JEREMY Corbyn has been urged to get “stuck in” to fighting the UK Government by TUC chief Frances O’Grady but the new Labour leader was also warned by her that a political party had to be a “good deal more than a fan club”.
In her keynote speech to conference, the General Secretary made clear that a successful political party had to appeal to the country at large adding: "It must have a higher collective purpose beyond that of any one individual, or any one constituent of interest."
She told delegates that leading Labour, and making it fit for power again, was a "tough job".
"Labour's purpose is clear - to deliver wealth and opportunity to the many and not the few, but that means winning a general election to deliver it.
“On behalf of working people, my message to Labour is this: look sharp; pull together and do what working people are crying out for Her Majesty's Opposition to do - get stuck in and oppose.
"Show the grit, discipline and determination needed to win back economic trust, win back political power and change Britain for the better."
Ms O'Grady spent most of her address, attacking the UK Government’s Trade Union Bill, warning Ministers they had "woefully miscalculated" the resilience of workers and unions.
The public, she argued, supported the right to strike because it was a "fundamental human right", adding: "If David Cameron was really battling for blue collar Britain, he'd be fighting for stronger rights; to stop bosses getting away with pitting worker against worker to undercut pay.
"The Conservative Party no longer represents the interests of industry in general; its main purpose is to serve just one, global finance.”
She claimed the Tories had become the political wing of the City of London.
“Money and only money talks in today's Conservative Party,” she declared.
"The Conservatives take every opportunity to claim that Labour is in the pocket of the unions; as if the small amounts of hard-earned money given freely by thousands of nurses, shop-workers and refuse collectors was something to sneer about.
“But,” she added, “the Conservative Party is in a pocket that’s a whole lot larger and it belongs to just a handful of rich men.”
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