Don’t accept donations from disruptive unions, Shapps tells Labour
SIR KEIR STARMER has been urged by the Transport Secretary to promise that the Labour Party will no longer take donations from the Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) union.
Grant Shapps has written to the Labour leader to demand a tougher stance in condemning rail strikes which start tomorrow. Labour frontbenchers have been caught between saying they do not want the strikes to go ahead and their traditional support for and links to the trade union movement.
The Tories, who have condemned the strikes, sense the public is more in line with their position and are seeking political advantage. In his letter, Mr Shapps says the action “will inflict huge disruption on families and businesses”, and issues three demands: “Will you now: personally condemn the RMT for pursuing these wholly unnecessary strikes?
“Take action against any Labour politician who backs the strikes, which will cause misery to millions of commuters and businesses?
“Put people above your party coffers by rejecting further donations from any unions involved in these strikes?”
Sir Keir has already said he does not want to see the strikes take place but has not reprimanded his MPS who support the industrial action.
Sir Keir yesterday also faced criticism from Mick Lynch, the RMT’S general secretary, for not supporting the strikes enough. Mr Lynch told Sky News: “What I want Labour to do – and I want Keir Starmer to be successful, I want him to be our next prime minister – is get back in contact with working people. Working people are suffering.
“There’s really poor employment practice in this country, many people are in vulnerable jobs with low pay and he’s got to come up with a programme that identifies himself and the Labour
Party’s policies directly with those working people so that they can get behind him and the trade union movement can get fully behind him.”
Meanwhile, in a speech to the Labour Local Government Association in Warwick yesterday, Sir Keir said ministers wanted to see the country “grind to a halt” so they could “feed off the division”. Mr Shapps dismissed the claim.