Many people ask what the actual relationship differences between Labour & the Conservatives and those who support them are.
I took some time out to ask one of Bromsgrove Labour officer’s views on this very question.
Esther Gray is Bromsgrove CLP’s vice chair and also tasked with looking after Environmental Coordination for the party and is a retired Childcare professional so I posed this very question to her.
“Labour opponents describe groups that make up the party often say, ‘unions have too much sway’. As a member of UNISON I always paid the political levy which was my personal choice, not all members paid that levy nor were obliged too.
This demonstrates how money comes from the supporting population and not big business. The support from union members helps to sustain the infrastructure of the party and provides a solid foundation for a party of government of the people for the people. Of course this does not stop anybody donating to the party but that is where the relationship differences between Labour and the Conservatives become more apparent.
The contrast is; when big business or influential individuals support the Conservative party or its candidates then like any business investment, they expect a return on their money. When this return is required, it is not necessarily in the interest of the people in general, or as in recent cases the environment, the economy or indeed their constituents.
Of course the Labour Party was formed out of the trade union movement to give working people their own political voice. The link from the workplace to the party through the affiliated trade unions is what makes it still unique to this day.”
Author – Alex Quinlan, Policy Officer