Now -read the book!

Here is a link to my memoirs which, if you are a glutton for punishment, you can purchase online at https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/an-obscure-footnote-in-trade-union-history.
Men fight and lose the battle, and the thing that they fought for comes about in spite of their defeat, and when it comes turns out not to be what they meant, and other men have to fight for what they meant under another name. (William Morris - A Dream of John Ball)

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Missing near Mabledon Place - a Labour Party card?

I have been struck by the similarity between the online biography of our General Secretary, Dave Prentis, published on the UNISON website, as UNISON copyright (published at UNISON expense using UNISON resources) and the biography on Dave's campaign website

Now whether one should cut and paste from the UNISON website electronic information which is UNISON property in order to reproduce it on a campaign website is not a question for this blog.

The question that I do want to raise concerns the one sentence which appears on the UNISON website but has not been reproduced on the campaign website, concerning the positions Dave holds in the Labour Party;

"He is a member of the Labour Party's economy commission and the Labour Party joint policy committee."

Dave's membership of the economy commission is confirmed on the Labour Party website as well as by the UNISON site. Why then is this missing from the campaign website?

Positive campaigning in an election means giving the electorate (and nominating bodies) a full and clear picture of what candidates stand for, their record and aspirations.

I know it can be tough to own up to Labour Party membership sometimes but I don't think those of us holding Labour Party cards should be ashamed to own up to our Party affiliations - not as long as we are fighting for policies in the interests of trade union members.

There is even a road back to the Labour Party from the Socialist Party!

Perhaps Dave can draw confidence from another candidate who is not ashamed of his Labour Party membership?

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