Unison endorses Jeremy Corbyn for Labour leadership | The Guardian

“The endorsement by Unison will help to cement Corbyn’s position as the current – and surprise – frontrunner in the leadership contest. … The main trade unions have been signing up supporters ahead of the leadership election.” Full story here. Also see: Jeremy Corbyn’s rivals think he’s a dinosaur – they couldn’t be more wrong | The Telegraph “Mr Corbyn is in fact a figure of sparkling modernity and thus more dangerous than his adversaries can yet imagine. … Mr Corbyn’s old-fashioned views, on issues such as renationalisation, have a voguish ring, while his lifestyle choices of cycling and not drinking strike a chord with a frugal generation. Attuned to the politics of identity, he senses voters’ yearnings and the beat of his party’s Eurosceptic heart.” And, most interestingly: Labour carries out ‘due diligence’ in leadership race | The Financial Times “The equivalent of 48 full-time Labour party officials are screening thousands of phone calls made to potential “affiliate” members by trade unions in an attempt to confirm they are genuine supporters. … There is particular concern that many of the new members may come from the hard left, the Greens or other groups who intend to back Mr Corbyn, the leftwing candidate. More than 65,000 new full members have joined Labour since the general election, while trade unions have signed up a further 28,500 union members as “affiliates” eligible to vote in the contest, often by using phone banks.”