Labour's not helping itself

It's an uneasy relationship and must have got even more difficult to maintain as new Labour moves further and further to the right, while the bankers' crisis has moved working people further into domestic crisis at every turn, cushioned by Labour support of the banks.

The TUC has historically struck that balance by arguing in support of the various issues raised by its members while turning its criticisms of government into attacks on Tory policies in the run-up to an election.

But, with the best will in the world, it has become harder and harder to do that in the face of the developing crisis in capitalism.

How does anyone argue to younger voters that a Labour government is a better option than a Tory one when one is talking to an electorate which, in large part, has only adult experience of a new Labour government and to whom the hellish experience of life under the Tories is only stories told by their elders?

Well, for a start, you should be able to turn to the visible fruits of Labour Party policy and demonstrate the value of a Labour vote.

But even the TUC finds it difficult to do that in a period when its figures show that the number of people spending their second successive Christmas on the dole will double to over 200,000 this year.

It's even harder when that number is only those in receipt of benefit. The real figure of those unemployed for over a year reached 620,000 in October 2009 and is expected to increase further.

And it becomes virtually impossible when one of the central policies that new Labour is proclaiming, the cutting back of public debt by 50 per cent over the next four years, will inevitably lead to even further unemployment in the public sector and a vast deterioration in public services.

TUC general secretary Brendan Barber did his level best on Tuesday, pointing out that "government investment has kept unemployment well below the levels reached in previous recessions, but there can be no room for complacency," but that doesn't carry a lot of conviction in the face of over 2.5 million unemployed, 620,000 of them facing the prospect of a workless and cash-free Christmas for the second year in succession.

The TUC is to be congratulated on its loyalty, but where is the Labour response to such faithfulness and, indeed, to the dogged determination shown in continuing to fund that party shown by TUC affiliates, who still pour cash into the party with little or nothing coming in return?

It's just not enough to say that the Tories would be worse - although they undoubtedly would be.

And it's not enough, either, to launch into the Tory ranks, complaining that they hold too many "public schoolboy millionaires," as Home Secretary Alan Johnson did recently.

He was right, but a quick bout of class abuse of posh Tory frontbenchers is no substitute for policies to differentiate Labour from the Tories.

Mr Johnson would do better to start convincing his Cabinet colleagues that progressive policies could be the key to unlocking the next election.

Otherwise Labour will be left hanging onto support from the top of the labour movement which won't reflect the experiences of its rank and file.

And that would be of no help to Labour's election chances and would do real damage to the trade union movement into the bargain.

Yes, we need a Labour victory in the next election, but there won't be one unless the Labour Party adopts policies to win back the support of the working class. That is where the TUC should be placing its effort. The facts speak for themselves and the TUC must convince the Labour leadership. Those facts are not neutral.