Toe the line or you’re out, London-centric committee tells members
The ‘United Left’ group’s behaviour has hardly matched its name since its controversial decision to back Steve Turner to be the Unite union’s next general secretary despite a decisive number of supporters of Howard Beckett being barred from voting in its hustings last year.
The group expelled its entire Scottish ‘PULS’ section for demanding transparency about the ballot, while around half its Welsh members are understood to have been driven out by a ‘diktat’ that they must follow the London-dominated executive’s decision to endorse Turner or be kicked out.
And now the organisation has notified all its members that if they refuse to accept the decision, they are automatically excluded. A message to members reads:
Dear Comrades
At the United Left National Coordinating Committee meeting held on 21st April 2021 the following motion was unanimously agreed.
“The United Left welcomes all Unite members who support the UL candidate Steve Turner. Steve is the democratically elected and endorsed UL candidate.
If any UL member actively supports any other GS candidate they will have put themselves outside of the United Left.”
The United Left NCC
However, ULnow faces what presumably was an unintended consequence.
With the departure of committed supporters of Howard Beckett and Sharon Graham and with Scotland expelled and half the Welsh membership gone – and north-west UL having already declared that it will not support Turner or any of the candidates – UL will number only few hundred members, down from its original complement of around 1,100, shredding its claim to be a representative left organisation within the giant union.
Assuming, of course, that the job wasn’t already achieved by the decision to attempt rule by diktat after a contested and shaky selection.
Update: UL Wales has denied losing half its members, saying: “We had members who didn’t rejoin as they wished to back other candidates.”
The SKWAWKBOX needs your help. The site is provided free of charge but depends on the support of its readers to be viable. If you can afford to without hardship, please click here to arrange a one-off or modest monthly donation via PayPal or here to set up a monthly donation via GoCardless (SKWAWKBOX will contact you to confirm the GoCardless amount). Thanks for your solidarity so SKWAWKBOX can keep bringing you information the Establishment would prefer you not to know about.
If you wish to republish this post for non-commercial use, you are welcome to do so – see here for more.
United Left is starting to look more than a little sinister
Very witty
I see what you did there.
and not sinister as in “of, or on the left (opposite of ‘dexter’)”, but as in “something harmful or evil”.
Is the whole political left-wing going to start copying Sir Keir f***ing Starmer, because, you know, he isn’t of the left in ANY meaningful sense. He’s just a pro-establishment authoritarian.
OMG! You also see the Dexter Thing!? I think he’d be after the Good Guys not the Bad Guys though!
The People of The Two Suns! They were never on The Left of The Right, they were to made to believe that their flavour of Tory was called “Centrist” by The Sun and The Sun in Lambskin, but Left of The Right they sure have never been!
Starmer and his Stermerstruppen!
The Divided Reft?
Now THAT is what I call Social Democrats! Just occasionally Democratic, mainly for social reasons!
I wonder……., a Dare! Can anyone get any of Thatcher’s Neolabour Party Tory MPs to Correctly use, even if they will never be it, the term Democratic Socialist on their WikiPage and the term Leftist instead of just Left? If I was a rich man I put money on it, that none of us could!
United Left – An oxymoron.
Would you agree, SteveH, that this is the LAST time Starmer should intervene to try and stop somebody whose only crime is NOT being a Corbynophobe from being selected as a candidate or from winning an endorsement from any Labour-affiliated group? Would you agree that there is no reason for Starmer to be this bloodyminded in making sure nobody who is left-wing(and therefore nobody who is a socialist) can be a union leader or a Labour candidate? What possible good could come of Starmer’s vendetta about this? It’s not as though Labour is seeing any benefit from this. It’s not as though the party could win, but ONLY if everyone and everything even remotely associated with his predecessor is removed from the party. The voters are not demanding this be done.
More Anti Turner propoganda…And still so little knowledge of our millionaire Lawyer from Belfast whos sings the song but whos playing the Tune .You have been warned.about Lawyers.. ?
Personally I have reservations in supporting Lawyers, but what do you know about Howard Beckett that the rest of don’t?
I have listened carefully to everything he has said and the only thing I disagree with him on is his support for PR. It could be that he is carefully choosing to identify with ideas that most would support, but knowing the amalgamated Engineering union as I do and those amalgamations later, it is not a union noted for its left radicalism, and singing that tune doesn’t guarantee support either.
So whilst I don’t know Steve Turner and have never previously heard of him, who knows what he says is genuine either?
Joseph – You may find this interesting.
“Unite’s Steve Turner Warns A Split Left Vote Could Hand Union To Centrist Rival
Favourite to replace Len McCluskey on Millwall, Militant and knowing your turf.
https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/unite-steve-turner-len-mccluskey-interview_uk_6088331fe4b0b9042d8ae549
Why is Starmer & Co so desperate to get Turner rather than Becket as the GS? So desperate indeed that at the last challenge they used dead people to vote for Turner? I am sure it is not because Starmer has suddenly turned from Thatcher’s Neolabour Tory Party to Democratic Socialist UK Labour Party?
