Unite suspended a £10,000 donation to Labour’s West Midlands mayoral candidate, Siôn Simon, because of alleged support from the union’s leadership candidate Gerard Coyne, the acting general secretary has said. Withholding funding could have severe implications for the Labour candidate, who already faces an uphill battle to defeat the Conservative candidate, Andy Street, the former John Lewis boss, who is now favourite for the mayoralty. In a statement, Cartmail said the decision not to offer Simon’s campaign financial support at this stage was hers and McCluskey had played no part in it. “The Labour party has acknowledged that this has happened, that it was unauthorised and that it should be halted. “However, neither Mr Simon nor Mr Coyne have explained the nature of their agreement, what provisions it might include, nor how and why it was arrived at.

Source: The Guardian March 04, 2017 15:45 UTC