Howard Beckett: What Exactly Are The Establishment So Afraid Of?

Howard Beckett is an impressive individual. So much so I’m going to write a little bit about him today.

Don’t worry, sad-act Starmer will get his - after all, it is Sunday, and slaying Starmer on a Sunday is the done thing. I mean, a Sunday blog that doesn’t point out the horrific state of Her Majesty’s official opposition and the rare ups and many downs of the hapless wrecker Starmer, just wouldn’t be a Sunday blog. 

The competition is underway to replace the General Secretary of Unite the Union, Len McCluskey. 

Now you might be wondering why this contest is of such great importance, and why swathes of left Twitter, and Facebook, are throwing all of their weight behind Howard Beckett - so let me attempt to explain why - and the wider importance of a victory for Mr Beckett. 

This isn’t just a battle to become the new General Secretary of Unite, far from. This is the most important contest the left have faced since the 2019 general election. 

We have four candidates to choose from - the three from the left are Howard Beckett, Steve Turner, and Sharon Graham. 

I genuinely don’t know a great deal about Sharon, I’ve read she is the “industrial wing” candidate, and people I respect do speak well of her. 

I saw Steve at a Save Honda rally in Swindon a couple of years back - Becky Long-Bailey was at the same event. Steve spoke well, he enthused the large crowd that had gathered, and he came across as a decent, likeable kind of guy. 

I’m not going to rip into left candidates Sharon or Steve. That’s not what this blog is about today. This blog is about Howard Beckett, and what he is up against in his quest to become the General Secretary of Unite the Union - and their 1.2 million members. 

The Blairites have their candidate, a chap named Gerard Coyne. The best thing I can say for Mr Coyne is the is the fact that he is *almost* as unlikable as Keith Starmer. There’s a very good chance they share the same charisma coach as it goes. 

Honestly my friends, if he were an inanimate object, he would be a participation trophy. He is a pizza burn on the roof of the world’s mouth. 

See, I always get distracted by the Labour Party leader.

Howard is what you might call something like an old school socialist. His politics are not dissimilar to the politics of Mr Jeremy Corbyn, in fact, Howard and Jeremy are friends, and one has consistently supported the other with a variety of campaigns and causes. 

A friend said to me yesterday, “Howard *is* the Corbyn continuity candidate”, and while I totally understand what they meant, Howard shouldn’t just be thought of like this. Howard is very much his own person and he has his own way of doing things. 

See, I had no hesitation in supporting Howard. He’s a people person, an inspirer, he works hard, takes no nonsense, and says exactly what he means. 

Beckett doesn’t possess a filter. If you ask a sensible question you will get a sensible answer. If you ask a loaded question on behalf of the rich and powerful you will get an answer from a leader that will speak for the working class first - the billionaire makers, not the billion pound takers. 

You don’t get the pathetic politicians non-answer because Howard isn’t a pathetic politician. Of course, the role of Unite General Secretary has huge ramifications for Keir Starmer’s Labour Party, but Howard’s first responsibility will be to those that elect him - the vast membership of Unite. 

You might wonder why the establishment has started to take notice of Howard Beckett, and it’s not really that overly-complicated. 

If Beckett wins the big job, Labour’s largest affiliates purse strings will be controlled by a person that is unashamedly socialist, on record robustly disagreeing with the stone in the shoe of humanity Starmer on policy choice, and someone that simply will not hand over millions and millions of their members Pounds to a political party competing for a place somewhere dark inside the soft left of the Conservative Party. 

Not a feckin’ chance. 

To give you an idea of where we are on the smear scale, Margaret Hodge has already called the police on Howard, and turned up on Newsnight - just to get a working class master class from a quite brilliant Beckett. 

You know what I thought of Jeremy, his politics reached out to me like it did to so many of you, and while I’m probably a bit old for posters on the wall and a Jeremy Corbyn duvet and pillow case set (still for sale), I admired him massively, and sincerely believe he will be the greatest Prime Minister that we never had. 

But if there was one thing I wish he could’ve added to his armoury, it would have been to be able to bite-back like Beckett. You know, roll your sleeves up and tackle the bilge head on. But Jeremy was just a plain and simple nice guy, and it just wasn’t something he wanted to do. 

We could all learn a lot from Jeremy Corbyn, whether you like him or not. 

So you get an idea of why the establishment would quite happily derail Howard Beckett if they could. His ‘crime’ is being a socialist, with morals and principles. 

I had a chat with a senior Beckett campaign source just yesterday, and I asked them if they could give me a few comments to put in my blog today, and this is what they said to me...

“Howard Beckett is a signpost in an era of weather vanes. He stands up to bullies and bullies do not like that. Howard doesn’t need to plot secretly, if Howard Beckett is coming for you he will do it in broad daylight. 

This election is about Unite the Union not about the Westminster elite. If Howard wins he will transfer all powers back to the regions and nations. This is your union, and you are our movement. It’s time someone stood up to the bullies in the establishment and that includes bad bosses, corrupt press barons & the Westminster elite. 

A vote for Howard Beckett is a vote to reject the rigged system of the past. 

Your union is coming home to you.” 

I mean wow, that actually puts fire in the belly.

Howard has been a fantastic organiser and leader during the Covid pandemic. While Starmer was holding Johnson’s blood-stained it was Mr Howard Beckett that was asking the difficult questions of the government *as well* as the opposition. 

Leadership. It really is that straight forward. 

Let me finish with this. No cheering at the back please. 

It was recently alleged that aides of Keir Starmer told the BBC how a Howard Beckett victory would be a ‘nightmare scenario’ for the Labour leader, who was last seen scratching his head and wondering exactly why his Labour Party are some 16 points adrift of the human embodiment of a £5 haircut that is Boris Johnson and his impossible to underestimate shambles of a government.

In fact, if a general election was held tomorrow, and that poll was replicated by the votes of the people, it would be the Labour Party’s heaviest election defeat since 1935. 

These are unlikely to be my last words about Howard Beckett. It might get rather nasty over the coming days and weeks, the centre-right establishment politicians are losing their minds over a person who has already made clear that his priority is to be the General Secretary of Unite the Union and a solid advocate for the rights of their 1.2 million members. He isn’t about Westminster, he’s about the people. 

And that is what is scaring the living daylights out of the relics of the right. 

Please support Howard Beckett to become the next General Secretary of Unite the Union, and have a lovely day. 

Rachael x

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