No more blank cheques for Labour, warns Dave Prentis

Speaking at the union’s National Delegate Conference, Dave Prentis, UNISON General Secretary, said that there will be no more blank cheques for Labour: He said:

“Our members are tired of feeding the hand that bites them. I call on our labour link to suspend all constituency development payments and to ensure that our union only promotes and supports prospective labour candidates who are willing to stand up for our values of public service.

“And as far as MPs who become UNISON members, …..we should only work with and support trade union MPs who also stand up for our values and to ensure that any labour party manifesto does not continue the privatisation of our public services and those who provide them.

“We must demand a manifesto that puts limits on privatisation. …. a manifesto that rebuilds public provision. We cannot tell our members to campaign and vote for a party whose manifesto promises more competition and more privatisation of our public services.”

Mr Prentis attacked the policies that have taken our economy in the wrong direction and damaged public services.

He said:

“It’s the treasury pushing outsourcing as the only way for councils to make efficiency savings. Councils falling over themselves to hand services to private companies. …. When the evidence shows it will end up costing more.

“Multi-national companies with government contracts worth billions, always looking for a bigger slice of the cake. Invading every corner of the public service and driven by powerful private interests.”