Gove's kindergarten psyops

Tory Education Minister Michael Gove's speech inciting Labour leader Ed Miliband to attack the union link by comparing him unfavourably with Tony Blair was a blatant attempt to influence Labour's internal constitutional review - 'our country cannot afford - as we had in the '70s - the same old Labour Party with a weak leader buffeted by union pressure to adopt policies only they want and asking hard-working people to pay the bills'

Gregor Gall's useful perspective in the Morning Star on defending the union labour link noted the reference to dog whistle politics used by the CWU's Billy Hayes to explain Miliband's anti union proposals at the beginning of last month - the Labour leader 'had acted like a dog when his master had blown his whistle - he had come running.'

Unfortunately, the response to yesterday’s speech by a Labour spokesperson - that Miliband's party reforms ‘are the biggest for a generation, since John Smith introduced One-Member-One-Vote. They will modernise and strengthen Labour's historic relationship with trade unions’ - suggest that Gove may not end up disappointed. De-collectivising the union link might modernise it but it certainly won’t strengthen it. Even the dogs in the street know that.