Angela Rayner: rebel with a cause

“Angela Rayner, Stockport local government branch and first-time deputy Labour leadership candidate!” said the member of Parliament for Ashton-under-Lyne, when she took to the rostrum at the opening of UNISON’s annual women’s conference in Brighton this afternoon to loud cheers. Taking a break from the campaign for the Labour Party deputy leadership, she described how two decades of activism had seen her start out as a care worker in the union’s young members’ group, alongside current UNISON president Josie Bird and junior vice president James Anthony. “My story is your story. I’m here today – not because of me, but because of us,” she told a packed hall. Ms Rayner noted that her first experience of a conference was something of a shock – “In those days, I thought that a standing order was what I had at my local!” – before noting more seriously that “our values” are every bit as valid today as at any time before. And quoting a classic phrase, she said that the idea of the labour and trade union movement’s core aim being “to secure for the workers the full fruit of their labour” was not a thing of the past. But the movement also had to be about more – and that was a lesson that the Labour Party had to learn in the wake of December’s general election defeat. Tell a better story We need to “tell a better story”, Ms Rayner said: not just about economics, but one that understands that, for many people in the left-behind places where in...
Source: UNISON Health care news - Category: UK Health Authors: Tags: Article News 2020 Women's Conference angela rayner education Labour Party lifelong learning Source Type: news