How to understand the row between Angela Rayner and Unite – and what it means for Labour’s relationship with the unions

By Eric Shaw, Honorary Research Fellow in Politics, University of Stirling

At its recent conference in Brighton, the union Unite voted overwhelmingly to expel deputy prime minister Angela Rayner from membership.

The successful motion denounced the way Birmingham’s Labour council has handled a pay dispute with the city’s bin workers, which, it claimed, involved large pay cuts. The motion also condemned the Labour government for supporting the council.

Rayner was suspended because, in the words…

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