Unite union cuts funding to Labour by £1.5 million

[dutchman]

Unite union will cut its funding to Labour by £1.5 million after the Party voted for far-reaching reforms to the their links with trade unions.



The union, Labour’s biggest contributor, said it would now affiliate just 500,000 of it's one million members to the party in 2014 and will review the number annually.

However, the union indicated it is prepared to offer additional funding in the run up to general election at the discretion of Len McCluskey.

The move could give Unite more influence over the Party by giving it the power to decide which Labour campaigns it is willing to fund.

Currently, all the union's members are automatically affiliated to Labour, contributing £3 million a year to the party’s coffers.

After polling its members Unite said around half would support Labour and plan to reduce the number of members it affiliates to the party to 500,000 a year – an effective cut in funding to the party of £1.5 million.

The decision comes after the GMB union decided last year to cut its affiliation funding by £1 million because of the reforms and estimates suggest Labour could lose many millions of pounds in affiliation funds from unions because of the new arrangements.