Red Len bankrolls Labour leader for £30,000
... compared to £20k he spent on entire election
LEN McCluskey’s trade union spent more on helping its Left-wing candidate become Scottish Labour leader than it donated to the party’s 2016 election campaign.
Official figures show that Unite the Union handed Richard Leonard £30,000 to help him defeat moderate rival Anas Sarwar in last year’s bitter leadership battle.
This was £10,000 more than Unite donated to Scottish Labour before the last Holyrood election, sparking claims that Unite is more interested in backing a hard-Left takeover of the party than in getting Labour MSPs elected.
Unite remains Labour’s biggest paymaster but it dramatically cut donations to the Scottish party following a rift between Mr McCluskey and Jim Murphy, who led Scottish Labour from 2014-15.
The disparity between the donations for the recent leaderup ship campaign and the election has, however, angered some within the party.
A Labour source said: ‘We’re all incredibly proud to be supported by the workers’ movement... but we can only improve conditions for workers in Scotland if we are in power in Scotland, so it remains disappointing that so little was donated in 2016 compared to the leadership election.’
Mr Leonard’s Scottish parliament register of interests shows that Unite handed him £30,000 in early November, and also offered his campaign the use of phone bank facilities.
In addition, he received £9,000 from Unison, £12,000 from the GMB, £2,000 from USDAW and £2,000 from ASLEF.
In contrast, Unite donated only £20,000 to Scottish Labour ahead of the 2016 election, which saw Labour, then led by Kezia Dugdale, slip into third place at Holyrood.
Before the 2011 Scottish parliament elections, Unite gave £86,200 to Scottish Labour.
Conservative MSP Murdo Fraser said: ‘This is an embarrassing revelation for Labour. It shows that the unions who prop the party are more interested in getting their puppets to the top than supporting them more generally.’
Mr Leonard defeated Mr Sarwar by 12,569 votes to 9,516, as he became the party’s ninth leader since devolution.
During the leadership campaign, Scottish Labour formally raised concerns with Unite amid allegations it was trying to ‘stitch-up’ the contest.
The matter centred on text messages sent to thousands of its members encouraging them to vote in the leadership contest but did not explain that they had to abide by Labour’s terms and conditions – including a commitment that they support the party’s ‘aims and values’ – before they signed up to vote.
Unite was also previously criticised for recruiting members to Labour in Falkirk in an effort to allegedly ‘manipulate’ the party’s selection of a parliamentary candidate.
A spokesman for Unite Scotland said: ‘Unite’s structures are open and democratic. Unite Scotland sponsored a debate involving the two candidates for the Scottish Labour leadership.
‘A vote was taken which was in favour of supporting Richard Leonard’s candidature. As a result, Unite Scotland made a financial donation to Richard’s campaign.’
A Scottish Labour spokesman said: ‘While it is hardly a shock the trade union movement donated to the leadership campaign of a lifelong trade unionist, it is important to remember that, unlike the SNP and Tories, Labour is funded by donations from the working class.’
‘Getting their puppets to the top’ ‘Embarrassing revelation’