LABOUR faces losing its biggest union backer as reps are being canvassed on cutting ties with the party, The National can reveal.
A survey has gone out to between 20,000 and 30,000 Unite reps across Scotland, England and Wales asking for their views on disaffiliating from the party, according to union insiders.
Unite ending its affiliation would inflict a major symbolic blow to Labour, severing its links with Britain’s largest trade union.
And it would deliver a punishing financial penalty, with the party currently enjoying an annual £1.4 million affiliation payment from the union.
One source told The National: “It looks like it’s favourable to disaffiliate.”
They said that the consultative survey was to “test the waters” after the union voted to reconsider its relationship with the party should it continue to fail to back striking bin workers in Birmingham.
In a dramatic measure last week, members voted to suspend Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner's (above) membership for telling workers to accept effective pay cuts.
Any decision about whether to disaffiliate from the Labour Party would need to be taken by a members’ vote at a special “rules” conference, which is not scheduled until 2027.
However, it is understood that pressure from lay members or committees within the union could push this forward to an earlier date.
Severance would cause financial headaches for Labour, whose finances are reportedly feeling the pinch.
An internal document warns Labour is in a “recovery plan” this year to address its “difficult financial position” and must secure “at least £4m to adequately resource the 2026 elections”, according to the New Statesman.
A union source said it would have been “unthinkable” for Unite to deliberate on disaffiliation even a few years ago, but said repeated blunders from Labour in power – from the Birmingham strikes to cuts to the Winter Fuel Payment cut and disability – had brought the issue into focus.
The revelation about the consultation, on which Unite have publicly remained quiet, could put pressure on the union’s private discussions with Labour about their relationship.
Sharon Graham, Unite’s general secretary, this week told the New Statesman that she did not want to “scupper” talks with Labour going on behind closed doors but added that it was becoming “harder to justify the affiliation” with the party.
Unite did not respond to requests for comment.
Labour were approached for comment.
