Skip to main content
Labour and the unions need each other. Now is the time for solidarity
The party must stand proudly on the side of ordinary people and those struggling for both a decent standard of living and public services for all, writes DIANE ABBOTT MP

THERE were many memorable moments of the great miners’ strike of 1984-85. One of them I seem to recall (I am sure a reader or two will correct me) is Ron Todd, leader of what was the Transport and General Workers’ Union, trying to speak from the floor in the debate on the strike at the Labour Party conference. 

But the chair was initially refusing to call him until the outcry from the conference forced him to change his mind. 

Before that happened, a friend turned to me and said: “This is bloody ridiculous. He pays for the thing,” or more industrial words to that effect.

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
More from this author
Karen Shore webpic for Abbott.jpg
Features / 3 May 2025
3 May 2025

DIANE ABBOTT looks at the whys and hows of Labour’s spectacular own goal

Features / 19 April 2025
19 April 2025
British Steel has vindicated what the left has said all along — nationalisation of our key industries is common sense, and it’s the neoliberals who are now clearly the ideologically driven zealots, writes DIANE ABBOTT MP
Features / 5 April 2025
5 April 2025
DIANE ABBOTT MP points out the false premises used by Rachel Reeves in the Spring Statement
PUTTING A GOOD FACE ON IT: Liz Kendall
Features / 22 March 2025
22 March 2025
With young people, the disabled and the elderly in Labour’s sights as ‘easy targets’ for cuts, the labour movement must remember it’s in the vital interests of us all to defend the groups being picked off, writes DIANE ABBOTT MP
Similar stories
TUC 2024 / 9 September 2024
9 September 2024
From a progressive transport agenda, to public spending, investment and sectoral collective bargaining, our union wants to see the long-overdue improvements that workers need and deserve, says MICK LYNCH
Work on the construction by Southern Water of a new 1km outf
Editorial: / 28 August 2024
28 August 2024
LABOUR CONCERN: (Above) Aslef union picket line at Waterloo
Durham Miners' Gala / 13 July 2024
13 July 2024
Labour cannot afford ‘business as usual,’ or we risk a Farage-led right resurgence — from nationalisation to climate action, the public wants progressive policies, argues DIANE ABBOTT MP