Skip to main content
Unions shrug off Tory bid to gag dissent
Government launches review into 'unpleasant' protest by working people fighting for jobs

Millionaire ministers said yesterday that they may curtail trade union rights even further after Grangemouth bosses took offence at "unpleasant" protests against job cuts last month.

Union officials slammed the government after the Con-Dem coalition announced a review into activists' tactics.

Cabinet Office Minister Maude said he had asked barrister Bruce Carr to look into the Unite union's "leverage" strategy, which saw protests at billionaire Ineos boss Jim Ratcliffe's Limewood Hotel and the Lymington Town sailing club where Mr Ratcliffe - owner of the £130 million Hampshire II superyacht - is a member.

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
Similar stories
Unite the union general secretary Sharon Graham
Economy / 13 November 2025
13 November 2025
Waspi (Women Against State Pension Inequality) campaigners stage a protest on College Green in Westminster, London, as Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves delivers her Budget in the Houses of Parliament, October 30, 2024
Editorial / 16 July 2025
16 July 2025
General view of the Alexander Dennis site at Camelon, near Falkirk
Scotland / 10 July 2025
10 July 2025
A bus under construction at the Alexander Dennis bus manufacturers in Falkirk
Voices of Scotland / 17 June 2025
17 June 2025

As bus builder Alexander Dennis threatens Falkirk closure and Grangemouth faces ruthless shutdown by tax exile Jim Ratcliffe, RICHARD LEONARD MSP warns that global corporations must be resisted by a bold industrial strategy based on public ownership