Unite found guilty of entryism in Falkirk West

[Longcol]

 

It is like the last days of Rome...

 

Last time I looked Rome was still on the map as the capital of Italy

[Mecky]

This thread really isn't about UNITE is it?

[Jeffrey Shaw]

This thread really isn't about UNITE is it?

Yes, it is. I read that UNITE even addresses its adherent MPs as "Unite MPs" (rather than "Labour MPs")!

[SpikeMac]

Last time I looked Rome was still on the map as the capital of Italy

 

Have you seen the state of Italian democracy:D

[Jeffrey Shaw]

Last time I looked Rome was still on the map as the capital of Italy

(Old joke) No, the capital of Italy is in a Swiss bank [or owned by Germany].

[Riannon]

Shhh, let them have their ill conceived rant in peace.

 

Ill conceived eh? Just because it's uncomfortable for you doesn't make it ill conceived. Wake up and smell the coffee..

 

A nice bit on Channel 4.

 

http://blogs.channel4.com/michael-crick-on-politics/battle-of-falkirk-gets-murkier-for-labour/2656

 

Battle of Falkirk gets murkier for Labour

 

 

Labour’s three most powerful figures are all embroiled in some way – Ed Miliband, Len McCluskey and Tom Watson. And this morning a fourth figure, Jim Murphy, entered the fray.

 

Mr Poynton submitted a cheque for £130, which I’m told is against the rules, which say cheques can only for submitted for new members if those members all live at the same house, which in this case, apparently, they didn’t.

 

Mr Poynton refused to comment when I spoke to him this morning, but said he would get back to me later once he’d consulted the party.

 

Why does Mr Poynton’s recruitment activity matter?

 

First because he’s married to Gemma Doyle, the young Scottish MP who is a member of Labour’s Commons defence team under Jim Murphy. And second, Mr Poynton is the London political director of the firm Blue State Digital, which has a contract to provide campaigning work for the Labour party.

 

With that, and all the allegations about Unite recruiting dozens of new members in Falkirk without their knowledge, and seemingly against the rules, no wonder Labour big-wigs decided to keep the Falkirk report secret.

 

Unite’s activity was reportedly on behalf of Karie Murphy, a former chair of the Scottish Labour party, who works in Tom Watson’s office, and is also very close to the Unite leader Len McCluskey. And Mssrs Watson and McCluskey once shared a house.

Last night Unite issued an extremely angry statement over Labour’s decision last week to put the parliamentary selection process in Falkirk West into “special measures”. It’s “at best an extreme over-reaction, at worst the product of an anti-union agenda,” Unite said.

 

The union claimed that on Monday some of their officials were finally allowed to read the report into Falkirk West on which last week’s decision was made, but not take a copy away.

 

Unite says that the report’s irregularities involve only a “handful” of new people, and so the “mass exclusion” of around 150 names from the future selection is “utterly disproportionate”.

 

Unite says Labour’s decision is “political in character” and “results from a desire from some in the party to minimise trade union involvement in parliamentary selections”.

 

This morning Jim Murphy hit out at Unite. He told BBC News: “Something had gone really badly wrong in Falkirk when it came to the selection of the Labour candidate.

 

“I don’t blame the people locally - there’s clearly been some external interference. And while trade unions are an important part of a society and our politics, there seems to be one trade union in particular that’s well and truly overstepped the mark.

 

“It’s clear that Unite don’t run the Labour party; Ed Miliband does. And we should never confuse those two things.”

 

I have also learned that two of the complaints in Labour’s Falkirk report were submitted on people’s behalf by a local councillor, Linda Gow, who is still a contender for the nomination.

 

“If people share their concerns with you, you’re obviously obliged to pass their concerns on,” she tells me. Mrs Gow denies recruiting anyone herself. “I didn’t even have my husband as a member,” she says. Mrs Gow’s critics argue she was hardly a disinterested party.

 

Friends of Gregory Poynton insist he did nothing wrong. They say he was not contacted by the Labour party inquiry and say

that if he had been implicated the party would have contacted him for a response.

 

It looks like it’s developing into a huge battle for Labour in the run-up to this autumn conference. And a huge headache for Ed Miliband.

 

Follow @MichaelLCrick on Twitter

Details which I’ve been leaked, of Labour’s secret inquiry into Falkirk, show the report isn’t just about what the union Unite got up to in pursuit of getting its candidate selected.

 

I’m told the report says that in June last year – 2012 – 11 new members were recruited by Gregory Poynton, who was also a contender for the Labour nomination.

[Mecky]

Yes, it is. I read that UNITE even addresses its adherent MPs as "Unite MPs" (rather than "Labour MPs")!

 

No, it's a thinly velied attack on Labour. Nothing wrong with that of course, but why bother in a roundabout way? Just get stuck in.

[mort]

bickering removed

[Earthly]

They daren't get stuck in, when it come to corrupt practice the Labour party have nothing to be ashamed of. True three Labour MPs served time for fiddling expenses, they left the country bankrupt, got us involved in illegal wars. But compared to the Tories who went to private schools and want to privatize things they are innocent.

 

To be fair most Tory MP's didn't go to private schools. A smattering of Labour MP's went to private schools and send their kids to them.

[andygardener]

The daily mash have a useful bullet point explanation of this complex issue here