177. Olaf Scholz: Putin, Power, and Far-Right Populism
23 February 2026
On the TUC, Roy of the Rovers and Anna Wintour
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Post
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14 September 2009
Once upon a time, there would have been only one contender for the main story of the coming week - the gathering of the Trades Union Congress in Liverpool.
It used to be an event covered with exactly the same focus and intensity as the main party conferences, with the Liberals a poor fourth behind Labour, Tory and unions.
With public sector spending so central to the current political debate, and union funding so important to Labour's finances, this year's TUC will attract more attention than in recent years, but still just a fraction of what it used to be.
And it all means less space for roughly the same number of union leaders all hoping to be able to get their points across. Sad therefore, if unsurprising, to see some of the noises they make to get noticed. Derek Simpson, joint leader of Unite, denounced Peter Mandelson, David Miliband and James Purnell as 'thick' and 'Tories', and called on Gordon Brown to sack Mandelson and Miliband.
There is a lot you can say about PM, DM and James (can't call him JP because as they sing on the terraces at Hull, there is only one JP...) but 'thick' and 'Tories' they most certainly aren't.
Indeed, it underlines the impotency of such calls to know that one day they might have been taken seriously, whereas today both caller and called know they are simply a way of trying to get noticed. As for Mr Simpson's endorsement of Ed Miliband as GB's successor ... he needs that like a hole in the Ed.
I would reckon the Guardian and the Mirror remain the most read papers by those attending. The brothers should get stuck in to the Guardian's front page report showing the big rise in pay for executives at Britain's top companies. As Rory Bremner said when we were doing our charity trading in the City the other day ... it's as though the crisis never happened.
By the way, Guardian people, I loved the World War 2 booklets last week, and talk about from sublime to ridiculous .. this week it's old copies of Roy of The Rovers, Bunty and The Dandy. Brilliant. And what a bonus that ex-Burnley player and manager Adrian Heath is the 1981 Roy of the Rovers centrefold. Big business this nostalgia, as Dame Vera has shown.
Final point re The Guardian ... I went to see The September Issue last night, the fly on the wall profile of American Vogue and its fierce (by reputation) editor Anna Wintour. A bit of a girly film I guess, and male/female wise I was outnumbered about six to one at the packed Everyman in Hampstead. But it was enjoyable enough, with a good mix of quirky characters, a good insight into all that goes into a branch of journalism I know nothing about, and I loved the line where she talked of her brother, Guardian political editor Patrick Wintour, as 'brilliant'.
I sent Patrick a reassuring text that nobody laughed out loud, said I quite liked the film, but suggested she needed to lighten up a bit. Back came a text about not taking lessons in lightening up from 'Mr In The Loop'... fair point, I suppose.
I imagine Patrick will be in Liverpool, at least when GB goes, while his sister is jetting from Paris to Milan to New York to anywhere else where she might be influencing the world of fashion. Great things, families.
We need sensible and strong trade unions more than ever. They do themselves no favours by going over the top to get attention but the disparity in pay at the top, and poverty at the bottom, is a real issue for our times…
I hope that is not nostalgia recalling the days when the unions conferences were so important. They abused their power and Mrs T was right to take them on. The modern day equivalent is the media and it is time their abuse of power was checked
I agree Anna Wintour comes over as a bit tense and cold, but what lovely magazines she produces. I wonder how all the relationships will survive the exposure. She and Grace Coddington were pretty spikey with each other. Also, even if we know it goes on, not sure they gain much from letting us all know how much they touch up the photos … all that stuff about giving Sienna Miller a new neck, and new teeth!!!
I’m a fervent supporter of the union movement, and we all know where we’d be without it, but I think in the eyes of the majority their work is done. They have improved workers rights to a point where most people now work in acceptable conditions. In places where the working conditions are unacceptable the unions are unlikely to gain status and influence anyway. The union leaders know this and will make statements that will gain them some attention. The big question is where will Labour funding come from if not the unions?
The unions feel threatened. Not by New Labour, but by a potential Tory government. Whether we like to openly admit it or not many are entertaining the idea of a Tory government in 2010.
What I read into the recent speeches and comments from the various union leaders is a thinly veiled threat, not to GB, but to Cameron’s Tories. The message being ‘Don’t screw with us or we’ll grind this country to a halt.’ A bit like waving a red rag to a bull. But this is not 1974 and they will find less sympathy than in days past.
I see their strategy as being twofold. They are flexing their muscles not only to a future Tory government but to a future psot-election Labour Party.
Were Labour to lose the next election the fallout and inevitable flux that would follow such a defeat would trigger a battle between the various factions within the Labour movement to seize control of the party and thus secure it’s future direction.
The battle may already have begun. But comments undermining two of the party’s best communicators (PM is simply in a league of his own and surely a future party leader?) will be seen as childish and disharmonious at very the time when the Labour movement and it’s supporters need to show it the most.
Lord Mandelson (or as I like to think of him ‘God’) and David Milliband are a threat to the left as they are so New Labour they are still wrapped in cellophane. Unfortunately for the left their is no credible candidate and they are desperate to find one.
Ed Milliband? I’d rather have Ed the Duck.
Simpson is a buffoon and his every utterances confirm this.
Mandelson, Miliband and Purnell may not be Tories, but to many traditional Labour voters their speech and education is redolent of the tory/boss class. It is astonishing how many Cabinet members have been privately and/or Oxbridge educated.
‘Lord Mandelson (or as I like to think of him ‘God’)’
As in ‘God help us’ ?
If he is the best Labour have to offer then the party truly is finished. The man is an Odious little sh**. If most people despair at having Brown as a leader see what the poll ratings would be if he ever took over !
It will never happen.
I must disagree with Mr Terry Evans that ‘ the unions’ work is done.This is not true. Mrs Thatcher’s work is done.
I was brought up in a tory household and did not agree with my family’s politics. I left school at 16 and joined the TGWU – transport and General Workers Union. How can we trust employers to help people in jobs? The country is a disgrace and almost a Police state. So many people are misguided and selfish and live for the moment which is exploited by employers instead of us living to help each other and for the greater good.
I have met too many creeps in my careers that were Tory clones and thought they were doing the right thing when bullying and compromising
employees and their rights. The message needs to be redrafted that this country is nothing without the working man or woman and the Union is your only protection from a multitude of sins and sinners.Employers get their middle managers to do their dirty work without a care for the individual.
We need Labour core values,strong Unionism to combat exploitation and right wing politicians. Please pass to Gordon Brown to remind him. There has been too much sitting on the fence though i feel and hope that Gordon and Alastair are onto something when they say that the Tories will ” choke the recovery”-Keep it going.