'˜I won't be telling MPs whether they should stand by Corbyn'

AS MEMBERS of Jeremy Corbyn’s shadow cabinet considered whether to go along with their leader’s order to back the Brexit Bill, Unite general secretary Len McCluskey spoke out.

He called for York Central MP Rachael Maskell, then Shadow Environment Secretary, and other frontbenchers to respect party discipline and back Mr Corbyn rather than quitting to vote against the legislation.

For Gerard Coyne, who is contesting the leadership of the Unite union against Mr McCluskey, it is an example of where it has lost its way.

“There is a balancing act here in terms of the leadership of the Labour party and becoming embroiled and obsessed with that to the point of, for example, saying who should stay in Jeremy’s cabinet or not,” he says.

“I certainly don’t believe as general secretary it is my job to be telling shadow ministers as to whether they should remain in a leader of the Labour Party’s cabinet or not as happened to Rachael Maskell recently.

“In terms of creating a strong growing trade union that’s relevant in the 21st Century, if we are putting membership on and are a strong voice in the world of work then any political party would be foolhardy not to listen to us.”

Mr Coyne, the union’s regional secretary in the West Midlands, is clear there is no question of Unite severing its relatonship with Labour, but he argues there has been a “blurring of lines” on their respective roles.

Mr McCluskey has been vocal in his support for Mr Corbyn over his fraught relationship with large sections of Labour MPs.

Moderate elements of the Labour Party hope a victory on the part of Mr Coyne might help hasten the end of Mr Corbyn’s leadership.

For his part, Mr Coyne insists his criticism that Unite has become “obsessed with Westminster politics” under Mr McCluskey reflects his desire to see the union take a broader approach to securing change for its members.

Speaking during a visit to Yorkshire, he says: “We’ve never really effectively lobbied as an organisation. We’ve always relied on developing policy through the Labour Party.”

As an example, he points to the current Government’s pledge to implement an industrial strategy, something Unite has been “arguing for years”.

He says: “What I would be saying is that, if there is an agreement that we should have a strong industrial strategy we should be talking and lobbying at civil service level for a consistent approach no matter who is in government around industrial strategy.”

A significant source of Unite’s influence over Labour is its status as one of the party’s major financial backers.

And here too, Mr Coyne has a tough message as he promises to continue a “working relationship”.

“There has to be some assessment of is this serving our members interests. If it is, fine, let’s continue that relationship but I am absolutely clear that it has to pass a test of value of money and the consequence of that is no blank cheques for the Labour Party,” he says.

Mr Coyne expresses concern that the country is now on course for a “hard Brexit” with implications for the companies that employ Unite members.

He wants to see firms encouraged to commit to long term investment in the UK and to improving the skills of British workers with access to European labour likely to become more difficult.

But he also echoes the suggestion made by leading Labour figures that Brexit could give the UK freedom to support industry.

Earlier this year Mr Corbyn said Labour would use state aid powers “in a drive to build a new economy” while former Shadow Health Secretary Andy Burnham has said he wants to be able to prioritise local firms if he becomes Greater Manchester’s mayor.

“On the upside there are things we could be doing much more positively about investing in key sectors of the economy without having to look necessarily over our shoulder in relation to European competition rules or even around procurement and supporting UK companies by that means,” Mr Coyne says.

“Clearly we play by the rules, France, Italy and Germany seem to try and find creative ways to get round those rules. We’re not going to be in that situation any longer most likely.”