Call for party of peace, social justice and the environment

Matthew Creighton , LabourLink Officer

UNISON has two political funds. This report is from the viewpoint of the Labour affiliated fund and does not necessarily reflect Branch views. Click here for the report on the General Political Fund which is not affiliated to any party.

The year has of course been dominated by the elections in May for both the Scottish Parliament and the Council. The outcomes were a setback for Labour which is particularly regrettable since the Scottish Labour manifesto contained many elements proposed or supported by UNISON.

The main affiliated unions had co-operated on a Workforce Agenda and had won support for much of this through the Party's policy process. However Labour's assets of a good record in power and a strong manifesto were squandered by a negative campaign.

We believe that if the campaign had been driven more by the priorities of the Scottish Labour Party and less influenced from London, the result would have been different.

Similarly in the local elections we had seen the new leadership of the Council's Labour Group start to seek stronger links with trade unions. Probably this was too late to change perceptions in this branch rooted in years of difficult negotiating environment; or to have much impact on the election results.

However the fresh and more radical approach is a welcome foundation for greater co-operation. This has already been proven in the various crises arising from the new Council administration's mishandling of the budget, which has led to astonishing threats of massive school closures and redundancies for our members.

The branch has been able to co-operate with the Labour Group to oppose these; and Labour has had to show it has the experience to handle the crisis better than the other parties and in doing so to push the Council towards a better outcome. In the Scottish Parliament we have seen a much more competent administration by the SNP than that in the Council.

Here we need to understand and protect the achievements of the previous Labour-led administrations in promoting a public service model which was distinctively Scottish and distinct from the more market-based and neo-liberal approach of New Labour in England.

In this respect it is Labour's achievement that the SNP positions itself in the same territory and indeed sometimes to the left of Labour - in order to win power in Scotland it has to present itself as a better protector of this tradition rather than as an ideological competitor.

Both UNISON and Labour will have to continue to defend and extend Scotland's public services through vigilantly checking any shift from the administration which may be expected under the impact of the budgetary tightening which can be expected in coming years, when the administration will have to take tough decisions, not just the more populist ones we have seen so far.

Similarly, in the knowledge that there is no majority in the electorate for independence, UNISON and Labour need to articulate sensible extensions to the powers of the Scottish Parliament; and it is a relief to see the new Labour leadership tackling the matter rather than just defending the status-quo.

As regards the branch's activities, we have influenced the direction of Scottish Labour Link through our motions being agreed at Scottish Labour Link Forum - one covered the responses to the elections outlined above; the other called for Labour to become a party of peace, social justice and the environment, specifically focusing on practical questions as regards global warming.

This will be an interesting time and it will be important to ensure UNISON input to Labour's activities - so I will welcome greater participation by branch members in Labour Link.