Left-wing union leader refuses to meet Blair

The Left-leaning leader of one of Britain's biggest unions today said he turned down an invitation to meet Tony Blair at next week's TUC conference.

Derek Simpson, who recently ousted Sir Ken Jackson - a close ally of Mr Blair - to head the engineering and manufacturing union Amicus, said that when he was asked whether he wished to meet the Labour leader at the annual conference in Blackpool, he replied that he had nothing he particularly wanted to say to Mr Blair.

Interviewed on BBC News 24's One to One programme, Mr Simpson said: "I was asked by some of the support entourage that goes with the job, did I want to meet Tony Blair at the TUC.

"Apparently, he has this system where he sets some time aside and meets some senior trade union people, and I would actually have to put my name down, you know, let it be known that I wanted to see him.

"But I was just taken back by the question. Because I thought, what do I want to see Tony Blair for, I haven't actually got anything, I don't particularly want to say anything to him, so indeed I says well, no, the answer's no, I don't particularly want to see Tony Blair.

"But of course I did say that if he wanted to talk to me I've no doubt that he'll let me know."

Though Mr Simpson said he wanted to put to the Government the views of his members on a range of issues "more strongly than perhaps they've been put before", he insisted he was not looking for conflict with Mr Blair.

Mr Simpson said: "I'm a member of the Labour Party and a supporter of the Labour Government and will remain so, and I don't think it is a bad thing to have fraternal relationships with the leader of your own party, so I wouldn't want to be referred to as an enemy."