GMB says Government trade consultations a waste of time. Will others take the same view?

The union says it tried to engage in good faith with Liam Fox's Department for International Trade but got nowhere

Preparing for Consultations? The GMB says Liam Fox isn't playing ball (AFP/Getty)

“What is the point,” said an exasperated GMB union.

It was complaining that despite working hard, and in good faith, to respond to little Liam Fox’s trade white paper, what emerged from the process was no different from what it was first asked to consult upon.

The union had wanted the Department for International Trade to pay due regard to ensuring that the UK’s manufacturers and service providers aren’t damaged by unfair competition, and the dumping of imports subsidised by the sort of state aid that the EU currently frowns upon, after Brexit.

Surely if the aim of leaving is to “take back control”, as the howling mob of Conservative Brexiteers keeps claiming, a trade white paper should put a high priority on that.

In an attempt to make that case, the GMB said it sought engagement and provided a detailed response to the call for consultations. Of this I have little doubt.

While unions often indulge in fiery public rhetoric - it shouldn’t be forgotten that they have members to reach - in private it’s a different story.

They negotiate. They talk. They also listen. They attempt to find common ground with whomever they are dealing. They try to be constructive. While they fight hard for their positions, they mostly accept that they’re not going to get everything they want and they recognise that compromise is better than conflict.

The trouble, according to the GMB, is that in this case, all its attempts at constructive engagement have failed.

Now, it’s true that when Governments talk about “consulting” they don’t always mean that they’re going to do so in any meaningful sense.

Even good ministers - something that the lamentable Mr Fox is not and has never been - sometimes say thanks very much for your input but we’re going to go ahead with this all the same. The decision has been made.

But there's usually a tweak here, a minor modification there, just for the sake of form.

The GMB’s contention that Mr Fox didn’t even bother with that says a lot about him and the way the Brexit Party works.

It’s not so much a political party as it is a religious movement, with Europe playing the role of great satan. You’re either with it, fully embracing it and its extremist aims whole heartedly, or you’re not, in which case you stand to be ignored if you're lucky, or get accused of being a 'quisling' or a 'traitor' if you're not. There is no middle ground to be found. There are no real moderates to try and meet halfway.

When the GMB asks what is the point, it knows the answer. There is none.

This is not an issue facing just the GMB, or trade unions in general.

The same situation faces the business lobby, and even the third sector. It’s clear from the conversations I’ve had that they aren’t getting much traction either.

The GMB says it might just as well focus on fiercely opposing a Government that appears to hear only the cries of right wing newspaper editors and those of a few other fellow travellers.

Where it could get interesting is if others start saying the same thing, with the same force.