The Labour Party’s historic partnership with the trade union movement has secured huge advances for working people in this country over the last century. It is the foundation on which the party was built.
Unite’s decision today is unprecedented - and it should set alarm bells ringing across our party. It reflects a growing anger across the labour movement that we are drifting away from the workers, communities and values that made us.
When Labour stands shoulder to shoulder with the trade unions and respects its wider movement, we change this country for the better. But when that relationship is disrespected, the consequences are inevitable. Today’s rupture is the direct result of a leadership that has too often taken its own movement for granted.
Labour cannot afford to keep ignoring its roots. If the party continues down this path, it risks hollowing out the very coalition that made us a force for change in the first place - and working people will be the ones who lose out.
