Len McCluskey, Jeremy Corbyn’s ally who is standing to be re-elected as head of Unite, disciplined his leadership rival, Gerard Coyne, last year as a punishment for addressing a group of Labour MPs in parliament without permission.

The head of Unite gave Coyne a “final written warning” for speaking at an event held by Labour for the Common Good, a group founded by Chuka Umunna and Tristram Hunt, two MPs who declined to join Corbyn’s shadow cabinet.

On 7 March, two months after the event and following a disciplinary hearing, McCluskey wrote a letter marked “strictly confidential” saying he had found that Coyne was guilty of a breach of trust and was giving him a final written warning that would sit on his record for 12 months.



In the letter, headed “A serious breach of trust”, McCluskey said Labour for the Common Good was a legitimate organisation but, “given that it is the brainchild of Chuka Umunna and Tristram Hunt who chose not to serve in a Corbyn shadow cabinet, it is clear that there are obvious differences with Unite’s political vision.”

The disciplinary procedures were completed eight months before McCluskey’s surprise announcement that he would resign as leader and stand again.

Coyne, from West Bromwich and a Unite member for 27 years, is the main challenger to McCluskey in a leadership contest that will conclude in March.

He is widely seen as the more centrist candidate in the battle for control of the union, which has played a pivotal role in propping up Corbyn as Labour leader in the last 18 months.



Unite, which has 1.4 million members, gives Labour £1.5m a year and many of the party’s MPs see the election for general secretary as a battle for the future direction of the Labour party.

Coyne was invited to the event in January 2016 by the MP for Birmingham Erdington, Jack Dromey, and spoke alongside other union leaders including John Park, assistant general secretary at Community. The event was attended by 40 MPs.

In an exchange of e-mails, Dromey wrote to McCluskey suggesting that Coyne’s speech in the House of Commons had been secretly recorded and a transcript had been handed to McCluskey. “You said that you were in possession of the transcript,” he wrote. McCluskey replied that he had read a transcript — “if indeed it was a true transcript” — but did not have a copy of the document.



In a statement for the union, Unite’s chief of staff Andrew Murray said Unite does not have in its possession, and has never had in its possession, any recording of the meeting.

Weeks after the meeting, McCluskey handed Coyne a letter claiming that disciplinary proceedings would be initiated against him for speaking on a platform “inconsistent with the principles of the union”.



Coyne attended a disciplinary hearing on 1 March, where McCluskey said he had read a transcript of the Labour MPs’ meeting.



In the disciplinary letter that followed a few days later, McCluskey added: “Given the sensitivity within the Labour party at the moment with constant attacks on the leadership of the party and a clear determination by some to undermine Corbyn and create alternatives, the question is: should a senior officer in Unite have chosen to speak on such a platform (any platform) without seeking the views/authority of the chief of staff or the general secretary or at least sought guidance from the political department.”

Andrew Murray, Unite’s chief of staff, said the union could not comment on disciplinary action but said action may be taken against anyone who had leaked information to the media.

“The union takes very seriously any suggestion that information about any such proceedings might be supplied to the media. All Unite’s disciplinary procedures are under the control of, and subject to ultimate appeal to, our lay executive council and any implication that Unite or any official employed by it have abused disciplinary procedures for extraneous purposes will result in the immediate commencement of legal action,” he said.

Coyne and McCluskey declined to comment.