If your own supporters won't stump, do a deal..

"Who(ever) bankrolls the piper.......

Many of us have watched with a certain detached interest as to how the Labour Party will square the financial circle, - £20 million in debt, falling membership and with previous large donors increasingly disillusioned, above all since the party has become accustomed to spending huge sums during and between elections. In 2006, a non-election year, 70% of donations, or £8.5 million, came from the unions. Since 2001, according the Telegraph, when parties first had to record large donations, the unions have given no less than £55 million. The Times calculates that in the first quarter of this year 90% of giving to Labour came from the unions.

We feared, even expected, that the price sought by the unions for baling out the party was policy concessions, especially restoring the unlamented "secondary" picketing.

From the Daily Telegraph and the Times yesterday and today, some of the prices are appearing.

One price is the domination of local branches, who will be expected to agree Constituency Development Plans (CDPs), and agree to a raft of union conditions, including appointing trade union officers to branch committees. The CDP will be fully implemented, and be subject to a written report by the union(s) every six months.

There are ongoing discussions on mandatory equal pay audits and increased difficulties to sack workers, in private industry.

Finally it has been discovered that companies who wish to win government contracts in public service delivery must promote trade union membership and offer education and training to union members. The contracts collectively are large, involing as much as 6% of UK GDP and up to 1.2 million employees.

In this way union membership will be promoted, especially in smaller units, such as care homes which are largly un-unionised at present. Union membership has fallen by 50% in the past 25 years.

How much this will affect employers immediately is not clear, since contracts have already been agreed for years into the future, and they hope that the return of a Conservative Government would undo all the conditions.

What happens in local Labour party branches is their concern, even if money comes with (union) strings attached. What happens in the award of contract is potentially much more serious, not least giving the Government another control over private industry.

The most serious is that Government should benefit outside donors, whether big business as under Blair (and the Tories) or trade unions. There is here another argument about devolving decision making. Interference and corruption in local government is much more likely to be spotted then behind the closed doors and secrecy of Westminster.