First signs of structural fissures in the historic relationship between the Labour Party and the trade unions have emerged with a key sector of the biggest public sector union pulling the plug on funding.
Members of the Yorkshire and Humberside region of Unison voted to withhold regional party funding following the announcement by Labour leader Ed Miliband and Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls that the party would not oppose the coalition Government’s public sector pay freeze or pledge to reverse any of its spending cuts if it wins the next election.
The region covers the parliamentary seats of Mr Miliband in Doncaster North, Mr Balls in Morley and Outwood and Shadow Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper in Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford. If ratified nationally the decision is likely to cost the regional party up to £15,000.
Other regions are considering similar action and grassroots members of the GMB and Unite – whose general secretaries have publicly condemned the sudden shift in the party’s official stance – are agitating for some form of protest, including the withdrawal of funding.
According to one witness, another member of the Shadow Cabinet, the environment frontbencher and MP for the Yorkshire constituency of Wakefield, Mary Creagh, was given “a hard time” over the issue at a regional Labour Party meeting.
The backlash comes amid accusations that the labour leadership has abandoned any alternative to the coalition’s cuts agenda and as the Tories show signs of extending their lead in the polls over Labour.
In an interview with The Guardian, Mr Balls said: “My starting point is, I am afraid, we are going to have to keep all these cuts.” His remark coincided with a series of announcements conceding policy changes and cuts ranging from defence to welfare from Shadow Cabinet ministers Liam Byrne, Jim Murphy and Stephen Twigg, dubbed by Unite general secretary Len McCluskey as the “horsemen of the austerity apocalypse”.
In a scathing response to the announcement from Mr Balls and Mr Miliband, Mr McCluskey warned that half the electorate had been disenfranchised and that the next election would be lost. Aides for both attempted to play down interpretations of a policy shift, saying that it was merely impossible to make pledges on an economic scenario that could not be predicted.
But there is intense anger at all levels in the unions over the fact there was no consultation before the apparent policy shift was made. This will now focus on the TUC meeting which Mr Miliband is due to address in May.
One senior trade union figure summed up the mood as “fucking awful – it’s really serious. A new policy has emerged and nobody knows where it came from or who made it.
“The unions and Labour are supposed to be allies, but they’ve kicked union members in the head. Why would you pay money to them for that?
