LABOUR’s biggest paymaster, Len McCluskey, has warned that his Unite union could slash funding for the party if Ed Miliband forms a coalition with the Liberal Democrats next year.
McCluskey, the general secretary of Unite — Britain’s biggest union — said it would be “very, very dangerous” for Labour to do a deal with Nick Clegg’s party and signalled that Unite could disaffiliate from the party. Unite has given £12m to Labour since the 2010 election.
Speaking on the eve of the TUC congress in Liverpool, McCluskey said joining forces with the Lib Dems would not be well received by his 1.4m members. He told The Observer: “If they enter into a coalition, there is no doubt it would lead to a discussion about our relationship with Labour. I think it would raise serious issues within the union.
“In Unite in our rule book we are affiliated to the Labour party, so any argument about disaffiliating would have to go to a rules conference — that is, a huge conference of our activists who would have to debate that. To enter into a coalition in those circumstances would be very, very dangerous, given the way the Liberal Democrats have played during the coalition.”
The intervention will concern Miliband’s team, many of whom believe the Labour leader will struggle to win a majority next May.
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McCluskey said he was concerned that teaming up with the Lib Dems would lead to Labour adopting an “austerity-lite” programme.