Is it bad form to promote your own stories? I’ve no idea. But I revealed in this morning’s FT that Labour managed 18 months ago to agree an interest holiday with the seven remaining millionaires which lent it a small fortune in 2005 – but that it will have to resume interest payments in July.

At an interest rate of 6.5 per cent that means a total of £3m to be paid in the next five-year Parliament – followed by the repayment of £9m capital in September 2015. Here’s the full story. Read more

Unite’s membership is supposedly about 2m, according to The Economist, the BBC, the Sunday Times etc. I’m sure the union is happy to encourage this.

In fact Unite revised down its membership last summer from 1.95m to 1.64m members, as I revealed back then. In the UK the figure is just 1.54m. The revision came about after officials checked their membership lists and discovered a quarter of a million “ghosts” who were either dead or no longer members. Read more

First things first. I don’t want to underestimate the importance of Unite to Labour, and the extent to which it holds sway financially. (And again I’d recommend this column in the Times.)

Unite has given an enormous £11m to Labour since it was formed in 2007 – of which £3.5m was given last year. It has also stood in between the party and financial disaster by agreeing to keep backing it in the future. The party leadership has to listen to the barons – although their influence over policy is still not always clearcut. Read more

Britain’s biggest union will get its first solo leader next autum and the result could be significant for British politics – because Unite the Union is by far Labour’s most generous donor.

The curious rumour reaches me that Jack Dromey (husband of Harriet Harman) could soon emerge as a surprise candidate. Currently a deputy general secretary of Unite, Dromey is an ardently loyal Labour figure who would ensure a seamless transition. He would not rock the boat. Read more