Union’s sinister hold making Miliband Red Len’s puppet
MORE than half of Labour candidates in winnable seats are sponsored by just one hard-Left trade union.
Fifty-four of the party’s contenders for 106 target constituencies are either members of Unite, or are endorsed or partially bankrolled by it.
The analysis by the Mail lays bare the extraordinary stranglehold the union’s firebrand leader ‘Red’ Len McCluskey has on Ed Miliband.
Tories say the general secretary’s degree of influence is payback for the huge sums Unite has given to Labour since 2010.
Its £14.3million contribution makes it the biggest donor to the party. Together, the unions have handed £40million to Mr Miliband – two-thirds of the Labour leader’s funding.
The avalanche of cash is reflected in the party’s candidate list. Of 410 new faces for the General Election on May 7, one in three – 133 – have links with Unite.
Labour’s close ties with the union will be on display on Friday evening when Mr McCluskey will be the special guest at a major rally in Glasgow.
Party leaders hope the intervention of the former supporter of the Trotskyist Militant Tendency will help fend off the threat of the SNP. Many of the Unite leader’s demands have become party policy under Mr Miliband, including the abolition of the spare-room subsidy or bedroom tax.
Labour is also pledging to adopt other Unite-inspired policies such as a ban on zero-hours contracts, a large increase in the minimum wage, scrapping fees for employment tribunals and rent controls.
Mr Miliband has announced plans to part-renationalise the rail network – another policy pushed by Mr McCluskey – and Labour has repeatedly refused to rule out increasing corporation tax, a change the Unite leader has argued for.
Two years ago, Unite was mired in scandal for trying to ‘manipulate’ Labour’s selection of a candidate in Falkirk by stuffing the local membership with its supporters.
Henry Smith, Tory candidate for Crawley, said: ‘Labour is nothing more than the political wing of the trade unions, with Ed Miliband an a ppointed puppet who squeaks whatever Red Len tells him to. The consequences could not be dire: more wasteful spending, more unaffordable borrowing and higher taxes for hardworking families.’ Mr Miliband was elected Labour leader in 2010 thanks to the support of the unions. The frontrunner, his brother David, won more support among Labour MPs and party members. But Ed won more support among the unions, pushing him over the winning line.
Trade unions gave £148,000 toward his leadership campaign – including £115,000 from Unite. Mr Miliband was endorsed by Unite, with the then two co-general secretaries, Derek Simpson and Tony
‘Miliband squeaks what Len tells him’
Woodley, urging members to vote for him. After the result was announced, the new Labour leader was observed putting an arm round them and saying: ‘Thank you.’
Fifty-three of Unite members had voted for him. Since Mr Miliband became leader, the unions have donated £40.4million to the Labour Party, according to t he Electoral Commission.
Unison has handed over £8.1million while the GMB has donated £6.9million and Usdaw £6.1million. Another £2.6million has come from the CWU, £730,000 from UCATT and £690,000 from the union Community.
In target seats, 84 per cent of Labour candidates have union links.
Harriet Harman, Andy Burnham and Chuka Umunna are all Unite members.
A Labour spokesman said: ‘We are proud to have selected a wide range of candidates with varying backgrounds... Trade unions have no undue influence over Labour’s candidate selection process.’