Just because Turner is so called “Working Class” does not mean he is incapable of turning Rogue.
Just because Beckett is so called “Whatever Class” does not mean that he does not have The People’s best interests at heart.
This is where the use of The Establishment’s Class Divisions will make us flop. Not all “Working Class” are Good People Just as not all “Middle/Upper/etc Class” People are Bad.
Look at who is backing Turner, from my limited resourcing Starmer and The Neolabour Party, Lansman and Lansman’s Little Pet Owen Jones, these are all people who had daggers shoved deep into The Actual Left 2015 to 2020, even if they do all try to call themselves left, they certainly ain’t that!
Action wise what I have seen from the two in the past is incomparable Beckett simply has no fear, I am curious you always mention Millionaire, fine by me many Working Class go on to be Millionaires how does that make a difference?
From Belfast, does not mean a thing to me, Belfast, Edinburgh, Newcastle, Liverpool, wherever we are all the same thing Human.
A Lawyer, I am curious how you think that is a negative for The GS of UNITE!? Many, Many “Working Class” Study Law and become Lawyers. Beckett knowing the Law means once he takes on Starmer The Shit will hit the Fan.
Perhaps we’ll even FINALLY see the UNITE & Democratic Socialist MPs Separation from Thatcher’s Neolabour Party Tories!
He might even be the one to go after “Don’t you dare get cold feet!!!” to get Julian Assange Free!
skellyknelly – “Why is Starmer & Co so desperate to get Turner rather than Becket as the GS? So desperate indeed that at the last challenge they used dead people to vote for Turner? “
Because whilst one of them wants to run Unite for the benefit of its members and wants to work with the Labour leadership for a Labour victory the other one wants to run the party, for who’s benefit and to what end is anybody’s guess.
SteveH – You are certainly not unbelievably naive, so I must conclude that your “because …” is meant in jest.
A Victory for Thatcher’s Neoliberal Neolabour Party Tories, is no Victory at all! Thanks for illustrating why not to vote for Turner at ALL!
He is as opportunistic as The rest of the Neolabour Party Tories “Working Class” My Arse!
“Working Class” is a dangerous Label/a Brand just as “Labour”, claimed by The Neolabour Tories and Lies and Blurred Lines supplied by The MSM and MSSM!
We need someone leading UNITE who will take The Neolabour Party Tories to Task for all their failings as an Opportunistic, Appeasing, excuse for an Opposition and Challenge all their Racist/Unfair Employment Law Breaking NOT Appease The Bastards!
So you are happy to APPEASE Neolabour Tories who recently unfairly fired a bunch of Covid furloughed staffers, who then needed UNITE to fight for their Jobs back OR that all we heard 2015 to 2020 was Antisemitism, now proven fake Antisemitism, while, The Most Abused Black Woman in Parliament and Black, Muslim, Asian, etc MPs are STILL WAITING for so much as an INQUIRY!?
And you like the idea of a UNION LEADER who will keep shtum about that and so much more, just “to work with the ‘Neolabour Tory’ leadership for a ‘Neolabour Tory’ victory”
How are INJUSTICE & INEQUALITY UNCHALLENGED good for anybody MOST SPECIALLY THE MEMBERS OF UNITE THE UNION!?
skellyknelly – Unlike you I want Labour to win. Unlike you I am not a Tory enabler.
No Dear! You can’t differentiate between Thatcherite Neoliberal Toryism and Democratic Socialism, I can!
Just because they hang a Neon Sign “Labour” Over Thatcher’s Neoliberal Toryism does not magically turn it to Democratic Socialism the Exact Opposite of Tory!
You can see this on ALL the Thatcherite Neolabour Tory MPs Wiki Pages, there are no doubts surely even to your mind, that they are right wing, anti-socialists yet on their Wiki Pages they slap Left/”Social Democrat” what ever TF that means! You can’t just say you are Left and then threaten to impose tougher measures, than your fellow Tories, on Benefits that already killed 100s of 1000s!
No My Love, You don’t want Labour to win, You want Labour Destroyed and Replaced entirely with Thatcherite Tories. I think that is a bit selfish considering you are about to retire, take a moment and think of those only just starting out in life. They NEED a Labour Party and Unions that WILL stand up for them and much more so, than we did!
This is really sickening. This needs dealing with. We cannot accept that happening….. Who are the bods intent on manipulating the outcome?
You are being asked to believe that the Communist party of Britain endorsing Steve Turner and the left Unite in nominating steve turner with endorsement from the morning star the largest socialist newspaper in Britain are all right wing ?And a slippery millionaire Lawyer with no shopfloor experience and a increasingly mud slinging campaign is suddenly a Socialist despite having been warned and fined for ripping off the miners compensation fund.Youve been warned and its too late if another Lawyer with no background is elected as leader of the largest union in Britain and Ireland.Dont be conned again by Lawyers.
“Unlike you I want Labour to win” – At any cost?? Even when the LP is led by utter dross.