The government clashed twice with trade unions in the past week and demonstrated its independence from the movement from which the Labour Party arose but to which it must never be beholden.
Activists attending the “policy” conference of Unite, the trade union, voted to suspend Angela Rayner, the deputy prime minister, from membership of the union, because they blame her for failing to settle the Birmingham bins dispute. By seeking to use the leverage of a personal attack, they undermined their comrades’ cause.
