Labour & Affiliated Unions set to collide over 50/50 Conference voting

Today's newspapers report that the Labour leadership intends to override union objections and introduce a rule change at next month's Party Conference which will reduce the unions share of conference voting to 40% http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/aug/02/labour-and-the-unions-brotherly-love

In a comprehensive, collective response to the Peter Hain led Refounding Labour consultation exercise the affiliated unions put up a strong defence of the 50/50 voting basis introduced by former Labour leader John Smith back in 1993.

The union view being that the current arrangement has introduced stability into the party, allowed unions to articulate an independent voice and improved accountability in the Labour Party:
http://labourdemocracy.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/tuloresponse.pdf