Message from Ben Bradshaw MP
The Labour Party was born out of the trades union movement. As the industrial working class organised to protect itself against exploitation they needed a political party to fight for them in Parliament.
Despite the decline in mass membership of unions over the years, that relationship is as important today as it was in the past. With the scandal of zero hours contracts and a Government intent on tearing up health and safety protection and other employee rights, it is vital that the voices of ordinary working people are heard in our political debate.
In Exeter Labour Party we have a good number of members, councillors and activists who have got involved through their trades union, be they shop workers, bus drivers, postal workers or railwaymen and women.
But it’s also important that relationships change and modernise as circumstances change. It is much better to have individual union members at a local level in Exeter, having a say on what happens locally and nationally through the Labour Party, than a small number of union leaders, who don’t necessarily reflect the views of their members, wielding power nationally through their “block vote.”
So the reforms announced yesterday by Ed Miliband are big, bold and overdue. The perception, accurate or not, of improper interference in the Falkirk parliamentary selection and the challenge to Ed Miliband’s authority could not be ignored. His reforms also turn the spotlight on the Conservatives with their shady network of millionaire donors and supporters. His call for a ban or limit on second jobs and outside earnings for MPs is also long overdue.
Looking after the interests of 100,000 people in the constituency and in Parliament is and always should be more than a full time job. Any MP who tells people otherwise while raking in huge sums from other “work” is not doing their job as MP properly.
One recent example of the Labour Party working closely together with the unions at national and local level has been the introduction of the Living Wage. In 1999 and in the face of opposition from the Conservative and Liberal Democrat parties, the Labour Government introduced the Minimum Wage. It’s now Labour councils up and down the country that are spearheading the Living Wage.
Exeter City Council recently joined 12 other Labour Councils in announcing it would pay the Living Wage to all its staff. And Ed Miliband has said a future Labour Government would incentivise businesses to pay the living wage through tax relief for training or lower business rates. Any employer already paying or interested in paying the living wage can get an accredited kite mark to promote the fact that they have adopted the living wage when they recruit or when they tender for contracts. Details can be found in the Living Wage Foundation’s Guide for Employers.
There are reports that the new Police Commissioner for Devon and Cornwall wants to shut down Exeter’s night life early. One of the reasons, apparently, is there is not always enough cell space at Heavitree Road for people arrested for drunken behaviour. I hope before any firm decisions are taken that he listens to local businesses, councillors and the University. Exeter’s thriving night life is one of the things that makes us an attractive place to live, move to and study. Yes, rowdy behaviour and irresponsible premises need to be dealt with.
But the police and local councils already have plenty of powers to do that. Surely if Heavitree Road police station is short of cells it would make sense to build some more, rather than throw the baby out with the bathwater by shutting down Exeter’s valuable night time economy?
