Which Labour Candidate has Your Vote?

vote for R.O.N.

On Wednesday of next week, the ballot papers for choosing the new Labour leader will commence their distribution across the UK and by the end of September, the new leader will be chosen. If you are reading this as someone who is not a Labour supporter then you may think that this has nothing to do with you, but think again! If you are a member of a trade union, you could well have a surprise in the post.

When you join a union that permits Labour party affiliation, there are usually two tick boxes on the form, one for a general campaigning fund and another for a Labour affiliated fund-the latter funding and supporting the Labour party. Ahhh you say, but I cannot possibly be affiliated as I did not tick the Labour box. Well guess again, because some unions (all probably do it) have the right in their rules to tick a box for you if you choose to tick neither.

Your union has the right to affiliate you to Labour without your knowledge or consent, using a proportion of your membership fee to fund them.

This will not show up on your payslip nor will they inform you in writing. The only sure way of knowing is when Labour has an internal election, when you get a ballot paper. This is one piece of trade union legislation that I have no problem at all with the ConDems changing, as can you imagine the fuss if Plaid pulled a stunt like this to fund themselves?

In terms of advising you who to vote for, well RON (re-open nominations) would get my vote every time when faced with a bunch of New Labourites, who between them managed to avoid any suggestion of progressive socialism during 13 years of Government.