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The president of a transport union with roots in the Labour Party will contest a North seat for the Greens, the Sunday Sun can exclusively reveal.

Peter Pinkney, the highest ranking layperson of the RMT Union, will campaign against Ed Miliband’s party in Redcar, claiming: “The party of the left is now the Green Party.”

The union boss also brands Labour “a sort of reddish Conservative Party” and accuses MPs of betraying working people.

The dramatic political move by the ex-TUC General Council member threatens to derail Labour’s campaign in one of its top target seats.

The RMT boss also revealed the union has donated £7,000 to Caroline Lucas, the country’s only Green MP, after the Greens were supportive of plans to renationalise the railways.

Mr Pinkney said: “Labour is no longer the working class party. They have betrayed us time and time again. They should remember that it was the unions who formed the ‘party of labour’ not deny our links.

“The radical Labour Party of 1945 is long gone. No longer do they champion nationalisation, social housing, the NHS, education etc, they are a sort of reddish Conservative Party.

“In my opinion the party of the left is now the Green Party.”

Labour hit back last night, saying a vote for the Green Party is a vote for the Tories.

The move underlines a deepening fracture in the relationship between Labour and the RMT.

Predecessors to the RMT were among the unions which founded Labour back in 1899. But after 105 years of history the RMT was disaffiliated by Labour in 2004, after the union rejected an ultimatum to stop supporting the Scottish Socialist Party.

Former General Secretary Bob Crow publicly slammed Labour, which was then led by Tony Blair, for a failure to support members.

The deadlock continued until the 2012 Durham Miners’ Gala, when the then Deputy Chairman of the Labour Party Tom Watson seemed to offer the RMT an olive branch.

He said: “We need the RMT and the FBU back inside the Labour Party – a house divided cannot stand.”

But Mr Pinkney said three months after Bob Crow died the union voted to sever ties with Labour permanently - and today rules out any future affiliation.

“That is not going to happen,” he said. “It was a unanimous decision to disaffiliate with Labour and our members would never want to go back.

“If Ed Miliband is [more supportive of unions] then he is doing a strange impression of it. He might say that he is to his paymasters at Unite and GMB, who make hefty donations, but our members will not affiliate to Labour or any other party ever again.

“The press calling him ‘Red Ed’ is a joke. A minimum of 75% of people want to see the railways renationalised. He has never once said he would take the railways back into public hands - not even East Coast.”

Labour has named Redcar in its top 100 seats to win in May and has high hopes for candidate Anna Turley.

Vera Baird lost the seat to Lib Dem Ian Swales in 2010 in what was the highest swing against Labour in the wake of the closure of the Teesside Steelworks.

A poll by Lord Ashcroft in September put Labour on 44%, Lib Dems on 18%, Ukip on 23%, the Tories on 12% and the Greens on just 2%.

A Labour Party spokesperson said: “The choice in front of Redcar people in May is between a Tory or a Labour government.

“For all those passionate about the green agenda only Labour has the record and plans to deliver a green government.

“A vote for the Green Party is a vote for David Cameron to carry on hitting the people of Teesside.”

The Saltburn-born rail union boss, who is calling for capitalism to be replaced, said he was inspired by the election of the left wing Syriza in Greece.

He said: “We need to look after our elderly, build social housing, repeal anti-trade union laws, scrap bedroom tax, renationalise railways and utilities (and any profit reinvested), but most of all we should give the young hope.

“We are definitely handing on worse conditions than we inherited. My generation should hang our heads in shame for letting this happen. Instead of complaining about young being on streets, and using drugs, we should be asking why.

“Redcar and Cleveland has seen a massive decline in my lifetime. We need proper investment, and not just paper over cracks. I believe the Greens are only large party (as surely they can now claim to be) that wants to put things right.

“I am a left wing socialist, but I am pragmatic. I have seen what Syriza have done, and we can learn from that.”