THE contortions and contradictions of the Deputy Prime Minister’s political stance become more laughable with each passing day.
During the run-up to the General Election last July, presented herself as the fearless champion of trade union rights, who would usher in a new era of co-operation after the dark years of Tory confrontation.
Her triumphant self-regard shone through a much-hyped speech she made to the TUC in 2023, when she declared to thunderous cheers from the comrades: “I make no apologies that we will work hand in hand with the unions to deliver a real partnership based on mutual respect.”;
Today, those words sound unhinged as and her Cabinet colleagues struggle with the realities of union bullying and serial agitation.
The likes to boast that her experience as a former Unison shop steward gives her a special insight into the .
But she spectacularly failed to see how quickly the new government would be dragged into the quagmire of industrial strife, partly as a result of her own foolish policies which have emboldened the militants and sapped the resolution of ministers.
Basket case
The humiliation extends into the heart of her own Ministry of Housing and Local Government.
Unmoved by her blather about “our shared future”;, members of the Public and Commercial Services Union voted overwhelmingly for strike action in a dispute over flexible working, office closures and changes to recruitment practices.
The first walkout at the ministry begins next week. In a brutal rebuke to all her posing as the standard-bearer of effective liaison, PCS official David Jones said: “If the Deputy Prime Minister is serious about the importance of trade union engagement  . . .she could start by listening to her own staff.”;
Rayner’s authority has been undermined even more seriously by the long, embittered , which has left uncollected rubbish piled high in the streets of England’s second city.
The chaotic scenes are all too eerily reminiscent of the dark days of the late Seventies, when the enfeebled Labour government proved unable to halt the slide into anarchy as power-crazed union bosses held the country to ransom.
In 1979 alone, in what became known as the “Winter Of Discontent”;, 29million working days were lost to , reinforcing Britain’s image as a basket case.
The country is nowhere near that kind of crisis now, yet there are worrying signs that a new period of unrest — dubbed by some a “summer of discontent”; — is about to unfold, focused on the public sector, where the trade unions are at their strongest and are eager to exploit weak management.
In the wake of the , grievances over pay and job security continue in local government, the civil service and the NHS.
Two of the most hardline unions, the British Medical Association for doctors and Aslef for the train drivers, are both in formal dispute again, while several have already seen walkouts by staff in protest at job losses.
Serious disruption beckons in our , as the biggest teaching union, the , pushes for an improved deal for school staff despite an inflation-busting pay award of 5.5 per cent last year.
At its annual conference in Harrogate this week, the union agreed to start the preparations for a formal, nationwide ballot for industrial action.
As the unions grow in arrogance, Britain is paying a high price for the Government’s submission to the bullies.
Leo McKinstry
The threat of a major NEU strike is all the greater because the union is now led by radical firebrand Daniel Kebede, an uncompromising believer in socialism, Jeremy Corbyn and Palestinian resistance to .
Kebede, who describes the British education system as “fundamentally racist”;, could see the influence of the hard Left dramatically enhanced this weekend when the second-biggest teaching union, the NASUWT, chooses its new General Secretary at its annual conference in Liverpool.
At present, the likelihood is that the job will go to diehard left-winger Matt Wrack, the former boss of the notoriously uncompromising Fire Brigades Union.
Another ally of Corbyn’s, Wrack has no experience of teaching but plenty when it comes to picket lines and demonstrations.
If chosen, Wrack will be part of a dangerous duo alongside Kebede, bent on fomenting trouble in schools.
Labour’s Education Secretary rightly says that any disruption in schools would be “indefensible”;, but the problem is that the Government has helped to create this climate of discord with their mix of wishful thinking and an impulse to surrender.
Soon after coming to power, the Cabinet agreed to a series of bumper pay deals in the public sector in an attempt to buy off the strikers.
Sensed weakness
The brief arrival of industrial peace led the Prime Minister to boast in August that Labour had “ended the national strikes that have crippled our country for years”;.
His statement could not have been more ill-judged. Far from feeing grateful, the unions have sensed weakness and demanded more — an approach reinforced by the fact that the trade unions still heavily bankroll Labour.
Since Sir became leader, it is estimated that £31million has gone into Labour’s coffers from the comrades.
Similarly, Rayner’s flagship Rights Bill has only encouraged further irresponsibility.
Indeed, as a result of her wrong-headed legislation, it will become easier to mount strikes, while owners will find it harder to dismiss even the most unproductive workers.
As the unions grow in arrogance, Britain is paying a high price for the Government’s submission to the bullies.
It is not too late for Starmer to toughen up and change direction.
