ALL ANGLOSPHERIC POLITICS IS THE SAME:

The chief source of funding for the Labour party - the trade union political funds - are likely to undergo big cuts as a result of a bill being introduced by the business secretary.

The trade union bill, put forward by the business secretary, Sajid Javid, will create a shift from a current system whereby union members have to contract out from paying the political levy to one in which they have to opt in. The change, from a system of inertia to one in which members actively choose to pay, is likely to lead to a big drop in income to the unions.

A similar reform, in the 1927 Trade Union Act, resulted in a fall in the number of political levy payers from 3.5million to 2million, and a drop in party income of 20%. Between May 2010 and December 2014, Labour received donations of £48.6m from trade unions, nearly half the £110m that the party took during that period, which illustrates how important the union movement remains to Labour's electoral machine.

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