Speaking in Cambridge earlier this evening Len McCluskey, the General Secretary of Britain’s largest union Unite, announced a new campaign targeting the private healthcare “vultures” he claims are preying on the NHS.

Addressing Trinity Politics Society, McCluskey was damning in his criticism of the government’s healthcare reforms, making it clear that UNITE will ensure politicians are “accountable” for their actions, which he claims amount to “robbery in plain sight”.

He stressed that the leverage campaign would not target healthcare workers, but rather those who sought to profit from the “gutting” of the NHS, and that while action would not involve targeting directors personally, it would be strongly felt: “We will be there to take the gloss off your PR events. We will talk to the pension funds and financial institutions that hold your stock.”

McCluskey acknowledged that the relationship between Unite and Labour needed reform, telling the audience to expect a significant announcement next week. He pointed to internal Unite polling, which indicates only around half of the union’s members are Labour voters, and it is likely that any funding reform will be reflective of this.

McCluskey also repeated the calls he made on Newsnight last night for Ed Miliband not to join with the Liberal Democrats should they fail to achieve an outright majority in 2015.

McCluskey was keen to specifically address Cambridge students in his talk, urging them to aspire to more than “a big house in the country” and driving a Porsche. He frequently referred to the importance of youth in shaping our society, and acknowledged that he was speaking to “our future generation of leaders”. His message to Cambridge students was to “remember there are many in Britain and the world who do not have these life chances”, urging those in attendance to challenge the grip that he sees a “medieval elite” as holding over the nation, urging students not to “take society as it is”.