Unions warn against 'out of control' political spending

Trade unions have called for "out of control" political spending to be reined in, suggesting that the "health and integrity of democracy" have been threatened by donations totalling £72m to Reform UK.

In a joint statement, the TUC - the umbrella group for unions in the UK - called on the government to "protect our democracy from being captured by the super rich".

There is no explicit call for a cap on domestic donations to match those the government plans to impose on foreign-based donations.

But unions have signalled they are open to discussions with policymakers on any initiatives to "clean up" party funding.

The statement, issued at the TUC's annual congress in Brighton, also makes the case that trade union donations should not be treated in the same way as big contributions to parties from rich individuals.

The debate over donations to political parties has been reignited after Reform UK received two donations totalling £72m from two British crypto-billionaires who have both recently lived abroad.

The government is planning to change the law on donations to UK political parties from British voters living overseas, including a £100,000 cap backdated to 25 March.

There are currently no restrictions on the amount of money UK-based donors can give to political parties.

Since 2020, Labour has received almost £43m from trade unions, who raise their money through individual workers' membership fees.

Many in the trade union movement - especially those with links to Labour - have been wary of a cap on domestic donations in case a future government used this to restrict their donations.

But behind the scenes officials recognise the eye-watering donations from Reform UK have changed the game and some form of domestic cap may have to be considered.

The leader of the Unite union Sharon Graham told the BBC she favoured a cap of £500,000 to £1m on individual donations from UK-based citizens.

But she argued that as union donations are made of lots of individual members making a contribution through a political levy then this should be treated differently.

She said: "There is a difference between a crypto-billionaire based in the UK or abroad giving millions and trade union members who are nurses, cleaners, bus drivers giving 10p a week which adds up cumulatively to what we give to Labour."

The GMB union has been one of the most wary over the implications of a domestic donations cap.

Its general secretary Gary Smith told the BBC: "Whether there will be a cap on political donations, we will wait and see.

"We will talk to the government at the appropriate time but we can't have any confusion between the political voice working people have through their unions and crypto-billionaires."

What is interesting about Tuesday's union statement is not just what it says but what it doesn't.

There has been no consensus on calling for caps on the spending of political parties rather than donations - one option for dealing with the Reform war chest.

Another option was to treat big unions donations as a series of donations from individual members. For example a million strong union that donates £1m to Labour would have been regarded as making donations of £1 a member - thus escaping a cap. Some believe this would be politically difficult to argue.

Not all unions donate to Labour and those which do not are therefore very relaxed about a cap.

One even said the events of the past few days have been helpful in arguing for more restrictions on political donations.

But I understand discussions will continue amongst those unions with financial links to Labour- including the three biggest in the UK - to try to reach a common position on Wednesday behind closed doors in Brighton and possibly in days and weeks ahead.

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