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Commenting on the announcement that Bruce Carr QC – leading the Carr Review set up by the Prime Minister to review the law governing industrial disputes – has decided not to make any recommendations following what Mr Carr describes as the “politicisation” of the issue, TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said:

“Bruce Carr has been cynically used by the government in a party political stunt for the Conservative Party.

Commenting on the announcement that Bruce Carr QC – leading the Carr Review set up by the Prime Minister to review the law governing industrial disputes – has decided not to make any recommendations following what Mr Carr describes as the “politicisation” of the issue, TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said:

“Bruce Carr has been cynically used by the government in a party political stunt for the Conservative Party.

“He is right to recognise this “politicisation”, so I am not surprised at his decision not to make any recommendations and to simply review the few submissions sent to him.

“But the politicisation is not new, it was built in from the start. Contrary to Nick Clegg’s assurance, employer behaviour such as blacklisting was not even mentioned in the terms of reference for the review. And now Mr Carr has found his work entirely pre-empted by a Conservative Party press release.

“The Conservative Party should now repay to the taxpayer the costs of the enquiry.”

NOTES TO EDITORS:

- The following is Bruce Carr’s full statement, which was published on The Carr Review website today (https://carr-review.independent.gov.uk/):

“I have now considered the evidence and information received by the Review over the past few months and I would firstly like to thank those organisations and individuals who have contributed to the Review so far.

However, I have become increasingly concerned about the quantity and breadth of evidence that the Review has been able to obtain from both employers and trade unions relevant to its terms of reference. In addition, I am also concerned about the ability of the Review to operate in a progressively politicised environment in the run up to the general election and in circumstances in which the main parties will wish to legitimately set out their respective manifesto commitments and have already started to do so. Operating in such an environment is also likely to impact on the ability of the Review to obtain evidence in addition to that which it has already received.

That being so, I have reached the conclusion that it will simply not be possible for the Review to put together a substantial enough body of evidence from which to provide a sound basis for making recommendations for change and therefore to deliver fully against its terms of reference. Any recommendations which might be put forward without the necessary factual underpinning would be capable of being construed as the Review making a political rather than an evidence based judgment, whichever direction such recommendations might take.

As such I have agreed with the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Minister for the Cabinet Office that the Review will produce a scaled-down report which reflects on the process of attempting to obtain evidence and which sets out the story as best we are able to tell it from the limited evidence which we have gathered, but will not make recommendations for change.

I still intend to produce this Report by the early Autumn, as set out in my Opening Statement.

Bruce Carr QC”

- Nick Clegg’s statement on blacklisting can be found at http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/nov/18/nick-clegg-union-inquiry-blacklisting

- All TUC press releases can be found at www.tuc.org.uk

- Follow the TUC on Twitter: @tucnews

- Congress 2014 will be held in the BT Convention Centre, Liverpool, from Sunday 7 September to Wednesday 10 September. Free media passes can be obtained by visiting www.tuc.org.uk/media-credentials and completing an online form. Applications must be in by noon on Wednesday 27 August. Any received later than that will be processed in Liverpool and will cost £75.

Contacts:

Media enquiries:
Tim Nichols   T: 020 7467 1337   M: 07876 452902   E: tnichols@tuc.org.uk

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