The Tories are trying to set another union trap for Miliband

Does the government ever set out a policy on trade unions that isn’t an obvious trap for Ed Miliband? It’s hard to think of any workplace legislation, union negotiation or press release that hasn’t appeared designed to place Labour and Miliband in a difficult position.

Today the government set another trap for Miliband, just in time for an election day. It’s one he must avoid.

The “independent” Carr Review is intended to look into “the legal implications of alleged intimidation tactics”. It had been announced last November, but since there had been little mention of it. The assumption was that it had been quietly dropped. On the contrary, it’s planned to report before the election, no doubt with a vote called on its findings in the Commons, forcing Miliband into a vote that will be framed as “for or against the unions”.

But surely there’s nothing to fear from an “independent report”? Well, actually it doesn’t look that independent…

First, there’s the terms of reference. The original review was supposed to take on board employer behaviour such as blacklisting, which this doesn’t. So this “independent” review, which was meant to be about workplace practices on all sides, now looks like a hatchet job on union campaigns (which, onto of the gagging bill, will further limit the ability of unions to campaign in the run up to the election. It’s almost like the government are trying to silence them).

And if you’re trying to conduct a review on industrial relations, then surely the TUC and the CBI will be involved? And yet neither are, because they both see it as a political stunt.

But presumably the QC running the review is independent though, right? Well, judge for yourself.

Bruce Carr represented BA in their dispute with Unite (securing an injunction on a technicality).  He acted for the Ministry of Justice to injunct the Prison Officers Association. And he represented London Underground to injunct ASLEF.

This is someone with a career history of working against trade unions. And now he’s writing an “independent” report for the government – who are less than independent – on how they’re allowed to campaign. The TUC have already called it “a headline grabbing party-political stunt”, whilst Unite have labelled it an attempt to “rubber-stamp George Osborne’s campaign messages”. They’re both right.

What’s being set up is clearly an elaborate but rather transparent trap into which Ed Miliband is expected to fall before the election.

He needs to make sure he’s far cleverer than that.