Cameron and Johnson foster union revolt
By politics.co.uk staff
David Cameron and Boris Johnson have joined forces to undermine union calls for a royal wedding strike.
The pair called on moderate union members to rise up and prevent strikes disrupting the royal wedding, which takes place this spring.
Unite general secretary-designate Len McCluskey has already ruled out industrial action affecting Britain’s transport infrastructure for the long weekend of Prince William’s marriage to Kate Middleton.
He told the Today programme yesterday that there was “no likelihood” of a strike and added: “I am not calling for the government to be brought down, but we have a right to demonstrate against their decisions.
“Their cuts agenda is morally wrong and economically dangerous. It is our duty to protest if we feel the government is doing something wrong.”
Mr Cameron and Mr Johnson fear next year’s London Olympics could be targeted by union leaders, however.
“To those who think it doesn’t have to be this way, who are sick of the conflict and the confrontation, we say – make your voice heard and come forward,” the prime minister and London mayor argued in a joint article in the Sun newspaper today.
“We need union leaders who are rooted in the modern world.”
Their united stance will be seen as an opportunity for warming relations between No 10 and City Hall, after Mr Johnson used his new year’s message to attack the 50p tax rate on incomes over £150,000.
“It’s no secret that I think in the long run a 50p tax rate is not going to be competitive with our major rivals,” the mayor argued.
“They all have lower top rates of tax now than the UK. It can’t go on forever, in my view.”
