Earlier I had an email from Michael Gove, leading Conservative frontbencher. He didn't just write to me you understand, we're not even on first name terms - but none the less I got the benefit of his thoughts on the union strangle-hold over Labour.
Click the image to enlarge.
I so wish this was true.
However, I think it shows how skewed the Tory political perspective is if they can look at the Labour years and see a government consistently bending to the will of the unions. If only.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Gove's fantasies about the Labour-union link
Labels: Labour, Tories, Trade Union
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6 comments:
A truly remarkable lurch into the wildest excesses of paranoid right-wing lunacy. I'm actually staggered at some of the phrases in Gove's nonsensical letter - it's all so utterly removed from reality.
Let's also take one step back. From the Tories, this extremely aggressive anti-union stance is quite disturbing.
It seems to me that regardless of the dispute, their default position is one of extreme antipathy and confrontation with what are actually incredibly tame unions.
And, for the record, let's not forget that:
1) staff at BA voted TWICE in favour of the strike;
2) it was Willie Walsh that pulled out of the negotiating table;
3) Unite's proposal included a pay cut (!). I don't know how many times in history a Union actively put forward a salary cut for their members. Still the Tories call them every name under the sun...
BTW, Jim, I've linked your blog to my list :-)
It's true - I was reading the Sun today (in a cafe, I didn't pay for it obviously) and their coverage was like the height of the miner's strike including describing UNITE as a 'hardline' union and a photo of the union's political officer that descibed him as a 'union thug'.
I doubt Cameron has the bottle that Thatcher had, but he certainly has her hatred for trade unions.
Gove is such a sorry cove.
Or actually, the truly sorry state of affairs is that the Great British* public is once again back to the stage where it is prepared to put some stupid little know-nothing young-fogey ponce into a position of power over itself. Worse: over its own kids' education.
(* or English - I'm sure he'd still get short shrift in his native Scotland.)
I mean, what was the point in us all having survived the 80s?
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