THE TGWU trade union yesterday warned Blair and Brown that they were ignoring Labour voters ‘at their peril’.
‘Choose fresh policies and leaders’ was the TGWU message for next week’s Labour party conference.
In a poll released today, conducted by ICM for the Transport and General Workers’ Union, Labour voters strongly want the Labour government to take a new direction, including 95 per cent who say that Labour should do more to act on the concerns of working people.
Ahead of next week’s Labour Party Conference in Manchester, the poll reveals that Labour voters have an overwhelming desire for policy change on key issues including employment rights for working people, foreign policy, manufacturing, pensions and privatisation.
The T&G says the findings ‘are a clear challenge to the Labour Party to choose fresh policies and leaders who reflect the aspirations of Labour voters’ if Labour is to win and retain seats in the Scottish, Welsh and local elections in May and beyond.
ICM’s findings show that: Labour voters strongly want more action for working people (95 per cent) and for British workers to have the same rights at work as those in Europe (96 per cent);
91 per cent believe the Labour government should be more proactive in supporting manufacturing, in Wales (100 per cent) and Scotland (93 per cent) the responses were even stronger;
60 per cent do not want any more involvement of the private sector in health and education;
81 per cent want a British foreign policy that is more independent of the Bush administration in the US;
Only 18 per cent think enough has been done to protect pensions.
Tony Woodley, T&G General Secretary, said: ‘Labour’s voters could not be sending a clearer message to the Labour Party leadership about the need for a change in policy direction.
‘Some of them will be trade unionists, some of them newer supporters, but nearly all are saying the same thing: Labour needs a new direction.
‘These are the people who have given Labour the ability to govern for nine years, and the Party ignores them at their peril. All those wanting to stand for leader or deputy leader should be paying attention to the findings of this poll and looking for ways to address the concerns of working people.’