Carr review

Unions have lined up to mock the collapse of the Conservatives’ attempt to discredit unions via an inquiry into union conduct during industrial disputes.

The review, headed by Bruce Carr QC, was set up to examine whether the law should be tightened to prevent “intimidation” and “harassment” which the Tories claimed went on during the Unite general union’s dispute at the Grangemouth oil refinery.

However, Carr last month announced that he would not make any recommendations due to lack of evidence he had been able to obtain and the “progressively politicised environment” in the run-up to the 2015 general election.

TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said Carr had been “cynically used by the government in a party political stunt for the Conservative Party. He is right to recognise this ‘politicisation’…It was built in from the start.”

www.tuc.org.uk/international-issues/union-issues/carr-review-make-no-recommendations-after-%E2%80%9Cpoliticisation%E2%80%9D

www.tradeunionfreedom.co.uk/carr-review-into-industrial-action-collapses

www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/aug/05/union-law-review-barrister-bruce-carr-minister