Labour, Cuts and the Unions

Labour is apparently in conflict with its trade union backers because it has now 'apparently' come out in support of public expenditure cuts and 'endorses' public sector pay restraint and goes further and suggests that public sector workers might take pay cuts to prevent job losses.

Labour now 'apparently' supports public expenditure cuts.  However, in certain of its confused and conflicting statements it still maintains that the cuts being implemented, against Labour's opposition, by the Coalition, are too deep and too fast.  That sounds like trying to be both pro and anti cuts.

Interviewed on the biased BBC, by Nick Robinson, Ed Miliband was asked

QUESTION: "Some people think this is curious because it gives you an excuse to say: 'Well we oppose this cut', only to say a few weeks later, 'actually we back it, we've got to live with it'."
ANSWER: "No, it's not about backing the cuts that are being made. We don't want these cuts to be being made. It's not in the interests, for example, of safety on our streets to be having the speed of cuts we're seeing in policing. Or in the interests of the economy to have the overall pace of cuts - that's why we say too far and too fast.

Make your own mind up as to whether Labour back or oppose the cuts and then let Ed know what he should say!


Labour 'endorse' pay restraint.  Well maybe the leader and Shadow Chancellor now do

Ed Miliband recently said:

It's a hard choice, but when you are faced with the choice between protecting jobs or saying the money should go into pay rises I think it's right to protect jobs," he said.

"In the end there's no easy choices in government... I think is absolutely right that we say we've got to prioritise employment."

Several Labour MPs have reportedly criticised the move, among them Austin Mitchell, who supposedly called it 'barmy' and accused Mr Miliband of "weakness".

Mr Miliband said Mr Mitchell was "wrong", adding: "We are absolutely determined that Labour shows we would be fiscally credible in government."

I can't help think that this is a smokescreen and the following backs up my thoughts.

Labour suggests that public sector workers might take pay cuts to save jobs.

I believe this is a cynical attempt to encourage the public sector to hunker down and weather out the economic storm that we are facing.  This is in the mistaken belief that doing so will be temporary and will be lifted when (if,?) Labour returns to power.  The Labour leadership (and their union counterparts) know full well that the country simply cannot afford and will not be able to afford the public sector to ever get anywhere near as big as it was under Labour. 

I am sorry to all those 'diversity officers' out there, and  all the other low-value adding but oh so right on and nice to have positions which get in the way of people living their lives and taking responsibility for their own lives, but you need to find a new career - the country cannot afford to employ your services and pay from the public purse.   


Call me cynical but I can't help but feel that the bluster from the unions is manufactured.  Leaked letters?  Public letters to The Guardian.  I smell an orchestrated campaign.  Goes something like this:

• Labour needs to build economic credibility with the Public.
• Labour to public back cuts because Public endorse and see necessity for cuts.
• Labour to endorse pay restraint in public sector because the Public think that the public sector should share the pain and have been cossetted by Labour.
• Labour endorse 'negotiated' deals that see public sector pay cuts to 'protect' jobs.
• Unions to express outrage, publicly, with letters to the press and privately, with letters that get leaked.
• Cue the two Eds standing firm and saying we have to be responsible and economically credible and then saying things which undermine their earlier stance (the latter is unintended but neither Ed really want to upset their union backers)