Labour urged to prepare for a 2014 poll

The Unite union general secretary said Labour has to “get its act together” and prepare for a general election in 2014, a year earlier than the next poll is due.

“The Labour Party would be sensible to prepare for an election,” said Mr McCluskey ahead of Unite’s national conference in Brighton.

“These are extraordinary times – none of us have been here before, no-one knows what is around the corner.

“We are stumbling from week to week on the eurozone, it is inevitable that Greece will exit the euro but my fear is that it will happen without being properly managed.

“All of this could spin out of control, at a time of divisions within the coalition government which means it could begin to break.”

Hope

Mr McCluskey said workers desperately needed hope amid the government’s austerity measures and “attacks” on public services, adding it was “frightening” that most of the spending cuts haven’t been implemented yet.

“We almost face a future with no hope,” said Mr McCluskey, who will make his keynote speech to delegates on Monday.

He urged Labour leader Ed Miliband, who addresses the conference later this week, to give details of the party’s alternative to the government’s policies.

“If it is not a radical alternative to the current policies or despair, one that gives people hope, then Labour will lose the next election.”

Industrial action

Mr McCluskey also warned that industrial action over pay, pensions and cuts to public services will continue until the next polling day.

Unite has been involved in a spate of industrial disputes this year involving fuel tanker drivers, public sector workers and London bus drivers, who went on strike on Friday in a row over an Olympic bonus payment.

“It can only get worse,” added the Unite leader.

“Governments that don’t listen to the concerns of ordinary people tend to get turfed out of office,” he warned. “There will be further campaigns and further strikes and all this will be a major issue at the next election.”