Opposition parties must stand together against Tory plan to end Parliamentary democracy
The consequences of the legal changes in the trade union bill will be vast for Labour as 20% of the party’s core funding comes from the unions [Image: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images].
The Tory attack on Opposition party funding is unprecedented and evil. David Cameron and his cronies, desperate to neuter a Labour Party that is finding its popularity again after decades as a pale-pink shadow of hard-right Conservative policies (if Jeremy Corbyn is hard-left, then David Cameron must be hard-right, right?), have thrown caution to the winds.
Their latest attack on the trade unions that defend UK workers’ rights against the naked aggression of Tory-supporting businesses will remove £6 million from Labour’s annual income, and they are also – unilaterally – cutting public funding received by Opposition parties (the so-called Short money).
Under long-standing convention, issues of party funding are agreed on a cross-party basis. The Tories have scrapped this in their bid to end Parliamentary democracy.
Labour has already considered several measures in response to the plan to cut Short money, including ending ‘pairing’, the process by which, if a minister or backbench Tory MP cannot attend a vote because of urgent business, a foreign trip or illness, Labour whips will designate one of their own MPs to abstain, so the two absent MPs cancel each other out.
And ‘the usual channels’ – the working relationships between the government and the main opposition party that go on behind the scenes – may also be obstructed in response to the same plan.
Labour – and the other parties – should go further.
If the Tories are determined to behave in this totalitarian way, they should receive a totalitarian response.
Not only should Labour suspend all co-operation with the Conservatives over Parliamentary business, including ‘pairing’, it should encourage all the other Opposition parties to do the same.
As a result, it should become impossible for the Conservative Government to pass any legislation at all.
There has been too much namby-pamby appeasement of these Tories. They are a minority-interest party acting against the good of the UK.
The only way to deal with their bullying is to stand up and put an end to it.
An expected £6m fall in Labour’s annual income as a result of legal changes being proposed by the Conservatives will make it impossible for the party to maintain its current structure, staffing or offices, a confidential party document released to the Guardian reveals.
The document calculates the party is expecting to lose as much as £6m in trade union funding as a result of the changes to the political levy being introduced in the trade union bill due to be debated in the House of Lords on Monday. The figure is the first internal party estimate of the impact of the bill on the party’s finances. It is in addition to separate cuts to so-called Short money – public funding received by opposition parties – that were included in the chancellor’s spending review in November.
The paper says the unions provide 20% of the party’s core funding and the consequences of the legal changes will be huge. It reads: “The party could not absorb a loss of £5-6 m and maintain its current structure. With an annual salary cost in excess of over 50% of total costs, it is clear that current staffing levels could not be sustained. In addition to a staffing review, all contracts would need to be challenged to remove any discretionary costs and offices considered for sale or sublet.”
The legal reforms being introduced by the Conservatives have been condemned as the most unfair alterations to political parties’ funding since the second world war. They mark an end to a long-standing convention that issues of party funding are agreed on a cross-party basis.
Source: Labour expecting £6m loss in funding through trade union bill | Politics | The Guardian
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Totally agree with no cooperation with this low deceitful gang; Surely all the opposing parties will agree that cooperation with them will not lead to the furtherance of democratic government?
Maybe it’s Time the unions joined together and grow some balls and take the TORIES by THIER short and curlies and squeeze them until they drop.
WAKE UP BRITAIN!
The time has arrived for drastic action to be taken to prevent this excuse for a government, which has now become a dictatorship, to be curtailed by whatever means are available. If we continue to procrastinate the time is not far away when it will be too late.
This shower are causing anarchy, DC puts Stalin to shame, just who the hell do they think they are? I agree totally with what philipburdekin says enough is enough. Osborne should be sectioned for his part in all this.
They are running amok with our assets, laws in fact every part of life as we know it or knew it more to the point.
Perhaps all the opposition parties should go on total strike in protest at this Nazi type outrage as the ultimate parliamentary objection to taking down a fair democracy.
No – not on strike.
They should simply end all co-operation.
The logic of combining to defeat the Camergoons is there but where is the political will to do so? If the Labour Blairites cant even support their own leader how are they going to embrace Scottish, Welsh and the Green Partys policies. Win the power first THEN decide priorites not the other way round.
You’ve misunderstood my meaning.
The Opposition parties don’t need to agree on policy – they simply need to co-operate to stop the Tories pushing any of their policies through.
I agree totally. There should be no co-operation with this corrupt gang of semi-criminals.
i advocated all opposition parties should make all legislation and policies impossible for tories to get through due to opposition joining together and delaying them all.
Semi criminals NMac are you joking they are 100% pocket lining bullies / criminals and getting away with it, nothing more. They are destroying our once great nation for their own profit and the rest of the nation can’t see it. Cameron is nothing more than a high class car salesman in charge of our nation and he is laughing all the way to the bank ( the off shore one I mean ). A lot more of us will die under their despicable reforms and suffer dreadfully and presently there is not one God damn thing we can do about it. They have virtually rigged the voting, the lower classes are no longer represented and can go to hell as far as DC is concerned we are scum.
We CAN take action. It’s just that too many people, like you, THINK we can’t, or don’t have the stamina to see it through.
mr angry is correct. There will be riotous behaviour soon as there is no longer balance. The working class no longer have a stake in the UK and dont trust the politicians.
I am both dismayed and disgusted! their actions, particularly during this term show us just how cruel and greedy they are.