Labour should pledge to scrap the gagging law

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CWU's general secretary is backing campaigning group 38 Degrees and asking people to write to Ed Miliband to pledge to scrap the gagging law should Labour win the next election.

The Coalition Government's 'gagging bill', which aims to place endless bureaucracy on trade unions and stifle their influence, has now been given Royal Assent and passed into law.

Opposition to the transparency of lobbying, non-party campaigning and trade union administration bill is now calling on supporters to contact Labour leader Ed Miliband and secure a commitment to have this law repealed on the return of a Labour majority at the 2015 general election.


CWU general secretary Billy Hayes said: "The gagging law is a very serious concern for all UK trade unions and it will severely hinder our ability to take part in third party campaigning. We have fought against this bill, which we see as a challenge to the democratic rights of UK citizens.

"The CWU tabled an emergency motion at last year's TUC Congress and drafted amendments along with other unions to put into the bill. However, the Government's majority in Parliament means none of our fears and concerns have been addressed and it is extremely concerning that this bill has now passed into law."

Labour politicians did oppose the bill throughout its passage through the Houses of Parliament. The final voting to pass the bill was extremely close with only one vote in it.

"By writing to Ed Miliband to express the importance of over-turning the gagging law, we can make sure we keep this issue at the top of the agenda and hopefully, secure a promise that the gagging law will be scrapped", said Billy.

You can contact Ed Miliband about scrapping the gagging law here: https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/ed-mili ... agging-law" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Read Billy's blog post published in the Guardian Comment is Free section: The gagging bill looks designed to undermine trade unions.