Tory MP “despairs” at party for attacking trade unions

Guy Opperman, the Tory MP for Hexham, has praised trade unions and admitted that he “despairs” at the Conservative Party’s constant attacks on them.

Speaking to the conference of Tory moderniser think tank Bright Blue, Opperman said:

“I despair when people say unions are terrible, they are not terrible, they are the ultimate Big Society.”

According to the Huffington Post, Opperman bemoaned that their anti-union stance is one of the reasons the party is so unpopular in the north, adding that being a northern Tory is “a very lonely business”. “We occasionally hold our meetings in lifts,” he joked (at least, we think it’s a joke).

So toxic is the Conservatives’ appeal in the north, that Opperman even admitted he has “never, ever” had David Cameron on a leaflet – “aside from a general election”. Guy Opperman was elected at the last general election, which means that he will have had his party leader on literature about once.

We wonder why he doesn’t think Cameron would be a votewinner in his north east seat?