Unions may buy Labour HQ

Union leaders are in talks with Labour over buying the party's new Westminster HQ.

The deal - which would see unions buy out the party's £5million mortgage - was discussed at a meeting two weeks ago with cash-strapped Labour chiefs.

At the meeting, union leaders agreed to pay Labour an emergency £100,000 to enable the party to cover its basic costs including wages and utility bills.

But other moves were discussed which aimed to put the party - -currently £8million in in the red - on a firmer long-term financial footing.

One of these, according to Aslef rail union leader Mick Rix, was a proposal for the unions to buy out Labour's mortgage on its new headquarters building in Old Queen Street.

Such a move would be highly controversial as it would allow the Tories to claim that Labour was still in the pockets of unions.

But the party's cash crisis is now so severe that general secretary David Triesman is having to consider it.