Affiliated union members connect Labour to its support base

Seumas Milne, writing in the Guardian, reviews the balance of political forces in the Ed Miliband Labour Party. Rather than a recidivist embrace of New Labour's neo liberal agenda he argues that improved internal democracy can revitalise Labour - and enhanced rights for union members can be an essential component:

http://m.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/apr/13/continuity-labour-roadblock-ed-miliband?cat=commentisfree&type=article
'Proposals to water down their (unions) influence are likely to surface later this year in the form of a new role for registered "Labour supporters". But in terms of reconnecting with Labour's base, far more significant would be to extend individual voting rights of its 2.7 million affiliated union members – as well as to open up the stitched-up policymaking machine that allowed Blair and Brown to ignore the common sense of members to their cost.'