Unite chief Len McCluskey ramps up threat to cut Labour funding

Unite chief Len McCluskey ramps up threat to cut Labour funding over Keir Starmer’s ‘reckless’ payout to anti-Semitism whistleblowers

  • Len McCluskey has said it is ‘perfectly legitimate’ for Unite to look at donations
  • Union baron voiced concerns about decision to settle case with whistleblowers 
  • Labour is paying damages to staffers who blew whistle over anti-Semitism cases 

Len McCluskey today ramped up threats to cut Labour funding over Keir Starmer’s ‘reckless’ payout to anti-Semitism whistleblowers.

The Unite chief said it was ‘perfectly legitimate’ for the union to look at its donations to the party following the damages settlement. 

Mr McCluskey, an ally of former leader Jeremy Corbyn, said ’eminent barristers’ had advised Labour it could win the case. 

He also delivered a warning to Sir Keir that Unite expected to be ‘influential’ and the Left should be ‘very much involved’ in policies. 

The comments come after seven former employees from the party’s governance and legal unit, who were responsible for the investigation of allegations of misconduct by party members, sued Labour after it issued a press release describing them as having ‘personal and political axes to grind’.

Len McCluskey (pictured left earlier this year) has ramped up threats to cut Labour funding over Keir Starmer’s ‘reckless’ payout to anti-Semitism whistleblowers

The legal action followed the broadcast in July 2019 of a BBC Panorama programme titled Is Labour Anti-Semitic?.

The party has refused to disclose how much the settlement would end up costing, but fees and damages are thought likely to amount to nearly £375,000.

Sir Keir’s predecessor Mr Corbyn called the decision to settle ‘disappointing’ and claimed it was a ‘political decision, not a legal one’.

Mr Corybn said his team was advised while he was leader that the ‘party had a strong defence’.

Panorama reporter John Ware is taking legal action against the Islington North MP following the remarks.

Mr McCluskey suggested in an interview with the Observer yesterday that donations would be reconsidered.

And speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme this morning, he said Sr Keir had made a ‘miscalculation’.

‘It was a clear miscalculation, I’m afraid, it’s like pinning a sign up to people saying ”queue here with your writ and get paid out by the Labour Party”,’ he said. 

Asked if he had ordered a review of the trade union’s funding of the party, Mr McCluskey said: ‘I haven’t ordered a review, I was asked a question in an interview and I replied by saying … when my executive meets I’m quite certain that they would want questions answered. 

‘It isn’t a question about ordering reviews, but of course we do make donations, affiliations, to the Labour Party. 

‘It’s our members’ money, their pennies and pounds, and they expect us to be influential… 

Mr McCluskey also delivered a warning to Sir Keir (pictured on a visit to Peterborough last week) that Unite expected to be 'influential'

Mr McCluskey also delivered a warning to Sir Keir (pictured on a visit to Peterborough last week) that Unite expected to be ‘influential’ 

‘It is perfectly legitimate for us to raise concerns when money is being spent, especially if we believe that money is being spent recklessly.’ 

He added: ‘I have made it clear that we support Keir… my only message to him is that he needs to be careful that the balance he is approaching with policies makes certain that the Left is very much involved in that.’ 

Under Mr Corbyn’s leadership, the party was dogged with allegations that it had failed to take action over members accused of promoting anti-Semitism. 

Labour has not commented on Mr McCluskey’s donation threat, but Sir Keir’s spokesman previously said all three candidates in the final of the party’s leadership contest, which concluded in April, had agreed they wanted to see the case settled.

The spokesman told reporters last month: ‘I think it is worth remembering that during the leadership contest, all three candidates – Rebecca (Long-Bailey), Keir and Lisa (Nandy) – said, and all pledged at the Jewish Labour Movement hustings, that they would seek to settle this issue and that also they believed the party had not taken the right approach at the time.’