Keir Starmer would ‘welcome a bit of distance’ from Len McCluskey as union cuts funding, says Labour MP

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Get our free View from Westminster email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Sir Keir Starmer would “welcome a bit of distance” from Len McCluskey, a Labour MP has claimed, after the Unite union decided to cut funding amid frustration at the direction of the party. In an interview conducted last week but aired on BBC Newsnight yesterday, the union boss said: “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 giving so much money’?” He added: “But I don’t see at the moment any dramatic move to disaffiliate from the Labour Party. I’ve got an executive next week and there’s already some anger at the fact that the Labour Party paid out significant sums of money to individuals involved in that Panorama programme.” In response to Mr McCluskey’s comments, Ben Bradshaw, the Labour MP for Exeter who served in Gordon Brown’s cabinet, claimed: “What Unite members and ordinary people want is a Labour government and few people have done more to keep the Tories in power for the last 10 years than Len McCluskey. I hope at the same time what Keir will achieve is a broader spread of funding for the party rather than an unhealthy reliance on a single individual like Len McCluskey.” In response to the move, a spokesperson for the Labour leader said on Wednesday: “Unite has taken their decision; we’ve seen Len’s remarks.