Labour facing bankruptcy

With the Tories in disarray, and the Prime Minister under pressure to resign, one would think that Labour were on a high. Unfortunately for them, that does not appear to be the case. Not only are they struggling to get the sort of commanding lead in the opinion polls needed to oust Boris Johnson at the next election and secure their own majority, but Keir Starmer's party is beset by internal squabbles of its own.

The Independent reports that Labour are facing bankruptcy as its biggest union donor, Unite, says it could pull its remaining support.

The paper quotes the Unite general secretary as saying that the “remaining financial support” her union provides the party was “under review” due to an ongoing dispute between a Labour-run council and refuse collection workers:

Sharon Graham — the union chief who replaced Len McCluskey last year — stressed that Sir Keir’s party needed to “act like labour, be the party for workers” and accused Coventry council of “mistreatment” of members.

“Let me be very clear - the remaining financial support of Labour Party is now under review,” she said in a message on Wednesday evening.

“Your behaviour and mistreatment of our members will not be accepted. It’s time to act like labour, be the party for workers.”

They add that Labour has already passed a round of mass redundancies and asked staff to take a real-terms pay cut amid a funding crisis in the party. They have also seen a vast exodus of members since Sir Keir took over and stripped the party of most of its radical policies – resulting in a dramatic cut in membership subscriptions and shortfall in revenue.

Unite is Britain's second biggest union and Labour's biggest donor. In December, Graham said she did not think Unite was getting "the best value" from its cash by giving it to Labour. It looks like Starmer is going to have to find an alternative source of funding.