The Tories open fire on Unite

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 funding Labour and opposing reform, and there’s even a new digital poster campaign to go along with it.  The gloves are well and truly off.

As for what the shadow ministers actually said, Villiers highlighted Unite’s role in the BA troubles, while Gove gave a speech which argued that Brown’s Labour Party “bears only the most superficial resemblance to the Labour Party that swept to power in 1997.” There were passages outlining Unite’s heavy presence in both Labour’s funding rolls and their candidate lists. And an entire section devoted to the creeping