Good Idea

Here's a previous post to the blog site about union membership dues.

Since the employers collect these funds why not extend choice, so that all workers  have a wider choice of which political party, if any, they wish to support via their pay cheque?

Because as things stand, the trade unions love affair with the Labour Party is completely undemocratic and unrepresentative of the views of ordinary trade union members.

Good Idea (15 July 2013)

Now here's a reader's letter which appeared in the Times newspaper recently - and which makes a good point about party funding.

Union contributions in these modern times are not actually collected by trade unions - long gone are the days when union stewards used to go around the workplace every week - chasing people up for their union 'subs' (subscriptions).

No, employers do the job nowadays for trade unions - under local DAS agreements  (deductions at source) which involve lifting a sum of money from the union member's pay every week or month - and passing the funds collected on to the 'end user'.

The same thing is done over income tax, for example, which is then handed on to HMRC - and the employers collecting these funds charge a fee to cover their costs - which all sounds very reasonable.

So why not open this facility up to a much wider range of political parties and/or charitable organisations - because who could disagree or find fault with that idea?

It's fair, easy to implement, democratic - and might encourage more individual citizens to spend a few bob of their hard earned money supporting a political party - or a charity which is struggling to make ends meet.

Labour and unions

Union members should be able to support any political party they wish to, which might be a democratic solution to the problem of funding

Sir, Mr Miliband wants union members to opt in to paying dues to the Labour Party and through this become party members (July 10). Why not, at the same time, add a facility for the union members to be able to become members of any other political party they wished?

A majority of the population do not support the Labour Party so it is quite possible that many union members support another party; this would widen party membership and be a democratic solution to the problem. Union leaders might then find out the views of the majority of the members, not just those of a few activists. 

Nicholas Russell 

Cambridge