10:15Momentum has sought Unite’s support since the group was established to support Jeremy Corbyn’s first leadership election campaign in 2015, according to insiders. At the organisation’s national steering committee meeting in February 2016, Jon Lansman told Momentum supporters that Unite wanted to support the group but would only do so if it only had Labour supporters as members, sources said. One source said: “It has been very important to Jon to gain support from Unite. He knows that the executive and Len McCluskey are key players in the movement and needs their support.”For over a year, Lansman has been involved in a power struggle for control of Momentum with Trotsykist and hard left factions who wanted to keep the group’s membership open to non-party members. Lansman eventually won the power struggle by mounting a so-called “coup” in January which means that all Momentum members from this summer will have to be Labour supporters too.

Source: The Guardian March 20, 2017 08:34 UTC