The Bankrupt Labour Party

Iain Dale reports that the Labour party is now completely reliant on Union sources, and if they lose them then they are fucked:

One party source told me: "If UNITE's leadership changed and decided to pull the plug on donations, the consequences could be fatal."

Well, first things first, I have to say that I doubt UNITE are going to stop their funding for the Labour party. They would be naive to turn their back on the only main party who are going to give them anything even approaching a sympathetic ear. I mean, who else are they going to support? Nick fucking Clegg?

The Labour party's finances are in dire straits, but this doesn't mean that they are going to go under. In fact, what will happen to them is that they will have to fall back on their usual sponsors even more and find someone who can impose discipline on a near-bankrupt, unpopular political party that still wants to act like the natural party of government. It is exactly what happen to the Tories after 1997; they fell back on their wealthy donors and let both the wallet and fund-raising/financial ability of Michael Ashcroft keep them from going under.

The Labour party may be suffering badly; I doubt the case is terminal.