{"id":16280,"date":"2018-09-24T12:32:10","date_gmt":"2018-09-24T11:32:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=16280"},"modified":"2020-11-12T12:58:13","modified_gmt":"2020-11-12T12:58:13","slug":"mcluskey-addresses-labour-conference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=16280","title":{"rendered":"‘Unite and promote our alternative’"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Unite general secretary Len McCluskey gave a rousing speech that prompted a standing ovation on Monday (September 24) at the Labour Party conference in Liverpool.<\/p>\n

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Moving a composite on building an economy for the many, McCluskey\u00c2\u00a0pointed out\u00c2\u00a0that\u00c2\u00a0despite at a time when \u00e2\u20ac\u015beverything possible has been used to attack and undermine\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 the Labour Party and its leader Jeremy Corbyn, the party is still ahead of the Tories in the polls.<\/p>\n

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This, he said \u00e2\u20ac\u015btells us something about our country\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 and the economy people want.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bPeople are desperate for hope, crying out for an alternative to austerity, fed up with inequality and the economics of privatisation outsourcing and deregulation and anxious about a blundering Tory \u00e2\u20ac\u0098no deal\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 Brexit,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bAnd they can see through the venomous attacks for what they are \u00e2\u20ac\u201c the last throw of an elite desperate to hang on to its privileges, perks and ill-gotten case,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 McCluskey added.<\/p>\n

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The Labour Party\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s lead in the polls, he went on to say, also \u00e2\u20ac\u015btells us something about our Party and our movement — we are stronger than our enemies.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bAnd their abuse is the highest compliment they could pay us \u00e2\u20ac\u201c they feel threatened and they are right to be so,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he added, warning that the Labour movement is \u00e2\u20ac\u015bcoming for their fat cat tax fiddles.”<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re going to take back the railways, water, energy,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said to thundering applause. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re going to build houses for the people, not for foreign oligarchs. We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re going to kick the capitalists out of the NHS. We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re going to lift the burden of debt from our young people.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bAnd we are going to give trade unions and working people their rights back — so we can look the bosses in the eye and end their abuses from McDonalds to Uber.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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McCluskey said that this was the exact programme that last year won Labour the most votes in a century and he cautioned that \u00e2\u20ac\u015bwe would be insane to retreat an inch from it.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe polls prove that that the British people want that agenda put into action,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he added. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThey want that change \u00e2\u20ac\u201c as soon as the Tories dare risk a general election.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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The Unite leader called for a party that was \u00e2\u20ac\u015bwas united in promoting our alternative.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bI\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not talking about an unthinking agreement on everything or blind loyalty,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he explained. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bAnyone has a right to disagree and a right to criticise. We are a democratic party.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bBut I am talking about some MPs turning into an echo chamber for whatever line of attack the Tories and the press are deploying against us.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bYes — anyone with a point of view should be heard,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he added. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bBut anyone screaming \u00e2\u20ac\u0098you are a racist\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 at Jeremy Corbyn has lost every sense of moral proportion, every shred of decency.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bNor do we need any lessons on racism from the professional racists of the Daily Mail<\/em> and the Sun<\/em>,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he argued. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bNot one of them has done a fraction as much for community relations as Jeremy Corbyn.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

McCluskey hailed the Labour Party as one of \u00e2\u20ac\u015bunity, equality, and justice\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 while it is the Tories, he said \u00e2\u20ac\u015bwho stoke fear and hatred.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bSo we should not let the attacks put us on the back foot for a minute. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time we all \u00e2\u20ac\u201c each and every one of us \u00e2\u20ac\u201c spoke up for our Leader.<\/p>\n

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The Unite general secretary called Corbyn \u00e2\u20ac\u015bthe most decent and principled man in politics today\u00e2\u20ac\u0165, someone who \u00e2\u20ac\u015bshould not have to face these attacks alone. And while Unite is here and good comrades like you, he will never have to.”<\/p>\n

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He warned against those who are pushing for a breakaway party, as he pointed out that \u00e2\u20ac\u015bif the centre ground is fighting for a better deal for working people and protecting our communities, look no further. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s right here in the Labour Party.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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He called on Labour MP Chuka Umunna to \u00e2\u20ac\u015bdrop the country club plotting\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 and \u00e2\u20ac\u015blisten to working people the length and breadth of the country. Get behind the Party that made you. And join the rest of this movement in fighting to get rid of this rotten government.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bGive our country the fresh start it needs,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he concluded to a standing ovation. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bAnd make Jeremy Corbyn the People\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Prime Minister.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Unite general secretary Len McCluskey gave a rousing speech that prompted a standing ovation on Monday (September 24) at the Labour Party conference in Liverpool.   Moving a composite on building an economy for the many, McCluskey\u00c2\u00a0pointed out\u00c2\u00a0that\u00c2\u00a0despite at a time when \u00e2\u20ac\u015beverything possible has been used to attack and undermine\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 the Labour Party and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":16286,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[872,1019],"wps_subtitle":"Unite GS Len McCluskey addresses Labour Party conference","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16280"}],"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\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16280"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16280\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25858,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16280\/revisions\/25858"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/16286"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16280"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16280"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16280"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}