Biting the hand that feeds
Figures released today by the Electoral Commission - show that the trade unions provided the Labour party with 87% of all its donations - in the first three months of 2011.
Now all political parties rely on donations simply to exist - because they don't receive direct state funding - and have no other sources of income - beyond the generosity of party members and supporters.
But things appear to be going from bad to worse - because even under Gordon Brown the figure stood at 56%.
So the party is becoming ever more reliant on the unions - financially speaking - with Ed Miliband as Labour leader.
Now this is not so surprising in one sense at least.
Because the only section of Labour's electoral college in which Ed Miliband received more votes than his brother David Miliband - was the trade union section.
Where a relative handful of of trade union activists cast the same 'one third' of the total electoral college - as did individual party members.
Now there's something fundamentally wrong and undemocratic - about the way Labour selects its leaders.
I suspect Ed Miliband agrees with that assessment - but his problem is that to do something about it, to tackle the vested interests involved - he has to bite the hand that feeds him.
Now all political parties rely on donations simply to exist - because they don't receive direct state funding - and have no other sources of income - beyond the generosity of party members and supporters.
But things appear to be going from bad to worse - because even under Gordon Brown the figure stood at 56%.
So the party is becoming ever more reliant on the unions - financially speaking - with Ed Miliband as Labour leader.
Now this is not so surprising in one sense at least.
Because the only section of Labour's electoral college in which Ed Miliband received more votes than his brother David Miliband - was the trade union section.
Where a relative handful of of trade union activists cast the same 'one third' of the total electoral college - as did individual party members.
Now there's something fundamentally wrong and undemocratic - about the way Labour selects its leaders.
I suspect Ed Miliband agrees with that assessment - but his problem is that to do something about it, to tackle the vested interests involved - he has to bite the hand that feeds him.
