In a bid to divert attention away from the Ashcroft scandal, the Conservatives and their allies in the media are today attacking Labour's financial links with the trade union movement, most notably with Unite.It's no secret that Labour has become increasingly reliant on the trade unions for money as donations from the rich, who bankrolled the party throughout the Blair years, have dried up. I first reported on this issue back in January and predicted that Labour's financial dependence on the unions would become a campaign issue.The brothers were responsible for 64 per cent (£9.8m) of all donations to the party last year, with Unite, Britain's biggest union, responsible for 25 per cent (£3.6m). By contrast, when Tony Blair became Labour leader in 1994, the unions accounted for less than a third of all donations.It's never healthy for a political party to become reliant on only a few sources of income and I'd be surprised if any Labour figure argued otherwise.
In a bid to divert attention away from the Ashcroft scandal, the Conservatives and their allies in the media are today attacking Labour's financial links with the trade union movement, most notably with Unite.
It's no secret that Labour has become increasingly reliant on the trade unions for money as donations from the rich, who bankrolled the party throughout the Blair years, have dried up. I first reported on this issue back in January and predicted that Labour's financial dependence on the unions would become a campaign issue.
The brothers were responsible for 64 per cent (£9.8m) of all donations to the party last year, with Unite, Britain's biggest union, responsible for 25 per cent (£3.6m). By contrast, when Tony Blair became Labour leader in 1994, the unions accounted for less than a third of all donations.
It's never healthy for a political party to become reliant on only a few sources of income and I'd be surprised if any Labour figure argued otherwise.
Right now being a member of a political party is an exercise in futility. You are just there as leaflet fodder; your opinions, your input, your creativity count for nothing as university and old school chums of the already senior are parachuted in with their vacuous opinions listened to attentively. keep to the Fen Causeway
