Tories call for London Labour police probe

The scandal has put Labour leader Ed Miliband and Unite general secretary Len McCluskey at loggerheads. Picture: Stefan Rousseau/Lewis Whyld/PA Wire

Monday, July 8, 2013
1:36 PM

The Metropolitan Police has been asked to investigate the Labour Party?s selection process in two London constituencies following allegations that the Unite union tried to rig the result of a candidate selection in Falkirk.

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The request has come from the Conservative Party vice-chairman Bob Neill, who has written to Met Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe asking him to look into allegations of possible fraud relating to Ilford North and Lewisham Deptford constituencies.

The call comes after Labour handed over evidence to police in Scotland about claims that the Unite union tried to fix the result of a candidate selection in Scotland by packing a constituency with members, whose subscriptions it paid.

Mr Neill described Falkirk as ?the tip of the iceberg?, noting that a leaked Unite document suggested the union was getting involved in the choice of a candidate for the 2015 general election in 41 seats across the country.

In his letter to the Commissioner, Mr Neill said: ?I am concerned that this instance is just the tip of the iceberg, as Unite themselves admit they are targeting at least another 40 Labour Party parliamentary selections for similar treatment. Senior Labour Party sources have also confessed that the problems go wider than just Falkirk.?

The Tory MP cited reports that in Ilford North Unite were offering their members free Labour Party membership in exchange for attending a meeting with general secretary Len McCluskey.

He also quoted allegations from a Labour London activist that the union was ?bankrolling? a number of campaigns, including in Lewisham Deptford.

A Labour source dismissed the allegations, saying: ?This is a silly political stunt. We have no evidence of possible criminal behaviour anywhere outside Falkirk.

?If Bob Neill has, he should produce it. If he has not, he should stop wasting police time.?

The new allegations came as Labour leader Ed Miliband came under pressure to take radical steps to curb trade union influence over his party.

He is expected to use a high-stakes speech tomorrow to announce reforms to the way the party is organised - including caps on spending in candidate selections and elections to senior party positions. He has already scrapped a Blair-era scheme under which unions were able to pay the subs of new members which they recruited to the party.

The Labour leader said at the weekend that he wanted to ?mend... not end? the link with unions to give more influence to individual members.

Source: http://www.london24.com/tories_call_for_london_labour_police_probe_1_2269404

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