer the Party’s call. Do not stand aside from this battle, or let any doubts and reservations paralyse you.

 
“We are now facing the fight of our lives.”