hitmouse
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Tricky to say - the main left criticism of her I've seen is that she's fairly hands-off where Labour Party stuff is concerned, so Turner would be maybe more likely to challenge Starmerism at a Labour policy level. Having said that, Turner isn't exactly a firebrand on that level either, I suppose Beckett was probably the most anti-Starmerist candidate in terms of Labour stuff but he's dropped out. This interview Smokeandsteam posted above is useful:and is there any sign as to what her election might mean in relation to Starmerism?
thanks hitmouse
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(Also interesting that the interview goes on to ask them about IWGB and UVW - when I first heard the news that the IWW was splitting, I did not expect that a split from the IWW would go on to be something that candidates for the Unite leadership would get asked serious questions about.)RP: How did you understand the 2019 General Election result and the end of the Corbyn movement? What do you make of the fact that approximately 40 per cent of Unite members voted Tory?
Graham: In a word: inevitable. For all of the advances in policy and the profound change in rhetoric, very little was built beneath the leader. I think this is the main issue facing the left. Not whether or not Starmer must go, but how do we deliver power to win in key issues. I don’t see a serious theory of change coming from any of the left commentators. So much of the discussion is purely tactical and focuses on the day-to-day. It’s as if they have become completely disorientated.
In the same vein I was absolutely not surprised that almost half of our members voted Tory. Sadly, the union is not yet equipped to do the work within its membership and why wouldn’t Unite members be moved by the dominant narrative?
From what I can see, the left is continuing to talk relentlessly to itself and at times appears to be more interested in what it is against than what it is for. I think we should be more focussed on building a bridge to the population at large.
Turner: We had a fantastic manifesto in 2017, built on in 2019. That manifesto didn’t lose us the 2019 election, it was Brexit. The ideas in that manifesto were incredibly popular, but we just couldn’t have the discussions we needed to because Brexit obscured everything.
Of course, some Unite members in England voted Tory. But they have different options in the devolved nations and expressed very different opinions there.
Our members didn’t vote to lose their jobs when they voted to leave the EU, but they did want Brexit done. Labour’s muddled policy looked distinctly as though it didn’t share that view. The party’s stated commitment that it would negotiate a credible leave option that protected jobs just didn’t seem believable.
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RP: A lot has been said about union disaffiliation from the Labour party. What do you think of the current Starmer regime? In or out of the Labour Party, what role do you see for Unite in rebuilding or leading the wider Left? What do you think the role of Unite Community could be in this?
Graham: Look, I think disaffiliation is a red herring. I’m not a great fan of what is going on but without PR electoral alternatives are difficult to envisage. Having said that, I certainly don’t agree with giving blank cheques to politicians. Together with our reps I will produce a Workers’ Manifesto and it should go without saying that I will expect serious movement on our priorities – the priorities of workers.
If people read our Manifesto, they will see that in terms of this election we have a distinct view on politics. We see progressive politics as being a lot more than elections and the Labour Party – as important as that can be. We need to build a sustainable progressive platform that sits outside of any party. We need to build a real base within workplaces and communities – they are our twin pillars if you like.
You can’t rely on a leader or spontaneous action. We have to build a movement ourselves. That means organising properly in workplaces and linking that to communities. Fortunately we have the resources within the political fund to do this. Progressive politics has to start meaning something to people’s everyday lives. We have to work with people to identify issues and then set about solving them. We sponsor a whole host of noble causes but do very little of this work ourselves. We need to become part of the fabric of a community, build trust and earn your credibility. Great policies are not enough, we need to do the hard, unglamorous work of organising.
Turner: I cannot hide my disappointment with Keir Starmer. I didn’t vote for him, I backed Becky Long-Bailey, but I’m a democrat and after he was elected with such a big majority and on ten clear, radical pledges, I committed to working with him.
The pandemic was an opportunity for Labour to steer this country’s response to the crisis in defence of our national interests and our vision for our post-Covid economy.
Instead, Keir has made the choice to allow the government to disengage from Westminster and our party to become more and more irrelevant as the debate becomes more limited.
People want to see a clear vision for the future, not internal division and navel-gazing. A future that gives them the security they need for themselves and their kids and coming generations. Keir needs to step up to the plate and generate a clear distinctive vision for our party moving forward. Above all else our party needs to get back into our communities, which is why it was a huge mistake to close down the community organising project.
However, I must be clear. I’m running to be general secretary of my union, not to be leader of the Labour party. Unite is not and must not be a political playground. That said, as GS I would work hard with other union leaders to pull the Labour left together – the inclusive, tolerant left – to create a vision of a better Britain.
In terms of Unite Community, it has played, and will continue to play, a huge role in supporting families in our communities. Unite Community has brought a level of activism into our union that I’m proud of.
Having said all of that, I personally think that the most important relationship between Unite and Labour is what happens when Labour councils try to cut costs by fucking over their employees, including Unite members, and on that score Graham seems like the candidate most likely to support serious industrial action against them.
eta: the other interview I think that's useful for understanding where the candidates stand is this, and particularly this bit:
The context of that quote is that during the Go Ahead fire and rehire dispute, Unite ran a campaign trying to get Sadiq Khan and Andy Burnham to use their powers as mayors to stop public transport contracts going to companies that completely fuck over their workers using fire and rehire, so that statement is Steve Turner basically saying that he prioritises supporting Khan and Burnham over supporting Unite members trying to win their strike. So I really wouldn't have great expectations of any of Graham's rivals doing any better in terms of challenging Starmerism, if that makes sense?Turner says the perils of left-wingers undermining Labour councils are real. “I want to see Labour councillors elected on May 6. I want to see Labour mayors. And it frustrates me, it angers me sometimes, that some of the union’s campaigning right now is pitched against our Mayors, against Sadiq and Andy Burnham. What’s that all about? I find that incredible that we would do that.”
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