The Labour Party was last night facing the loss of £700,000 in financial support from the country's largest trade union and the prospect of strikes by millions of council, health and education workers.
The twin threats from the country's biggest union, Unison, followed a warning that major issues covering the pay of public sector workers were now coming to a head.
General secretary David Prentis issued a strongly worded message to the Prime Minister that strikes would be launched if planned pay rises for council workers, teaching assistants and NHS staff were not properly funded.
The union's annual conference in Brighton will debate Unison's political fund today and whether to continue the current level of financial support to Labour.
Unison gives the party £1.5m a year in affiliation fees but it also gave £615,000 at the last General Election
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