Unite the Union have pledged an extra £1 million to Labour’s election campaign today. It is a huge boost for Miliband on the first day of the short campaign, following an assured performance in last night’s leaders’ interviews. This brings the amount Unite have donated to Labour’s campaign to £3.5 million.

In an article for the Daily Mirror, Len McClusky, General Secretary of the union, said they were making the cash injection because “Labour’s commitments will make a huge difference to the ordinary people” of Britain, and because the Tories’ rich bankrollers were making it an unfair fight.

He writes:

“Support for Labour is not just us doing our duty to democracy and ensuring the political playing field is not tilted too far in favour of the rich and their party.

We also know that that if the Tories buy a new lease on power, life for the people we serve will become very much harder.

So, while the Tories hoover up millions from shadowy dinner clubs and vulture fund financiers, this money from Unite members is clean, democratically-sanctioned and honestly accounted for.

It’s the pennies of working people given in the hope of building a better world that we can all enjoy, not the ill-gotten gains of a secret elite.

There can be no doubt that Labour’s commitments will make a huge difference to the ordinary people of these islands. They will provide a platform for tackling the crippling inequalities in our society.

That’s why Unite is getting behind a Labour victory in May. We will not stand aside from this battle – because we are now facing the fight of our lives.”

Those who had suggested that Unite might withhold support after recent selection wranglings may be thinking again, now that an extra million has been donated on top of £1m donated before Christmas and £1.5m donated early in the new year…