Opinion

“Entitlement, aggression, amorality, lack of concern for others.” That was how one woman described a particularly notorious member of the Bullingdon Club during her time as a student at Oxford University in the 1980s. She recalls “with extreme regret and embarrassment” her role acting as a scout for an organisation which was characterised by a culture of vandalism and intimidation. Women were routinely belittled at its lavish dinners while others were recruited to perform sex acts.

In June last year, sensing the growing chaos of Theresa May’s administration, the Heathrow lobby got the government to smuggle legislation through parliament to expand Heathrow airport. It only passed because many Labour MPs voted for a third runway, against their party’s policy on aviation. They undoubtedly received encouragement in their defiance by the actions of Unite general secretary, Len McCluskey, who wrote to every Labour MP lobbying for Heathrow expansion.

The Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers (Usdaw) has long had a reputation as a right wing force in the labour movement, a bulwark of the right inside the Labour Party and a voice for “moderation” inside the TUC, where it champions the utility of cosy “partnership” deals with employers and avoids even the occasional language of confrontation.

Close to Tony Blair throughout the New Labour era, the union nominated Andy Burnham in the 2015 Labour leadership election and, learning nothing, backed the hapless Owen Smith in the 2016 attempt to depose Jeremy Corbyn.

The relatively small University and College Union (UCU) branch at Ruskin College passed a vote of no confidence in the college’s principal, Paul Di Felice, on Wednesday 27 March. This came after several years of decline in student numbers during which time systems of management — including, crucially, systems of managing recruitment — have fallen into a chaotic state.