Yesterday's GMB CEC decision to cut its level of collective membership affiliation to 420,000 to 50,000 (and reduce funding from £1.2m to £150,000) from next January is remarkable in its timing ahead of the planned special conference in Spring 2014. While the GMB's anger at the Labour leadership's proposals to end collective union affiliation is entirely justified this premature decision plays into the hands of critics of the link given the lack of consultation with GMB political levy payers. The Collin Review is yet to conclude and the GMB weakens its voting strength ahead of the special conference. It doesn't make sense and epitomises the counter productive nature of the Falkirk issue. The mother of own goals and a criminal distraction from the priority of defeating the Con Dems at the next general election:
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/sep/04/gmb-union-labour-party-funding
A BBC radio documentary this week confirmed an
earlier report by the Guardian’s Seumas Milne that the allegations of impropriety in the Falkirk CLP made against Unite - which led to a Tory anti-union feeding frenzy and Ed Miliband’s panic measure to recommend the end of collective trade union affiliation to the Labour Party – are lacking in substance with little evidence in the body of the internal Labour Party report to substantiate the executive summary.
