This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-23214554
The article has changed 4 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Falkirk row: McCluskey urges Miliband to 'step back from the brink' | Falkirk row: McCluskey urges Miliband to 'step back from the brink' |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Labour leader Ed Miliband should "step back from the brink of a ruinous division", the Unite union's general secretary Len McCluskey has said. | Labour leader Ed Miliband should "step back from the brink of a ruinous division", the Unite union's general secretary Len McCluskey has said. |
| In an article for the Sunday Mirror, Mr McCluskey accused Mr Miliband of playing into the hands of the Tories by prolonging a row with his union. | In an article for the Sunday Mirror, Mr McCluskey accused Mr Miliband of playing into the hands of the Tories by prolonging a row with his union. |
| Mr Miliband has said he hopes to "mend, not end" the Labour-union relationship. | |
| He said alleged irregularities in a candidate selection race in Falkirk "betrayed" the party's values. | |
| According to an internal Labour report, Unite members have been signed up to the local party without their knowledge in a bid to influence the selection. | According to an internal Labour report, Unite members have been signed up to the local party without their knowledge in a bid to influence the selection. |
| Writing in the Observer, Mr Miliband said: "What happened in Falkirk is not only unacceptable but is unrepresentative of what is happening in Labour parties across the country... | |
| "Too many people see politics as distant from their lives, irrelevant to their concerns and practised by a set of people who seem to live in a different world. | |
| "Too often, they think that those who engage in politics are in it for themselves. An episode like Falkirk just confirms people's worst suspicions." | |
| Mr Miliband said forthcoming Labour reforms would ensure future selections "are always fair, open and transparent". | |
| Labour has asked the police to examine the case but Mr McCluskey said in his article that no "criminal wrongdoing" had occurred. | |
| Mr McCluskey complained that the union had been "smeared by the usual suspects - the Tories and the right-wing media, who want to see both trade unions and Labour weakened. | |
| "Shamefully, some in Labour's own ranks have joined in." | "Shamefully, some in Labour's own ranks have joined in." |
| The party's investigation into events at Falkirk was a "shoddy fraud", he said. | The party's investigation into events at Falkirk was a "shoddy fraud", he said. |
| "For the record, Unite has worked entirely within the rules in Falkirk," Mr McCluskey added. | "For the record, Unite has worked entirely within the rules in Falkirk," Mr McCluskey added. |
| "Let me be clear, we are happy to cooperate with the police, but we reject the idea that any criminal wrongdoing has occurred." | "Let me be clear, we are happy to cooperate with the police, but we reject the idea that any criminal wrongdoing has occurred." |
| 'Hubristic and irresponsible' | 'Hubristic and irresponsible' |
| Mr McCluskey said: "Unite is proud that it is trying to reclaim Labour from the people that bought in to the free-market myth wholesale, who bet the country's future on the City of London - and who sometimes fiddled their expenses while they were at it." | Mr McCluskey said: "Unite is proud that it is trying to reclaim Labour from the people that bought in to the free-market myth wholesale, who bet the country's future on the City of London - and who sometimes fiddled their expenses while they were at it." |
| Parliament had become "increasingly the preserve of an out-of-touch elite - Oxbridge-educated special advisers who glide from university to think tank to the green benches [of the House of Commons] without ever sniffing the air of the real world", he said. | Parliament had become "increasingly the preserve of an out-of-touch elite - Oxbridge-educated special advisers who glide from university to think tank to the green benches [of the House of Commons] without ever sniffing the air of the real world", he said. |
| "That is what Unite is trying to change. We want to give our democracy back to ordinary working people." | "That is what Unite is trying to change. We want to give our democracy back to ordinary working people." |
| The row began after Falkirk MP Eric Joyce was convicted of assault in a Commons bar and announced he would not stand for election again in 2015. | The row began after Falkirk MP Eric Joyce was convicted of assault in a Commons bar and announced he would not stand for election again in 2015. |
| After alleged irregularities in the selection process to find the next Labour candidate for Falkirk, Labour HQ intervened but, after taking legal advice, has decided not to say why it has involved police. | After alleged irregularities in the selection process to find the next Labour candidate for Falkirk, Labour HQ intervened but, after taking legal advice, has decided not to say why it has involved police. |
| Meanwhile, Mr Joyce accused Unite union officials of acting arrogantly and irresponsibly. | Meanwhile, Mr Joyce accused Unite union officials of acting arrogantly and irresponsibly. |
| "The amateur, hubristic and irresponsible actions of a small number of Unite officials at the top of the organisation will require some rules to be changed to prevent another Falkirk," he wrote in an article for the Guardian. | "The amateur, hubristic and irresponsible actions of a small number of Unite officials at the top of the organisation will require some rules to be changed to prevent another Falkirk," he wrote in an article for the Guardian. |
| Conservative Party chairman Grant Shapps said if wrongdoing had taken place in Falkirk then selection procedures should be suspended "in all the other seats that Unite have been trying to rig". | Conservative Party chairman Grant Shapps said if wrongdoing had taken place in Falkirk then selection procedures should be suspended "in all the other seats that Unite have been trying to rig". |
| Mr Shapps said: "This is serious because it goes right to the heart of the way Labour selects potential MPs. The police are involved, because what has happened represents a fundamental attack on our democracy. | Mr Shapps said: "This is serious because it goes right to the heart of the way Labour selects potential MPs. The police are involved, because what has happened represents a fundamental attack on our democracy. |
| "People are shocked by the turmoil in the Labour party but Miliband's response isn't now just weak, it's also two-faced." | "People are shocked by the turmoil in the Labour party but Miliband's response isn't now just weak, it's also two-faced." |
| Falkirk selection row: Who's who? | Falkirk selection row: Who's who? |