Tom Watson: Way the unions organise in the Labour Party “pretty hopeless”

Appearing on his local radio station BBC West Midlands today, Tom Watson argued that the influence of Trade Unions on the Labour Party is overstated, saying:

“I’m looking at this current row – I mean, I’m not belittling it, by the way, I realise it’s very serious, but it’s hard not to reflect that there’s an irony in it because looking at how the unions organise within the Labour party, I generally think they’re pretty hopeless. I don’t think there’s many trade union activists who get much of a say these days.

“And so, I don’t think it’s a problem, I do think there’s a lot of politics behind it. Obviously, David Cameron would like people to believe that the Labour party is in the hands of these left-wing factions – it’s just not true. But, you know, we’ve got to sort these arrangements out, clearly something has gone wrong in Falkirk that needs sorting out, but I think David Cameron’s portrayal of the situation – that everyone is in hoc to Len McCluskey – is just not true.”