{"id":3648,"date":"2015-04-14T15:18:13","date_gmt":"2015-04-14T14:18:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=3648"},"modified":"2015-04-14T15:18:13","modified_gmt":"2015-04-14T14:18:13","slug":"a-britain-that-works-for-all","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=3648","title":{"rendered":"A Britain that works for all"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

The very front page title of Labour\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s election manifesto sums up both the future and the immediate past of this country: \u00e2\u20ac\u0098Britain can be better\u00e2\u20ac\u2122. Too right it can!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

After five years of failed Tory-led coalition we are in dire need a better society and economy, one which assists the many and not merely the few at the top.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Its programme of austerity and its race to the bottom on wages has failed.\u00c2\u00a0 Tax receipts are down.\u00c2\u00a0 Growth has stalled.\u00c2\u00a0 On jobs they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve created the ultimate flexible labour market with insecurity wrecking chances of personal prosperity and leading to national failure.\u00c2\u00a0 They even failed in their own terms on the size of the deficit.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

They blamed the global economic crisis on the last Labour government.\u00c2\u00a0 With allies in the right wing media it was a message that dominated the political debate, but the reality was different.\u00c2\u00a0 Investing in public services after years of neglect by previous Tory governments did not cause an economic crisis the roots of which were laid by irresponsible bankers and a casino economy.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Now the Conservatives have left the country borrowing \u00c2\u014175bn.\u00c2\u00a0 With this economic legacy Labour will adopt a credible economic approach, reversing David Cameron\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s tax cut for millionaires to help pay down the deficit.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

No nonsense<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Labour\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s manifesto is a no-nonsense document which will be heartily welcomed by millions up and down the land, and particularly by trade unionists who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve done so much to fight the worst excesses of the Cameron government.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As Ed Miliband says in the foreword to the document, \u00e2\u20ac\u015bwe are a great country, but we can be even better.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 The Labour leader also talks at the outset of \u00e2\u20ac\u015bhigh skill, high wage jobs\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 and an \u00e2\u20ac\u015beconomy built on strong and secure foundations.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The belief that when workers succeed we all succeed is in direct contrast not only from today\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Tories who have led to a race to the bottom with low wages and an insecure jobs\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 market. It is also a repudiation of the past. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a repudiation of the same policies of the Tories of old \u00e2\u20ac\u201c like former chancellor, Norman Lamont who infamously said that unemployment was a price worth paying.\u00c2\u00a0 It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no surprise to learn that Cameron worked as Lamont\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s assistant back in the day.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

That we succeed when workers do is a point backed by Unite general secretary Len McCluskey.\u00c2\u00a0 Len responded by saying, \u00e2\u20ac\u015bEd Miliband has put jobs and social justice at the heart of this manifesto.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe can see today that Labour wants to help people into work and build a fairer society.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bLook at the pledges to end the tax status of non-doms and scrap exploitative zero hours contacts. At last Labour is saying enough of one rule for the rich and powerful and another for the workers.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

Work and working people are themes which dominate the eighty-plus pages of the manifesto. There are pictures throughout of dockers, apprentices, teachers and nurses \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and very few politicians.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Perhaps the key phrases are to be found in the section on the economy. The manifesto even echoes slogans from Unite campaigns, such as \u00e2\u20ac\u0098Building an economy that works for working people\u00e2\u20ac\u2122.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

First task <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Miliband says the \u00e2\u20ac\u015bfirst task\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 of an incoming Labour government will be to \u00e2\u20ac\u015bchange the economy so that it works for all.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 And at the heart of this pledge is a clear understanding of the issues that have been facing so many of us in recent times.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0098Over five million people are in low-paid jobs, earning less than the Living Wage. There are 1.8m zero-hours contracts, 1.3m are working part-time because they cannot get a full-time job. Half of those in poverty live in working households, 900,000 people, many of them in work, used food banks last year.’<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

None of this will be news to Unite members, but clearly Labour is focused on these issues in the final weeks of the election campaign.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Taking a long-term approach to our future there is also a \u00e2\u20ac\u0098new industrial strategy\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 aimed at reinforcing Britain\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s status as a world leader in the fields of engineering and science.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

“The Tory austerity experiment, the race to the bottom has failed. This manifesto gives people real hope in our future.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

one rule for the rich and powerful and another for the workers.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also to be an emphasis on workers and bosses listening to one another when it comes to \u00e2\u20ac\u0098improving both business performance and job quality\u00e2\u20ac\u2122. \u00e2\u20ac\u0098Outdated practices, like blacklisting\u00e2\u20ac\u2122, we are told, \u00e2\u20ac\u0098have no place in a modern economy\u00e2\u20ac\u2122.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Then, when it comes to apprenticeships, these are to lead to \u00e2\u20ac\u0098gold-standard qualifications\u00e2\u20ac\u2122, again something that Unite has long campaigned for, advocating a German style vocational training system.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Put all of this together with other key pledges such as increasing the minimum wage to \u00c2\u01418, reducing tuition fees to \u00c2\u01416000 a year, freezing energy bills and \u00e2\u20ac\u0098rescuing the NHS\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 by creating 8,000 more GP’s and 20,000 more nurses and a rock solid political programme emerges.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

And on the dreaded TTIP Labour has given a commitment that the NHS would be exempt from the treaty \u00e2\u20ac\u201c which is welcome news to both NHS workers and users.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Overall much of what we see in this 2015 Labour manifesto reflects the views and aspirations of so many Unite members, and holds out the tantalising possibility that in three weeks\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 time we can consign this dreadful government to history.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As Len McCluskey says, “The Tory austerity experiment, the race to the bottom has failed. This manifesto gives people real hope in our future.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

*To see Labour\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s manifesto:<\/em> http:\/\/labour.org.uk\/manifesto2015<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Additional material by Unite political department<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The very front page title of Labour\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s election manifesto sums up both the future and the immediate past of this country: \u00e2\u20ac\u0098Britain can be better\u00e2\u20ac\u2122. Too right it can!   After five years of failed Tory-led coalition we are in dire need a better society and economy, one which assists the many and not merely […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3630,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[224],"wps_subtitle":"Labour\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s manifesto hope for people of Britain","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3648"}],"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=3648"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3648\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3649,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3648\/revisions\/3649"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3630"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3648"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3648"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3648"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}