You're funding Labour, whether you like it or not.

As the threatened strike by Unite members at British Airways draws closer, concerns have (justifiably) been raised about the amount of money given to the Labour party by Trades Unions.  One of the most worrying things is where that money comes from.


In the last twelve months alone, Labour have received £11 million (that's 60% of their funding) from the Trades Unions, £3.6 million of that coming from Unite.  In fact, since 2007 Unite have donated some £11 million pounds to the party.

That is an awful lot of money, and I am sure that it buys an awful lot of influence (more of that tomorrow...).  But even more worrying than the influence that it buys, is where a portion of that money comes from.

Since its establishment in 2005, the Union Modernisation Fund has given in excess of £4.5 million to Unite, who in turn have given £11 million back to the Labour party.  It doesn't take a great stretch of the imagination to consider that possibility that had the UMF not existed, Unite's donations may well have been £4.5m lighter.

Throw in to the mix the Department for International Development; who also happen to bankroll unions the world over and you've got quite a vicious little circle going on.

The main problem with this?  Well, who provides this money in the first place?

The answer is you, dear reader.

As you go about your daily life, paying your taxes, being a good citizen, you are unwittingly funding the Labour party through it's nice little earner.  You pay the government, the government pays the unions, the unions pay the Labour party.  It doesn't matter one jot whether you're a staunch Labourite or hate them with a passion; your money finds its way into Labour's pockets.

In any other business this would be called money laundering, or a protection racket.  For the Labour party it's just a nice little earner.

As Maggie once, famously, said to the EU; I want my money back!