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Unite The Union Has Suspended Angela Rayner. The Only Snag Is She Isn’t A Member

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Unite has voted to suspend Angela Rayner from the union – even though she gave up her membership months ago.

Members decided to take the extraordinary step in protest at the deputy prime minister’s stance on the long-running strike by bin collectors in Birmingham.

The union, which has donated millions of pounds to Labour, also said it would “re-examine its relationship” with the party.

The move comes after Unite members debated a motion at their conference in Brighton, where they condemned the Labour-run council in Birmingham, and the government, for their approach to the bin workers.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Unite is crystal clear it will call out bad employers regardless of the colour of their rosette.

“Angela Rayner has had every opportunity to intervene and resolve this dispute but has instead backed a rogue council that has peddled lies and smeared its workers fighting huge pay cuts.”

But HuffPost UK has learned that Rayner cancelled her membership of the union earlier this year, making it impossible for her to be suspended. She remains a member of Unison.

A Labour source said: “Angela’s not interested in stilly stunts, she’s interested in changing workers’ lives. Unite rejected a deal in Birmingham and their demands would have undermined equal pay, discriminating against female workers.

“Angela won’t be pushed around, and she quit Unite some months ago. Angela’s been fighting for equal pay for decades as a trade unionist and as a home care worker has experienced what it was like to be paid less as a working class woman for the same work.”

Labour peer Tom Watson, who was Rayner’s predecessor as the party’s deputy leader, said on X: “If Angie is their idea of a problem, Unite has become even more a parody of itself since Len McCluskey retired.

“Their members and officials must cringe with embarrassment at these stunts. A once proud and serious union is now just Twitter gimmick pressure group. It’s so sad.”

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If Angie is their idea of a problem, Unite has become even more a parody of itself since Len McCluskey retired. Their members and officials must cringe with embarrassment at these stunts. A once proud and serious union is now just Twitter gimmick pressure group. It’s so sad. https://t.co/Cb4cglYaUy

— Tom Watson (@tom_watson) July 11, 2025

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If Angie is their idea of a problem, Unite has become even more a parody of itself since Len McCluskey retired. Their members and officials must cringe with embarrassment at these stunts. A once proud and serious union is now just Twitter gimmick pressure group. It’s so sad. https://t.co/Cb4cglYaUy

— Tom Watson (@tom_watson) July 11, 2025

A Downing Street spokesman said the government’s priority throughout the bin dispute had “always” been Birmingham’s residents.

“As you know, Unite’s industrial action caused disruption to waste collection,” the spokesman said.

We have worked intensively with the council to tackle the backlog and clean up the streets for the residents for public health.

“We remain in close contact with the council and continue to monitor the situation as we support its recovery and transformation

“I think it’s important to look back to the context of this dispute: Unite is in dispute against Birmingham City Council’s decision to reform unfair staff structures, which were a major cause of unequal pay claims and left the council liable to hundreds of millions of pounds in claims, and that was a key factor cited in the council section 114 notice in 2023, declaring bankruptcy.”

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