EXCL Len McCluskey tells Theresa May: I never compared myself to Nelson Mandela
2 min read
Len McCluskey has written to Theresa May insisting he never compared himself to Nelson Mandela or Mahatma Gandhi, PoliticsHome can reveal.
The Unite chief was ridiculed after he appeared to liken his fight against the Government's trade union laws to the struggles of the iconic political figures.
Mr McCluskey has said he is prepared to back his members in strike action even if it does not meet the necessary turnout threshold set out in new legislation.
Appearing on Channel Four News earlier this month, he said: "I dare say if you’d have been interviewing Nelson Mandela or Mahatma Gandhi or the suffragettes you’d be telling them that they were breaking the law.
"The truth is when a law is wrong, not only it is important to stand up and say so, it is our duty to resist."
That led to Mrs May ridiculing him at Prime Minister's Questions, saying: "I was struck this week to see that Len McCluskey, or perhaps Mahatma as his friends call him, had said if they need to act outside the law, so be it."
But in a letter to Mrs May, seen by PoliticsHome, the left-wing union baron said: "You will have seen some media coverage suggesting that I had compared myself to Mandela and Gandhi in opposing the law. Indeed you made such a reference a PMQs. Can I assure you that I would not be so arrogant or so stupid as to compare myself with such great individuals.
"It was a reference to opposing laws that are believed in some quarters to be unjust."
He added: "I am not seeking to be cavalier in flouting the law or to stand outside of it."
Labour has vowed to scrap the trade union legislation if it wins the next election.
A spokesman for Jeremy Corbyn said: "We've opposed the arbitrary thresholds in the Trade Union Act, and if and when a Labour government is elected we will change the law to allow trade unions to operate freely and democratically.
"Nobody wants to see strikes, we want to see the pay cap lifted and the anti-democratic trade union legislation changed."
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