{"id":1535,"date":"2014-09-22T13:29:49","date_gmt":"2014-09-22T12:29:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=1535"},"modified":"2014-09-23T16:15:02","modified_gmt":"2014-09-23T15:15:02","slug":"sweep-away-fear","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=1535","title":{"rendered":"Sweep away fear"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

In what was the speech of the conference so far, Unite general secretary Len McCluskey made an impassioned plea to \u00e2\u20ac\u015bmobilise the aspirations of millions\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 or else risk another Tory government.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Len McCluskey was speaking during the Work and Business debate when he argued that strong labour market institutions, trade unions and collective bargaining are vital in tackling inequality.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It was a clarion call for Labour\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s policies to reflect the interests of working people in the aftermath of the Scottish referendum.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

He said, \u00e2\u20ac\u015bIn the last week we have seen our politics turned upside down and inside out. We have seen our political establishment \u00e2\u20ac\u201c including, let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s be honest, our own party \u00e2\u20ac\u201c have a near-death experience in Scotland.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Scottish referendum had to be, \u00e2\u20ac\u015bthe tombstone on 20 years of our party\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s indifference to the interests of the working class.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 And it had taken \u00e2\u20ac\u015bthe referendum campaign to remind us that you ignore the hopes of working people at your political peril.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThis was not an upsurge of narrow nationalism,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt was an upsurge in defence of our NHS; an upsurge against illegal wars; an upsurge against endless austerity; and an upsurge against inequality.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt was a triumph of hope against apathy and fear. And our party has to be the party to bottle that hope.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Len said there would be a lot of comment and debate over the referendum outcome. But for him there was just one lesson to be learned \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and it was the most important one of all.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWorking people matter,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 said Len. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bTheir views, their voices \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and their votes.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bFor a generation there have been pundits \u00e2\u20ac\u201c including too many in our own party \u00e2\u20ac\u201c saying we can forget about class.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThey said the working class aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t interested in politics. Well go up to Scotland and see. They said the young don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t vote. Well go up to Scotland and see. See how they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been electrified by the engagement.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It was vital for Labour to win the next election. The imaginations and aspirations of millions had to be mobilised. Fears had to be overcome.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

He concluded, \u00e2\u20ac\u015bAnd when we sweep away the Tories and elect the Labour government the country desperately needs, let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also sweep away the fear and inertia which have shackled us for too long.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bLet\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s stand before the British people as the party of peace, equality, and socialist change.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In what was the speech of the conference so far, Unite general secretary Len McCluskey made an impassioned plea to \u00e2\u20ac\u015bmobilise the aspirations of millions\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 or else risk another Tory government.   Len McCluskey was speaking during the Work and Business debate when he argued that strong labour market institutions, trade unions and collective bargaining […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1538,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[107],"wps_subtitle":"Hopes of working people must top agenda ","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1535"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1535"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1535\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1537,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1535\/revisions\/1537"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1538"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1535"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1535"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1535"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}