Union leader tells Blair not to cling on
The general secretary of one of Britain’s biggest unions has urged Tony Blair not to “cling on too long” as Prime Minister.
Derek Simpson, who leads Amicus, said Mr Blair’s credibility had been “shot to pieces” by the Iraq war.
In an interview with the Daily Mirror ahead of his union’s annual conference, he said he did not want Mr Blair to go immediately, but neither “would it be helpful for him to hang on until six months before the next election”.
Mr Blair was under pressure coming into this week following a general election result in which Labour’s majority was slashed to 66, and a reshuffle that many commentators considered “botched”.
Several Sunday newspapers carried quotes from dissenting Labour MPs urging the Prime Minister to step down now.
Mr Simpson said: “I think the big fear among those calling for a quick exit is that he will dig in and hang on to power and drag it out as long as possible.”
Labour MPs want to see that “a transfer of power is on the blocks”, he added.
Looking ahead the Amicus annual conference, Mr Simpson said he would be demanding more protection for British workers, that firms are forced to contribute to workers’ pensions, and for anti-union laws to be scrapped.
The conference, which starts on Saturday, will also touch on the issue of the potential merger between Amicus, the T&G and the GMB to create Britain’s biggest union.
TUC general secretary Brendan Barber and ETUC general secretary John Monks will be among the speakers at the conference in Brighton.
