The Unite union is to cut its funding to the Labour Party as general secretary Len McCluskey issued a warning to Keir Starmer.
Unite is Labour’s biggest single donor and has given more than £20million to the party and its politicians since 2016.
It is understood to have decided it will cut affiliation fee by about ten per cent by reducing its affiliation to the party by around 50,000 members.
The move came as Keir Starmer moved Labour into by-election gear by hosting a Call Keir virtual public meetings on Wednesday in the Rutherglen and Hamilton West held by disgraced nationalist MP Margaret Ferrier.
Although Ferrier has is refusing to quit over her repeated breach of covid rules, Scottish Labour is nonetheless preparing for a by-election.
Ahead of the 4pm event Starmer said: “I want to speak directly to local residents about this scandal, to those locally who are feeling angry and frustrated about the situation.
“I also want to hear how the community is coping with coronavirus, how they feel the UK and Scottish Governments have handled the pandemic, and what the Labour Party needs to do to rebuild trust among those voters we have lost.”
Unite boss Len McCluskey hinted funding could be cut further if Starmer drifts too far from the left-wing course set by his ally Jeremy Corbyn.
He told BBC Newsnight: “I have no doubt if things start to move in different directions and ordinary working people start saying, well, I’m not sure what Labour stand for.
“Then my activists will ask me, why are we given so much money?”
McCluskey was particularly critical of Labour’s payout to whistle-blowers over the party’s handling of antisemitism under Corbyn.
He said there was “a lot of anger over that” and “we shouldn’t have paid them anything”.
