Labour Party chief warns of disastrous split with unions

Labour's most senior official said yesterday that the party and the trade unions were sleepwalking towards a separation and appealed to both the Government and unions to rebuild bridges.

David Triesman, Labour's general secretary, told The Independent neither side wanted a split but that current tensions between them on several issues could propel them towards one.

"It is very important to people in the party, the Government and the trade unions not to accidentally sleepwalk to a catastrophe without recognising it," he said.

Relations between ministers and union leaders have been strained by the firefighters' dispute and the decision to give private-sector firms a bigger role in running public services. Some unions have cut donations to Labour, and Tony Blair is considering plans to introduce state funding for political parties.

Mr Triesman said: "In any mid-term period, especially if there is industrial action, there are going to be people in unions saying the Government should do more.

"Sometimes they will be very angry about the things that are being done. That can produce tensions. People want historic change [on policy]. When it is not the Government's position to deliver, that can produce tensions. The tension builds up and members of unions affiliated to the party can begin to question the closeness of the relationship."

But Mr Triesman dismissed union fears that some Blairites actively want a divorce from Labour's founders. "In my view, nobody in the leadership of the party or the Government has raised questions about the historic link," he said.

Mr Triesman did not believe the current troubles would result in a formal split. "I doubt it will end in terminal separation. It is just an erosion," he said.

The former leader of the Association of University Teachers said the link between the party and the unions was vital. Historically, unions were a source of "energy and oxygen" that helped Labour to find new ideas, and should now play an important role in generating policies to help Labour to remain in power, he said.

With the party facing one of its worst financial crises, Mr Triesman has been negotiating a long-term stability pact which would stop unions cutting donations in protest at government decisions.

Agreement has been delayed by the recent rows, but he was optimistic a deal would be signed in the new year.

The Labour general secretary called for more state funding for parties, to cover policy work, research and the introduction of more female and ethnic-minority MPs.

He argued that unions should not see this as "attacking the link" and said they were threatening it by withdrawing money.

"If people keep taking money out and taking a fairly harsh view of the Government overall, then it is that [action] that runs the risk with the link. That is a kind of sleepwalking. No one really intends it, but it is happening."

But he said the Labour leadership should respond more to union concerns, notably their fears that public- sector reforms could create a two-tier workforce when private companies employed new staff on worse conditions.

"It is always possible not to understand the sensitivities of colleagues well enough. In those circumstances, not to have a real feel for what they [the unions] are thinking is risky as well. With two groups of people who might be sleepwalking, it behoves each of them to think hard about what it is they are doing," he said.

Unions and Labour activists are angry that a review of the two-tier workforce problem, promised at the party's annual conference in October, has not yet happened.

"It is a real and material concern," Mr Triesman said. "It is not beyond our wit and ability to come up with solutions. It is vital that we do that. Modernisation of [working] arrangements must also be based on good standards of employment practice. That area, rather than the mantra of whether things are private or not, is the most telling."

Brendan Barber, the TUC's new general secretary, said there were tensions and accused the Government of being "over-preoccupied" with the concerns of business. In an interview with ePolitix. com, he said: "My sense is that Tony Blair wants to try to get the relationship back on a more even keel as well. I will certainly be working hard with him to achieve that."