tony blair helped broker a deal to secure a £1million donation designed to curb the influence of trade unions on labour, it emerged today the former prime minister reportedly hosted a dinner with hull city boss assem allam to secure cash to plug a hole caused by the unite union withdrawing support from ed miliband it comes just days after a row erupted over labour mps rejecting £1,000 donations from the triple election winner scroll down for video  tony blair has stepped up efforts to secure a labour victory on may 7, despite repeatedly appearing to question the direction of mr miliband's leadership  mr blair has stepped up efforts to secure a labour victory on may 7, despite repeatedly appearing to question the direction of mr miliband's leadership the ex pm has warned that fighting on a 'traditional left wing' platform was a recipe for defeat for labour but claims he is working to limit the influence of the unions has sparked a row among left wing labour mps who accused him of pursuing 'underhand tactics' mr miliband has been seen as too left wing since the moment he narrowly beat his brother david to the leadership with the support of the unions unite chief len mccluskey has warned labour that funding for its election warchest is dependent on pursing policies he supports it is also claimed that he is demanding his friend karie murphy be included in a shortlist to be the labour candidate in halifax the unite activist was embroiled in allegations of vote rigging in the falkirk seat, but was cleared of wrongdoing according to the sunday times, mr blair sealed an agreement with mr allam that he would find more money for the labour party if unite withdrew support the former prime minister reportedly hosted a dinner with hull city boss assem allam (pictured) to secure cash to plug a hole caused by the unite union withdrawing support from ed miliband  the chairman of hull city football club has already given £200,000 to labour this year, and has promised another £300,000 if unite cuts its support, mr allam is said to be ready to donate another £500,000 mr allam told the newspaper: 'i want to see a strong labour party, less reliant on trade union money, so i have said if you have any problem with the unite money i will make my donation £1m' he added: 'as i have always said to our friends in the labour party, tony blair and ed miliband, i would increase my political donations to gradually reduce the labour party's financial reliance on the trade unions 'i hope i can inspire other like minded business people to do the same so that the labour party can stand on their own without having to satisfy one paymaster' it is the latest example of the growing influence of new labour grandees in the effort to secure a victory for labour labour leader ed miliband is under pressure from blairites not to lurch to the left in the days before the election  mr miliband has appointed former deputy pm john prescott as an adviser on climate change, while ex spin doctor alastair campbell is playing an increasingly high profile role in the run up to the election but mr blair's invokvement provoked the wrath of jim sheridan, the chairman of the unite group of labour mps 'a lot of mps are members of unite,' he said 'unite have just given £16m to the party to try to get ed miliband into power so if this guy [allam] or blair are working against the party, then i think people will be really angry and frustrated' last week mr campbell publicly attacked labour candidates turning down donations from mr blair   and warned they should prepare for another tory government at least two candidates   lesley brennan and sally keeble   rejected mr blair after he offered 106 key battleground seats £1,000 each to fight the election the former prime minister said the swing constituencies were 'where the election will be won for labour' mr campbell accused the candidates of being 'attention seeking' and questioned whether they wanted to win
labour 1,000 unite 200,000 hull city this year assem allam blair 300,000 500,000
former prime minister hosted dinner with hull city boss assem allam  reportedly agreed to donate £300,000 on top of £200,000 already this year  has promised another £500,000 if the unite union withdraws funding  follows row over labour candidates rejecting £1,000 donations from blair 