How do you keep the sympathy of people whose lives you are making more difficult?
- Associate Tutor, University of Surrey
Government’s new legislation will strike at the heart of union power.
Len McCluskey needs to snap back to reality, if he wants to see Labour in government.
Chuka Umunna was not the person for the job, but neither is anyone else in contention.
Three parties must now choose new leaders. Labour has a number of candidates jockeying for position.
The Tory manifesto pledge to change the law on strike ballots are more radical than any of those introduced by Margaret Thatcher. If the government is re-elected and the proposals become law, industrial…
As the trade unions embark on another co-ordinated day of action they could soon be embroiled in another battle. The government is adopting a harder line through plans to bolster the law on industrial…
The more that Labour insists the support for Ed Miliband is rock solid, the less the public are inclined to believe the party. It’s not just the open criticism from John Cruddas, there’s all the reading…
“Brand Miliband” has had a rough few weeks and is looking pretty sad, at a time when the opposition leader should be riding high in the polls against a relatively unpopular prime minister who has just…
The knives are out for Ed Miliband and he only has himself to blame. In the wake of the elections, despite doing well in London in the council elections and gaining seven seats in the European parliamentary…
It is clear from the European and local election results that there are some interesting and fairly nuanced things happening. Labour has not done as well as it expected to do – and there are a lot of people…
Tony Benn, who has died aged 88, was one of the great characters in 20th-century British politics. When he announced in 2001 he was “leaving Parliament to spend more time on politics” it was widely held…
Bob Crow, the pugnacious General Secretary of the Rail Maritime and Transport Workers Union (RMT), has died at the age of 52 after suffering an aneurysm and a massive heart attack. His passing has brought…
After numerous dispatch box jibes at David Cameron about the Conservatives being bank-rolled by rich individuals, it appears that Ed Miliband is now having to do the same. Last week it was David Owen pledging…
Londoners will be pleased that the latest tube strike has been called off. But that hasn’t stopped people from speculating as to how much it might have cost the capital’s economy. Last week, newspapers…
The estimated £50m daily cost of London’s Tube strikes is based on a 2007 survey of just 315 businesses. Since Tuesday night, London’s Tube workers have been on strike and the media has repeated big claims…
This could be the riskiest move of Ed Miliband’s career. After months of posturing about the changes in the relationship between the Labour Party and the unions, Miliband has clearly set out his plans…
The Police Federation of England and Wales will be concerned about the imminent findings of the independent review chaired by Sir David Normington, established in the wake of the plebgate affair. The chairman…
Firefighters have once again voted to go on strike in England and Wales, their fifth strike since September. This might seem like a high number of walkouts, but the Fire Brigades Union (FBU)‘s reputation…
London’s tube users face disruption in the New Year as the unions threaten strike action. Debate on the subject is as heated as ever, with both sides racing for the moral high ground. But, though London…
After the controversies of the past few weeks, the coalition government has launched a review of trade union tactics, to be led by Bruce Carr QC. The issue of union activities and the relationship between…
Ed Miliband just can’t seem to put the Falkirk shenanigans of the recent past behind him. The saga casts a serous shadow over his potential as a future prime minister – and the role of unions is in no…
News that Royal Mail workers are to go on strike on 4 November is unlikely to be received well by the general public or the business community. The usual threat of strikes in the run-up to Christmas will…
Ed Miliband must be pretty anxious about this Labour Party conference. The chances are the trade unionists in the audience will be more vociferous than they were at the TUC Congress in Bournemouth earlier…
This September will be one that Ed Miliband will probably want to forget. He must be dreading the inevitable mauling he will get from the union delegates at the Labour Party Conference in Brighton at the…
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