Letter: Labour's union link

Sir: Anne McElvoy should focus on the real issues: the only time the union link is broken is in the columns of fashionable journalists. It does not register with the vast majority of ordinary Labour Party members.

Nor does it reflect the fact that without unions such as the AEEU (Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union), there would be no New Labour. When Labour was heading off towards political oblivion, unions worked to bring the party back to reality. Throughout the 1980s, the AEEU pushed for OMOV (one member, one vote), the expulsion of Militant and an end to unilateralism. Unions have as much to gain from leaving Labour now as we did when Labour was facing extinction. We are one family and we're sticking together.

KEN JACKSON

General Secretary, Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union

Bromley, Kent