He added: “So we shouldn’t have paid them anything.”
The JC has revealed how eight former staffers last year sued the party for defamation, saying senior Labour figures had issued statements attacking their reputations and suggesting they had ulterior political and personal motives to undermine the party.
When the programme was broadcast, a Labour spokesman called them “disaffected former officials” and said they had “worked actively to undermine” Jeremy Corbyn and had “both personal and political axes to grind”.
After the settlement of the Panorama libel cases was announced in August, Mr McCluskey said there was “no doubt” the union’s executive would review its contributions to Labour.
While the loss of union funding will come as a blow to Labour, there has been a significant return of private backing for the party following the exit of Mr Corbyn, including from a number of Jewish donors.
