2017 General Election

To: All Branches, Regional Councils and Regional Organisers

25 April 2017
P7
Circular No. NP63/17


Dear Colleague

2017 GENERAL ELECTION
As you will be aware a General Election will take place on Thursday 8th June 2017.
A Special Meeting of the National Executive Committee recently gave consideration to this matter and made the following decision.

            “We believe the outcome of the 2017 General Election will clearly be either a Labour Government led by Jeremy Corbyn whose key policies include support for trade union and employment rights, repeal of anti - union legislation, public ownership of the railways and opposition to austerity or a Tory government who wish to introduce even more vicious anti - trade union legislation, further austerity and privatisation and attacks on the working class.

It is therefore clearly in the interests of RMT members for Labour to maximise its vote at the 2017 General Election and for the Tories to be defeated and for there to be a Labour Government led by Jeremy Corbyn.

This union supports such an outcome and we advise our members and the media of this position and that our Branches and Regional Councils can use their political funds to back Labour candidates if they so wish in the 2017 General Election in line with AGM policy.

We note this position is also in line with the 2016 AGM decision that we only support candidates who support the Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and we also state that requests from Branches and Regional Councils to support other candidates in elections prior to and including the 2017 General Election will be considered on this basis. Following the General Election the NEC will place a full report to the 2017 AGM.

Finally we instruct the General Secretary to draw up an urgent paper for our consideration as to how the union nationally can give effect to the above and we also link this to our file “RMT Political Strategy.”

I would ask that you note the above decision and I shall write shortly about other aspects of the Unions involvement in the General Election.

Yours sincerely  
 
Mick Cash       
General Secretary