Unions turn on Brown

Mr Barber called on Labour to find more vision

Thursday, 22, May 2008 12:00

Gordon Brown was plunged into a fresh crisis today as the leader of Britain's trade union movement accused him of lacking vision.

It comes as the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) introduced the prospect of a new summer of discontent following a ballot of over 280,000 civil servants over the government's two per cent pay limit.

The double-blow could not come at a worse time for Mr Brown, with tonight Crewe and Nantwich by-election threatening to turn a safe Labour seat into a major Conservative victory.

Speaking at a meeting of the centre-left group Progress, Brenden Barber, Trades Union Congress (TUC) general secretary and a man usually loyal to the Labour party, said: "The government will not win the battle to convince the nation of its commitment to greater fairness for those at the bottom unless it discovers a new boldness in challenging the corporate and personal greed at the top.

"That means a new commitment to tax fairness and clamping down on the loopholes currently being exploited by the super-rich and the City.

"In short, reconfiguring the DNA of New Labour for a different age."

Mr Barber went on to warn that "the support base that Labour brought together in 1997 needs convincing that the party is on their side and fairness must once again be asserted".

He stressed the Labour party's current pre-occupation with launching a multitude of policy initiatives was no substitute for having a coherent political vision.

There should be "no retreat to the failures of the 1970s or 1980s," he warned, "nor a fall into the trap of 1,000 policy launches and initiatives. Instead, the government needs to find the courage again to make the case for the most enduring Labour values – equality, fairness and social justice".

In a separate development, the proposed strike this summer by the PCS was only being fully understood this morning by Labour party officials. If it occurs, the strike could include civil servants, firefighters, college lecturers and teachers.