And Ed STILL sits on the fence
ED Miliband refused to condemn the fuel strike yesterday as his party’s biggest union paymaster threatened to hold the country to ransom.
The Labour leader called for talks and said the industrial action should be ‘avoided at all costs’.
But he repeatedly refused to condemn the threat of strikes or speak out against Unite, the hardline union that has called for the walkout.
The Labour leader said the Government must do the ‘responsible thing’ and come to an agreement with strikers. He said: ‘We don’t want to see industrial action, it must be avoided at all costs, and the best way to make that happen is for the Government to tell both sides, to instruct them, to say, “You’ve got to negotiate.”
‘That’s what’s in the interests of the people of Britain and that’s what’s got to happen.’
But asked if he could step in and influence Unite, Mr Miliband said: ‘There are a set of issues the employees are concerned about, there’s a set of issues they need to talk to the employers about, and they’ve said they want to get round the table.’
The Tories seized on Mr Miliband’s obfuscation and called on Labour to refuse to take any more money from Unite.
Conservative Party co- chairman Baroness Warsi said: ‘This irresponsible strike would disrupt families’ lives, hurt businesses and damage our economy.
‘Ed Miliband must get off the fence, bring his influence to bear and tell his union paymasters to call off this strike. Until they do, he should not take a penny more from the Unite union barons.’
The dispute has erupted over working conditions, but Unite has also complained that tanker drivers’ pay has been cut. However, fuel tanker drivers are already paid double the salary of ordinary haulage drivers, pocketing about £45,000 a year.
Labour rejected calls for Mr Miliband to condemn the proposed strike, accusing the Government of using the confrontation to distract attention from the Budget and cash-foraccess scandal.
A senior source said: ‘ What has happened here is that the Government is politicising this fuel dispute by stirring up this confrontation. They are aggravating a dispute when they should be solving it in order to get themselves out of a political hole.’
But a Downing Street source close to Mr Cameron hit back, saying: ‘They are terrified that they are bankrolled by the union that is threatening to bring the country to its knees.’