Forget £8.09. Look at what £11 million buys you...

A little while back I asked the question "What would you buy with £8.09?".  Continuing a short series of posts on Labour's relationship with the trade union Unite I take another short look at what they actually get for their money.


On Wednesday I revealed that Unite have bankrolled Labour to the tune of £11 million since 2007 and yesterday I followed it up with a look at the massive influence that Unite's bankrolling of the party has upon party policy.

Now, however, it has become apparent that £11 million buys a lot more than just influence.

In PMQs on Wednesday questions were asked about the frequent visits of Charlie Whelan (the political director of Unite) to Number 10.  "Not much there", I hear you say, and I would agree; there could by any number of reasons why he has cause to discuss matters with Mr. Brown.  Especially considering that Mr. Brown has stated he has been talking to both sides in the threatened British Airways strike action.

However, there's more...

Mr. Whelan and another top Unite official, Tony Woodley, have been given Commons security passes by MPs and the party, effectively giving them free access to anywhere on the Commons estate; bars, restaurants, offices.  This gives them unparalleled access to MPs.  At a time when over 100 Labour MPs are bankrolled by Unite in a spectacular conflict of interests, this is a worrying development.

Even more worrying should be the revelation that one of Gordon Brown's top policy officials in Downing Street has her entire salary and pension contributions paid for by Unite.

Whilst it is one thing being bankrolled by a Union, it's another thing entirely when you start to have salaries paid for out of private purses.  How can Labour now honestly claim to represent the interests of the country as a whole when one of their main policy advisers in on the payroll of an influential backer?