More than a quarter of Labour MPs received a £400,000 cash boost from Britain’s biggest union
Donations from Unite poured in to one in four Labour MPs around the June polling day
MORE than a quarter of Labour MPs shared a £400,000 cash boost from Britain’s biggest union days before last month’s election, it has emerged.
Donations poured in from Len McCluskey’s Unite for 75 candidates around polling day.
Newly elected Laura Piddock received £25,000, while leader Jeremy Corbyn received £2,000, the Register of MPs’ Financial Interests shows.
Labour moderates such as Chuka Umunna did not receive Unite funding.
The union last night said it was “proud to have played its part” in stopping a Tory majority.
Tory MP Peter Bone said: “It does seem to prove that Labour are in the hands of the big unions, with Unite in particular.
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“They are helping to drive the Corbynista agenda. It’s not necessarily good for democracy. We wonder how independent they are going to be on issues.”
A spokesman for the union last night said: “Unite is proud to have played its part in preventing the disastrous May government from securing a landslide, and to bring the country closer to a Labour government that will truly be on the side of working people.”