As Unison backs Corbyn bid, is he now unstoppable?

JEREMY Corbyn’s bandwagon appeared unstoppable last night after one of the country’s largest unions backed him.

In another blow to former frontrunner Andy Burnham, Unison recommended its members give their first preference vote to the veteran Marxist – with the second vote going to Yvette Cooper.

The blow to Mr Burnham’s campaign comes despite an attempted relaunch on Tuesday when he made a major speech on social care, and after leaked internal polling put him in third place behind Mr Corbyn and Miss Cooper.

Unison represents 1.3million workers, with 28,000 members in the Labour Party, and 15,000 registered to vote in the leadership contest. Earlier this month, Mr Corbyn, 66, received the support of the country’s largest union, Unite.

Most of the country’s bookmakers have now named the socialist as their favourite for the Labour leadership. A rattled Miss

‘Building a modern, kinder Britain’

Cooper told members it was time to ‘get serious’, saying Labour would be ‘ condemning our world to a Tory future’ if Mr Corbyn won.

And Mr Burnham said the party faced a ‘big choice’ over ‘whether it is going to get straight back on a path towards government and getting a Labour government back or whether we are going to be a party of protest’.

Yesterday Tim Farron, the new leader of the Liberal Democrats, suggested his party could benefit if Labour elects Mr Corbyn and goes down the route of an SDP-style split.

He said the ‘ door is open’ to Labour MPs who counted themselves as liberals, joking he had ‘no secret list’ of possible defectors. ‘There will be people in the Labour Party and the Tory Party who will consider us as a potential home,’ he said.

Mr Farron ruled out forming a new party with any others, saying his party would be a broad church and ‘ welcoming, but we’re not for turning’.

Unison’s decision was taken by its National Labour Link Committee, which has 23 elected members. It is a particular blow for Mr Burnham, who as Shadow Health Secretary has courted the support of the public sector workers Unison represents. General secretary Dave Prentis said: ‘Jeremy Corbyn’s message has resonated with public sector workers who have suffered years of pay freezes and redundancies, with too many having to work more for less.

‘Today’s decision is a recommendation and our members are of course free to cast their vote as to who they think should lead the Labour Party.’

Mr Corbyn said: ‘I want to thank Unison for its nomination. Unison members are in the frontline of the impact of the Government’s austerity agenda.

‘They are the people that provide the services our society relies on. They should be valued and heard. As leader of the Labour Party, I would promote high- quality, modern, public services – against outsourcing, privatisation and low pay. We are building a movement for a modern, kinder Britain, and I look forward to working with Unison members to achieve that.’

Meanwhile, leaders of the GMB union decided to make no recommendation on who their members should vote for.

A spokesman said: ‘ Given the extensive debates and candidates’ hustings, GMB members will cast their votes for a candidate of their choice for leader in the normal way.’

Unison’s decision followed bookmakers William Hill making Mr Corbyn an 11/8 favourite to win the contest, after posting him as a 200/1 rank outsider when he entered the race.

In another blow to Mr Burnham, the private poll, seen by the Daily Mirror, gave Mr Corbyn a lead of 19 points. Mr Burnham said it should be taken ‘with a large, large pinch of salt’.

In an interview with the New Statesman, Mr Corbyn dismissed suggestions he would stand down if he won the contest – and insisted he could win an election without support from former Tory voters.

He said: ‘We have to think in terms of the disillusioned who didn’t vote.’