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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Toby Helm

David Cameron will attack Gordon Brown over Charlie Whelan at PMQs

Predictions about politics are dangerous, particularly so close to the event. But here are some for today's prime minister's questions.

The Tories think they are on a bit of a roll over the Unite trade union's involvement in the threatened BA strike, and Charlie Whelan's position as the union's political director.

Unite is Labour's paymaster-in-chief, and Whelan (who is Brown's friend and informal adviser) basically runs its political operations with a rod of iron.

Brown has condemned the strike but still relies on Unite's money, and on Whelan for guidance on how to go at the Tories in the run-up to the election.

Out of all this the Conservatives see an opening after being pummelled for weeks over their donations from Lord Ashcroft.
So I reckon Cameron will today go hard for Brown over just this point.

"You and your ministers have condemned this strike," he will say, adding something like, "so will you now hand back the millions that Unite has pumped into Labour party funds?"

Then amid the din he will press further: "Will you also disown Whelan, the union's political director who is behind the strike?"

The attack will have more force because Whelan is now playing an increasing role in Labour's general election planning and spinning while still in the employ of the union whose actions threaten misery for hundreds of thousands of travellers.

For months Whelan has been edging his way back into Labour's frontline, attending morning meetings with the Brown's inner circle at No 10.

It is all quite tricky for Brown to defend.

The PM will, I presume, dodge the Cameron onslaught by returning the debate to matters relating to Ashcroft. "Will the leader of the opposition hand back the millions of pounds his party has received from a man who in 2000 gave guarantees that he would pay tens of millions pounds of tax in this country?"

I may be wrong, but I doubt it.

12.20pm update: So Cameron has, as predicted, gone for Brown over Unite and the strike but, interestingly, not so directly on the donations issue as I thought he would, though he did at the end say that Labour was "a wholly owned subsidiary" of Unite, which is not far off.

Instead Cameron challenged Brown over and again on whether he would back people crossing the picket lines to ensure BA could still operate on Saturday. Brown did not answer directly.

I suspect Cameron feared that by asking too directly about Unite's donations he would invite the Ashcroft comeback from Brown – and the Tories remain terrified that the Ashcroft saga is damaging them.

Overall Cameron won this one. Brown had a bad day, having to admit he got it wrong over defence spending. And the Unite strike will continue to damage Labour. It could not have come at a worse time for them.

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