The workers need a voice. But not Len’s...

I HAVE spent my working life championing trade unions. I know there has never been a greater need for working people to have a strong voice to speak up for them.

That is why I hope Gerard Coyne, a principled, hardworking trades union official, is elected the next leader of Unite.

Real wages have fallen, insecurity is on the rise and Britain’s exit from the EU will bring a renewed focus on the fight to make sure workers don’t see their rights or pay on the line. The role of trade unions will be critical. I was born a union man and I will die a union man, but in recent times Unite, under the leadership of Len McCluskey, has not covered itself in glory. Frankly, our members deserve better.

We fought long and hard to change the culture to recognise that the world of work was not just boiler-suited blokes in factories; that we had to be a union of women and men.

I was utterly dismayed, therefore, when it came out that more than half the female officers in Unite claim to have been bullied or sexually harassed by fellow officials or members in their workplaces.

That is simply unacceptable. It’s clearly time for a change.

For Len, power is about control of the union and control of the Labour Party.

Control for his vision of a pure socialist party, regardless of whether or not it can ever win a General Election again.

Unions are best when they focus on their members, and the issues that matter to their members, not on dabbling in Westminster politics. Ballot papers for the leadership of Unite were posted this week. Never has your vote been more important.