{"id":2919,"date":"2015-02-02T14:00:39","date_gmt":"2015-02-02T14:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=2919"},"modified":"2015-02-03T10:17:56","modified_gmt":"2015-02-03T10:17:56","slug":"fight-lives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=2919","title":{"rendered":"Fight of our lives"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

Unite general secretary Len McCluskey gave a rousing speech today (February 2) in Birmingham, calling upon the union\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s members and organisers to get working for a Labour victory.<\/p>\n

 
\nAddressing Unite\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s 1200-strong officer and organiser core in Birmingham, McCluskey warned that the Tories\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 immense spending power, allied to their wealthy backers and a loyal media, means the country faces a one-sided campaign in May, placing a \u00e2\u20ac\u0098duty of democracy\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 on Unite to support Labour.<\/p>\n

 
\nMcCluskey contrasted the politics of fear \u00e2\u20ac\u201c represented by the likes of Ukip \u00e2\u20ac\u201c to the politics of hope in the shining example of Syriza\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s victory in Greece last week<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe electorate is today poised between fear and hope,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bFear is the basis of the Ukip menace \u00e2\u20ac\u201c blame someone else for all the problems, usually immigrants or foreigners, and seek refuge in an imagined past.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bBut it is hope that is blossoming today as we have seen in last week\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s magnificent election result in Greece,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he added. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bLabour needs to bottle some of the Syriza spirit and take that anti-austerity agenda to the people here.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\nMcCluskey called for a break from the politicians of Labour\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s past, saying, \u00e2\u20ac\u015b\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWhat [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.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\nThe 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.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bSo I say to Peter Mandelson, Alan Milburn and John Hutton: stick to counting your thirty pieces of silver from the bosses \u00e2\u20ac\u201c the people you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve always represented \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and stop stabbing Labour in the back.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bAnd I say to Ed Miliband – have the courage of your convictions and ignore these blasts from the past,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he went on to say.<\/p>\n

 
\nMcCluskey called the upcoming election a \u00e2\u20ac\u015bfight for the future of our society\u00e2\u20ac\u0165, and pointed out that the Conservative party\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s policies will only benefit the very rich, to the detriment of everyone else, with the poor and vulnerable being hit the hardest.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe 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,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said.<\/p>\n

 
\nMcCluskey declared that the Tories\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 attempts to \u00e2\u20ac\u015btear to bits every advance working people have secured\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 were \u00e2\u20ac\u015bnot going to happen\u00e2\u20ac\u0165, and went on to highlight the poor public support that the Conservative party has.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIf 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,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bAnd if we are pushed outside the law, so be it. If Unite is ever to die, it will not die on its knees.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\nLabour support is our duty<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

 
\nAs UNITElive reported last week<\/a>, Unite\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s executive council has agreed to provide donations to Labour\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s election in order to overcome the resource disadvantage the party faces against the Tories\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 brimming coffers of business cash.<\/p>\n

 
\nMcCluskey regarded this pledge from the executive council as \u00e2\u20ac\u0098doing our duty to democracy\u00e2\u20ac\u2122.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bLet the Tories get their millions from hedge funds and from shadowy dinner clubs of big businessmen,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bOur money is clean, transparent to the public, democratically-sanctioned and honestly accounted for. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the pennies of our members each week, not the ill-gotten gains of the ruling elite.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\nThe general secretary highlighted Labour\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s 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.<\/p>\n

 
\n“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.<\/p>\n

 
\nBut, he added, \u00e2\u20ac\u015bIf we lose the election, we understand how much harder that life will be for the people we serve.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThat\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s why I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m appealing to each and every one of you \u00e2\u20ac\u201c step up to the plate,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 McCluskey continued. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bGet behind your union and its political strategy, and get behind a Labour victory in May. Answer the Party\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s call. Do not stand aside from this battle, or let any doubts and reservations paralyse you.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe are now facing the fight of our lives.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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Unite general secretary Len McCluskey gave a rousing speech today (February 2) in Birmingham, calling upon the union\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s members and organisers to get working for a Labour victory.   Addressing Unite\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s 1200-strong officer and organiser core in Birmingham, McCluskey warned that the Tories\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 immense spending power, allied to their wealthy backers and a loyal media, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1939,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[224],"wps_subtitle":"Unite GS Len McCluskey calls on union members and organisers to get behind Labour victory in May","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2919"}],"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=2919"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2919\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2920,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2919\/revisions\/2920"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1939"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2919"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2919"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2919"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}