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Howard Beckett, the assistant general secretary of Unite, has warned his union will not support Labour elections candidates if they "act like a Tory".

Instead, he said: "If you act like a Tory, Unite in the West Midlands will treat you like a Tory."

Mr Beckett was speaking at a conference organised by the Socialist Party, the organisation once known as Militant which operated within the Labour Party before breaking away in 1991 and becoming a distinct party in its own right.

His words were reported by the Socialist Party in a conference report published on their website.

Mr Beckett has previously condemned Birmingham City Council's handling of the city's bin strike , telling the Labour Party annual conference in September that the authority was imposing “austerity” on staff and had “reneged” on a deal to end the strike.

Unite, the UK's largest trade union, is affiliated to the Labour Party. It represents striking Birmingham bin workers.

Mr Beckett told the Socialist Party event that "our responsibility" is to "call on Labour councils to act as socialists," according to the report on the Socialist Party website .

He said: "It's no good for them to act as complicit agents of the treasury, no good for them to hide behind budgets.

"I will say clearly to all in the West Midlands who claim to be Labour but talk like Tories: if you act like a Tory, Unite in the West Midlands will treat you like a Tory.

"If justice and socialism is not the drive for Birmingham councillors to behave as Labour, then perhaps next May's city council elections will be.

"Because Unite in Birmingham will not support any Tory, even those who are labelled Labour."

The Birmingham Mail contacted Unite to ask if Mr Beckett wished to comment.

A Unite spokesperson said: "Unite supports all Labour councils and candidates without exception." The was no further comment.

The event, called the Socialism 2017 conference, was held at a university venue in London and advertised as one for “students, trade unionists, Corbynistas, socialists and those who are socialist-curious”.

The Socialist Party is part of the Trade Union and Socialist Coalition (TUSC), which has stood candidates in local and national elections in opposition to candidates from other parties including Labour.

In May 2017’s local elections, the Socialist Party backed 78 candidates across the country standing under the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition banner.

A statement on the Socialist Party’s website before the election stated: “TUSC has continued to contest local elections against right-wing Labour councillors carrying out Tory cuts but it has not stood candidates - including this Thursday - against Labour politicians who have resisted austerity in the council chambers.”

It also said the TUSC supported “the election of a Corbyn-led Labour government”.

The TUSC declined to stand candidates in this year’s general election, saying instead it was "working all out to try to get Jeremy Corbyn into Number Ten".

It marked a change from the policy before Mr Corbyn became Labour leader. The TUSC stood candidates in 135 constituencies in the 2015 general election and the Socialist Party website ran an article before polling day attacking Labour and Ed Miliband, the party’s leader at the time, saying: “Under Ed Miliband’s leadership the last vestiges of a working class voice within Labour have been destroyed.”

It continued: “The need for a new mass workers’ party that can provide a voice for the 99% against austerity has never been greater.”