{"id":18995,"date":"2019-09-23T12:36:49","date_gmt":"2019-09-23T11:36:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=18995"},"modified":"2020-11-12T12:55:10","modified_gmt":"2020-11-12T12:55:10","slug":"len-mccluskey-industrial-strategy-labour-conference-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=18995","title":{"rendered":"‘Keep your eyes on the prize’"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Moving a motion on industrial strategy at this year\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Labour Party Conference, Unite general secretary Len McCluskey on Monday (September 23) highlighted the significance of Jeremy Corbyn \u00e2\u20ac\u201c a \u00e2\u20ac\u015bgenuine socialist\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 \u00e2\u20ac\u201c first being elected party leader.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bOnly a Jeremy Corbyn-led government gives us hope,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bOnly his radical vision can lead to the irreversible shift in power to working people that we desperately need.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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He added that it was only through unity that a Corbyn-led Labour party has come so far against the odds.<\/p>\n

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Criticising austerity \u00e2\u20ac\u015bthrust on us by the Tories and Liberal Democrat partners\u00e2\u20ac\u0165, McCluskey urged conference to never forget the fact that the Lib-Dem leader Jo Swinson \u00e2\u20ac\u015bvoted in favour of every attack on our welfare state\u00e2\u20ac\u0165.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bShe reminds us that you can never trust a Liberal Democrat,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bOur country is crying out for an alternative to austerity economics and neoliberal dogma that has just thrown Thomas Cook to the wall, along with thousands of jobs,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he continued.<\/p>\n

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McCluskey highlighted that the composite outlines what was necessary in building an industrial strategy for the future.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe want one thing – a progressive Labour government that will govern in the interests of working people,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bTo get there we must not be side-tracked.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bUnity got us where we are; only division, Conference, can derail us now.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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Highlighting again the importance of unity, McCluskey said, \u00e2\u20ac\u015bFrom Brexit to the banks, the country needs to hear a united Labour voice arguing for that brighter future.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bLet me say here that Jeremy Corbyn is a thousand times right in trying to speak to our whole country at this time of crisis.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWhen we have the Tories dismissing half of our nation and the Liberals are writing off the other half, it is only Jeremy\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Labour that puts social justice first — that says whether you are \u00e2\u20ac\u0098leave\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 or \u00e2\u20ac\u0098remain\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 matters less than your class,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he added.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe should not let anyone define or divide us as Leavers or Remainers. What defines us is that we are socialists. And our vision of a better Britain, a better world, is within our grasp.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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Urging conference to \u00e2\u20ac\u015bkeep your eyes on the prize\u00e2\u20ac\u0165, he argued that in a general election campaign, people will see that \u00e2\u20ac\u015bonly Labour offers policies to create a better and fairer Britain — policies to heal our nation\u00e2\u20ac\u0165.<\/p>\n

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The Unite leader went onto highlight Labour\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s key components of a \u00e2\u20ac\u015ban industrial strategy that stimulates our manufacturing base\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 \u00e2\u20ac\u201c one that protects public services, provides decent work, builds homes, and gives workers and their trade unions dignity and respect.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bPeople are sick of the lies that fall so easily from our prime minister\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s mouth \u00e2\u20ac\u201c aided and abetted by a cabinet of millionaires, who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll rake it in as our people are sent to the dole queues,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he went on to say. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe only antidote to the crooks of the Brexit party and the charlatans in Number 10 is a Corbyn-led government.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bComrades, it is the responsibility, it is the duty of trade unions, and of all of us, to ensure Labour wins this election. Unite, I pledge, will not be found wanting.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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McCluskey said that as a socialist party, Labour is \u00e2\u20ac\u015bunited in wanting to deliver profound and lasting change for our people\u00e2\u20ac\u0165.<\/p>\n

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Concluding to thundering applause and a standing ovation, McCluskey noted, \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThere’s only one door to No 10, comrades, and we can only go through it if we go through it together.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

\"Len

Len returns to delegation after inspirational speech<\/p><\/div>\n

The composite was carried.<\/p>\n

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