Len McCluskey: ‘Labour should not be taking Unite’s money for granted’

Len McCluskey, the uncompromising general secretary of the Unite union, chuckles at the suggestion that his tenure in charge of Labour’s most generous financial backer will come to a premature end. “There’s lots of people who would be delighted to see the back of me, but they’re gonna have to put up with me a little longer,” he says. “I’m going nowhere.”

As one of the most powerful supporters of Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership, rumours that he would depart before his mandate ends in April 2022 were seen as evidence that Labour’s left, so dominant under Corbyn, was melting away. In a wide-ranging interview with the Observer, however, McCluskey not only insists he will be in charge until his mandate expires, he also says the left is regrouping, that it will continue to demand a major say over Labour’s direction – and puts Keir Starmer on notice against any shift to the right.

McCluskey waves a leaflet, Starmer’s 10 campaign pledges, which included higher tax on the wealthy, the abolition of tuition fees, the “common ownership” of rail, mail, energy and water, and ending NHS outsourcing. “The fact is that Keir Starmer ran on a radical programme, some might say a Corbyn programme, and of course I keep this to hand,” he says. “I intend to keep that front and centre for the coming months and years.

“He has our support. That means that initially, in the first 100 days which he’s gone through, he has to make his mark. He has to do things – it’s almost like a honeymoon period. You get away with certain things. And my view with the left was, ‘look, just calm down until we get to the stage of whether there’s a shift in and a move in policies, because that would constitute a problem … Keir has got to steer that way through’. For me, he has to recognise that the ship he is sailing, if it lists too much to the right, then it will go under.”

Labour agreed to pay ‘substantial damages’ to seven whistleblowers over ‘defamatory and false allegations’ made following a BBC Panorama investigation into anti-Semitism. Photograph: Daniel Leal-Olivas/PA

Unite and other unions are watching Starmer carefully, he says. “There will be some interesting debates and discussions in the coming months with Keir, not only for myself but all the unions on the left who are equally in a situation at the moment where they’re wondering where we are, what direction are we going in. Are we in the 10 pledge direction? If so, then good.”

There is one early decision, though, that has infuriated McCluskey – the party’s decision to pay “substantial damages” to seven former party workers who turned whistleblowers over antisemitism in a BBC Panorama documentary. They sued after the party suggested they had acted in bad faith. There is “no doubt” Unite’s executive committee will now want to review the huge sums it gives to Labour – more than £7m since the start of 2019, according to Electoral Commission records – McCluskey says, calling the settlement a “huge miscalculation”.

He says that Labour’s own legal advice stated it would successfully fight the claims in court – a statement disputed by party sources. “It’s quite extraordinary, especially from a barrister,” he says. “All of us want to try to draw a line under the issue [of antisemitism]. The quicker the last antisemite in the Labour party is expelled and kicked out, the better for all of us. So I understood him wanting to do that, but you have to balance things.

“There were lots of claims and criticisms that the Labour party was institutionally antisemitic. I absolutely reject that.”

He also points to a leaked report, drawn up at the end of Corbyn’s leadership, that alleges some staff, opposed to the leader during the 2017 election, took money away from his team’s control. Would Unite really ever stop paying Labour’s bills? “It would be a mistake if anybody took Unite for granted. I think that would be a mistake.”

We stand for those principles of radicalism and socialism that we’ve fought for all our lives

Len McCluskey

While he is reserving judgment on Labour policy, he has some early concerns about tactics. “At the moment there seems to be almost an attitude that says, ‘well, let’s say nothing, let’s keep quiet’. I think that’s dangerous,” he says. “There’s nothing wrong with caution, so long as that doesn’t slip into fear or timidity. I think that’s exactly what happened to Ed Miliband.

“I worry about what I hear coming out of the Treasury team. It’s got individuals in there that I have a huge question mark over.” Who? “Pat McFadden, Wes Streeting, [prominent Corbyn critics] who are not only cautious, but effectively believe that the last five years of [former shadow chancellor John] McDonnell’s alternative economic strategy was a disaster.”

The left is bruised, but not defeated, he says. “I was trying to persuade Jeremy and John that this perceived move towards a second referendum and Remain was going to be disastrous [at the last election],” he says. “The scale of the defeat was difficult to contemplate and therefore, of course, the left and the so-called Corbyn project, socialism, took a major hit. The election of Keir against the perceived left candidate Rebecca Long-Bailey was a further disappointment. So people have to brush themselves down, but the reports of the left’s death are greatly exaggerated.”

In fact, he says there are plans for a rejuvenation of the left – a “major gathering” that is likely to feature Corbyn himself. Won’t it be seen as a rival to Labour’s official conference, reinforcing splits?

“I’ve no doubt that people may see it as an alternative. It’s not supposed to be an alternative. It’s supposed to be a declaration that we are here. We are going nowhere. And we stand for those principles of radicalism and socialism that we’ve fought for all our lives.”