So it seems it’s not just Bercow misusing the Parliamentary Estate and status. In what has already been yet another uncomfortable day for Labour, the Tories have scored a late hit. The Serjeant at Arms has cancelled a Unite the Union event in Parliament at the eleventh hour. The Tories fairly complained that this was not an appropriate use of the Palace of Westminster:

‘Unite is campaigning for a Labour win in the parliamentary and local government elections later this year.  Our members are convinced this is the right thing to do and are inviting you to play a part in our campaign… To get things moving on the campaign, we are inviting you to a reception at the House of Commons. Your MPs and Counsellors [sic] will be there, as well as senior union representatives.  More importantly, other members will be there from Unite and the unions we are campaigning with.”

Whelan wanders round unhindered with an inexplicable Lobby pass and with plans like this, Unite must think they are above the rules. The news cycles of the past four days have been filled with nothing but anti-Gordon and Labour stories, nothing like a little union funding scandal to keep the flames stoked. The donation figures released today also puts Brown’s Ashcroft dig at PMQs that Labour “has no big donors” in a somewhat dubious light. Apart from the union millions flowing in, Labour was also the recipient of the two largest single donations (of over a million pounds each) in the last quarter…