Labour bigwigs accepted £480k from trade unions before capitulating to pay hikes
Labour bigwigs accepted £480k from trade unions before capitulating to pay hikes
PA
Cabinet Ministers received hundreds of thousands of pounds from trade unions before capitulating to pay deals with public sector workers.
Sir Keir Starmer’s inner circle accepted £480,030 in cash and donations in kind from Labour’s trade union backers since 2019.
The donations came before Chancellor Rachel Reeves agreed to inflation-busting pay rises for millions of public sector workers.
Teachers and nurses look set to pocket a 5.5 per cent pay increase, while prison service workers and senior NHS managers can expect to see salaries soar by five per cent.
Labour bigwigs accepted £480k from trade unions before capitulating to pay hikesPATrain drivers have also been offered a huge hike of 14 per cent over three years.
Reeves ultimately decides whether or not to give the go-ahead to the rises after deals are drawn up by independent pay boards.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting received £14,286 in support from unions in the past five years, The Telegraph has revealed.
Unison contributed £3,143 to cover the costs of printing campaign leaflets.
Aslef first began striking in July 2022PABritain’s biggest trade union voted for strike action two years ago over the Government’s four per cent pay offer at a time when inflation hit 11 per cent.
Transport Secretary Louise Haigh also received a total of £24,289 in union support since 2019.
More than £12,000 of this sum was donated either to her local party or indirectly via the central party by the GMB union in January 2020.
GMB also contributed £10,040 in indirect donations to Home Secretary Yvette Cooper.
Ambulance workers on the picket line in Bournemouth, Dorset, during a strike by members of the Unison union in the long-running dispute over pay and staffing on 10 February 2023. PASenior Tories have accused Labour of being in the pocket of trade union fat-cats.
Ex-Defence Secretary Ben Wallace last week accused the Labour Government of prioritising union “paymasters” over national security.
However, GB News understands that Labour is looking to maintain a strong working partnership with trade unions to ensure the economy grows and living standards improve.
Unions have been putting increased pressure on Labour, with trian drivers threatening 22 days of industrial action.
Aslef announced a strike every weekend from the end of August to mid-November and the RMT is threatening to also take industrial action if its demands are not met.
A Labour Party spokesman said: "All donations are declared in accordance with Parliamentary and Electoral Commission rules."