If one job is lost at Vauxhall, then Unite should disaffiliate from Labour, and instead start funding individual candidates, of any party or none, based on their views. But then, like every union, Unite should do that anyway, and indeed should already have done it.

Here’s a bit of fun speculation, at least if you’re not a Tory. Let’s suppose most of the last 10 days’ polls are right, and David Cameron’s Tories are destined to have fewer MPs than Labour in the House of Commons (even if they win more votes) – what would the Tories do? That’s the

So, the Tories have declared war on Charlie Whelan and Unite - what Eric Pickles calls the "great untold story of British politics". He was joined by no less than two more shadow frontbenchers - Michael Gove and Theresa Villiers - at a briefing attacking the union's political influence this morning. And that's not all: the Tories have produced a document detailing how Unite is ...

As the residents of Maidenhead are finding out after the Conservative council axes a local creche, David Cameron’s party is not child-friendly. Yesterday The Mirror told us what we all suspected would be the case – a Cameron government would close Sure Start centres for average people: The Tories delivered a devastating blow to working

The Tories Unite strategy has been so effective, even Peter Mandelson is peddling it. Led by Mandelson, Labour’s isolated right has questioned Unite’s influence over candidate selection. James Purnell’s preferred successor, Jonny Reynolds, was omitted from the Stalybridge and Hyde shortlist, compiled by the NEC, which has two Unite members on its board. Mandelson and Purnell have...

Via LabourList: Just as Labour gets its new media act in order, cracks start to appear in the Tories cyber-strategy. The team that brought you Cameron’s Washing Up: The Movie is apparently under pressure and out of favour with the ‘old money’ at Tory HQ. The Tories web guru is Rishi Saha and he’s trying to do

Hat-tip to The Times’ Sam Coates for spotting the story in Unite’s ad campaign against the Tories (left), which ran in the Guardian (full-page) and the Morning Star yesterday (not sure if it ran in Tribune). Unite are already on shaky ground here, as the Tories aren’t the only...

Today is one of the biggest days in David Cameron's time as Tory leader.  If yesterday's expenses revelations were bad - and they certainly were - then today's are probably even worse.  Despite a well stage-managed Tory response to the scandal so far, there's a clear sense that something more needs to be done.  The Tories are now slipping in the polls just as Lab...

It is a while since the Tories were worth holding a demonstration against. But yesterday, right outside their conference, the trade union movement was back in town, waving placards and jeering at passing Tories. "Same old Tories, always cheating," ran the chant from members of Unite. Conservatives walking past grinned at the spectacle, rather enjoying being regarded as worthy of attack after a dec...

The Tories will be happy with their start to the week. David Cameron’s speech this morning has succeeded in highlighting how Labour had not suspended the whip from the three MPs charged by the CPS and drawn one of the Tories’ favourite contrasts, decisive Cameron versus dithering Brown. It was also refreshing to hear Cameron take a tough line on lobbying, proposing to double the waitin...