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The GMB general secretary speaks to Ben Chacko at the union’s annual conference in Brighton
Arses and toothpaste
One of the only well-delivered cracks this week at conference came from a right-wing MP Conor McGinn — but it didn't leave me smiling, reports SOLOMON HUGHES
GUTO DAVIES commemorates the 89th anniversary of the mass clash where thousands of Rhondda locals and anti-fascist activists made sure ‘not even one Welsh sheep would hear the Mosley message’ and rioted against the BUF rally
We have finally reached the end of Labour’s claim to be the political wing of the labour movement, and the diverse left forces challenging Starmer’s pro-austerity, pro-war government deserve our open support — but what next, asks ANDREW MURRAY
Derek Thomson pays tribute to the grassroots activist who had a rare skill in finding solutions to difficult union issues, whose Fife roots and unpretentious nature made him a popular unifying figure
Following defiant messages from the activists determined to get their cargo of aid to Gaza, Israeli forces unlawfully boarded the British-flagged Madleen in international waters, leaving 12 crew members’ whereabouts unknown, reports LINDA PENTZ GUNTER
LYNN HENDERSON reflects on turning 60, tracing her path from 1980s Youth CND and Red Wedge gigs, deindustrialisation and the rise of women trade unionists, to looking at today’s young organisers in Unite Hospitality and Living Rent, who offer hope for the future
Scotland’s councils face a £647 million budget gap despite 6% increases, forcing service cuts and reserve depletion while local government workers battle for decent pay amid the continuing cost-of-living crisis, reports BRENDA AITCHISON
KEIR STARMER’S jokes at Labour conference were a bit cringe. Some at the conference were better at delivering a line, but I was left scratching my head at the wit and wisdom of right-wing MP Conor McGinn, who is Labour’s deputy national campaign co-ordinator.
McGinn told the rally of Labour First, the right-wing Labour group he supports, that his “uncle was an Irish Labour Party councillor in Newry” who ran a store in a rural community. Towards the end of the 1960s McGinn’s uncle was approached by a salesman, a “sharp-suited young man” who was “extolling the virtues” of a “new-fangled concept called toothpaste.”
McGinn’s uncle took the salesman into the storeroom at the back of the shop and asked: “What do you see here?” The storeroom was piled high with unsold toilet rolls.
McGinn’s uncle told the salesman: “Son, they don’t clean their arses round here, they are hardly going to clean their teeth.”
McGinn said the moral of the story is to “know what we’re selling and know the people we are selling to” and “understand what they care about.” Charitably, McGinn was using a crude, if well-delivered, joke to get over a point.
But I couldn’t help think that the joker and his audience laughing about working people seeing toothpaste as a too-fancy luxury have a pretty bleak view of the electorate.
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