UNITE overwhelmingly voted today to suspend the Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner’s membership and announced it was re-examining its long-standing relationship with the Labour Party.

Delegates supported an emergency motion at the union’s policy conference in Brighton, citing the government’s mishandling of the Birmingham bin strikes as the reason for cutting Ms Rayner loose.

Unite said her membership was suspended alongside Birmingham council leader John Cotton and other city councillors represented by the union.

But Labour Party sources claimed that Ms Rayner, who is also housing, communities and local government secretary, had already withdrawn from the union several months before the motion.

Today’s decision marked a new chapter in bin workers’ struggle for better conditions and pay, as Unite claimed a deal championed by Ms Rayner would have resulted in real-terms pay cuts of up to £8,000 for some sections of the industry.

On top of Ms Rayner’s suspension, Unite also pledged to “discuss” its relationship with her party.

The union was on record as the biggest donor to Labour MPs in the lead up to last year’s general election, as 88 candidates and MPs were given more than £500,000.

However, it has restricted funding since Sir Keir Starmer became leader and moved it significantly to the centre.

Unite is Britain’s second-largest union, with its latest membership figures standing at 1.2 million.

The motion was carried by 800 delegates at the congress from across various industries, including the NHS and automotive sector.  

An end or suspension to their official association to Labour could mean a significant loss in the party’s finances, potentially wiping hundreds of thousands of pounds of funding.

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.

“The disgraceful actions of the government, and a so-called Labour council, is essentially fire-and-rehire and makes a joke of the Employment Relations Act promises.

“People up and down the country are asking whose side is the Labour government on and coming up with the answer: not workers.”

Members voted on a motion which condemned Birmingham council “for its threat to effectively fire and rehire, on pain of redundancy, the Unite Birmingham bin workers.”

It also went after PM Sir Keir’s government for its “support to the council and the commissioners, originally appointed by the Tories and maintained by Labour.”

The motion officially suspends Ms Rayner, Mr Cotton as well as other Labour councillors on grounds of “bringing the union into disrepute.”

Unite's leadership announced the launch of an investigation into their behaviour with a “view to expelling them from the union.”

Refuse workers in Birmingham walked out indefinitely in April but have been conducting strike actions since January.

Birmingham City Council appointed negotiating commissioners, who Unite claimed never joined discussions and blocked deals which they claim could have ended the strike.

Ms Rayner visited the city’s waste depots and told striking workers to accept a deal which Unite says would have seen their wages slashed.

The move comes as independent MPs Zarah Sultana and Jeremy Corbyn announced they were starting a new party to Labour’s left, distinguishing itself on issues such as workers’ rights.

Unite’s public break with the government could become a threat to Sir Keir’s premiership, if it was to move towards funding a more left-wing party or convince their members that Labour is no longer defending their interests.

The union has also been highly critical of the government’s abandonment of workers at Port Talbot steelworks and Grangemouth oil refinery.

A spokesperson for No 10 said that the government had held Birmingham residents as its priority during the disputes.

Ms Graham will be addressing the biggest celebration of working-class culture in Europe, the Durham Miners Gala, today.

Labour is unlikely to be flavour of the month at the Gala, which will also be addressed by its expelled ex-leader Mr Corbyn.

Durham Miners’ Association general secretary Alan Mardghum, speaking to the Morning Star ahead of the gala, said Labour should replace Sir Keir or it would be trounced at the next election.