Sun’s false claim Ed M’s in the pocket of the unions

Ed Miliband's leadership campaign may not have the money that his older brother David's does, but he is sure that the support of 4,500 volunteers has made up for it. Figures released by the Electoral Commission today show that Ed's fundraising last month overtook David's by nearly £21,500.

Ed Miliband’s leadership campaign may not have the money that his older brother David’s does, but he is sure that the  support of 4,500 volunteers has made up for it. Figures released by the Electoral Commission today show that Ed’s fundraising last month overtook David’s by nearly £21,500.

Today’s ‘slur’ in the Sun, which describes various unions of trying to “buy” Miliband junior suggests that they are trying to pay for influence.

“Unite spent £200,000 on pro-Ed letters to 1.1million members. It also spent £20,000 on texts. Ed’s campaign got £28,000 from the GMB in July, and a £105,000 donation from Unite will be confirmed today.

“In return, they want Ed to boost their power if he ever gets to No10.”

In an email sent to members last night, Ed said:

“We still need your help in these final days if we are to make our strong campaign count, win this election and show that we can turn those values into action for the people we serve.”

So far, the campaign has raised a total of £328,000 with £133,000 donated by trade unions and £95,000 coming from small donations.

Other payments disclosed to the Electoral Commission show that David’s campaign, which is said to have raised over £450,000 since May, has taken a variety of donations, including from unions. Ed Balls has had £100,000 donated to him by author, Ken Follett, and an additional £23,000 from donors such as the Communication Workers Union. Andy Burnham has taken £37,4000 from businesses and individuals, including footballer Jamie Carragher.

Diane Abbott is yet to disclose any donations.

All information regarding disclosed donations to all five candidates is available from the Electoral Commission.

25 Responses to “Sun’s false claim Ed M’s in the pocket of the unions”

  1. amol rajan

    RT @sunny_hundal: RT @leftfootfwd: Sun's false claim @Ed_Miliband's in the pocket of the unions: http://bit.ly/9O9I2z << wonder wh …

  2. Daniel Mayhew

    unemployment was high in the late 70’s the standard of living was over all lower, lower debt- wasn’t the country bankrupt in 1976 and had to take an emergency loan, I agree that the power system was better on price but very dirty, I have no clue on taxation levels tbh, safer streets I would there was a different kind of threat then now, crime is at levels know as the late 70’s.

    Total agree on you that in general the Social cohesion of comities was better then now but these day there seems to be less of generation gap between parents and there kids.

    The political system is the same as it was then bar the lord so can’t see why it is more accountable.
    Safer working practices total rubbish heath and safety is much better (partly thanks to unions of the 70’s) and agian i’ll disagree the retirement age was lower cos life’s were shorter and income (well that was done to the 80’s).
    Sorry OLD labour bankrupted the country.

  3. Ben Lyons

    The implication of the opening sentence is that Ed Miliband has had more volunteers than David. Actually, the Social Media Lead on David’s campaign tweeted today that 5,500 people have volunteered for David’s campaign.

    https://twitter.com/Jessica_Asato/status/24000876762

  4. Ben Lyons

    @leftfootfwd implies EM has had more volunteers than DM. But @DMiliband has had 5500 volunteers, 1000 more than Ed http://bit.ly/9O9I2z

  5. Wes Streeting

    RT @BenLyons1: @leftfootfwd implies EM has had more volunteers than DM. But @DMiliband has had 5500 volunteers, 1000 more than Ed http://bit.ly/9O9I2z

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