Trades unions will give Labour the cash it desparately needs - but only if they pass the laws the unions want. So reports today's Times. What laws could this cash buy? The unions' shopping list includes: secondary strikes, scrapping the requirment for postal strike ballots, mandatory equal pay audits, job protection following private equity takeovers and big hikes in National Insurance for higher earners (the policy that killed Labour's hopes in 1992).
In recent months, there have been allegations concerning MPs and MEPs trousering public money they are not entitled to. While revolting, those allegations are minor compared with the sale of peerages and knighthoods for hundreds of thousands of pounds. And in turn the sale of honours is minor compared with the purchase of ministerial decisions and the very law of the land. There is now a public mood for a deep clean of the darker corners in our political system. David Cameron has an incredible opportunity to really clean up British politics. I hope he takes it.
