Nigel Farage’s invitation to Britain’s trade unions to cut their ties with Labour and instead affiliate with Reform UK has been met with a barrage of hostility from union leaders, who have dismissed him as “no friend of the workers” and a “con” seeking cold hard cash.
The Reform UK leader told The Times that “if you represent working people in this country, my door is open” and invited unions to attend his party’s conference in September, after a poll suggested he was the most popular party leader among trade union members. But within hours, the leaders of Unite, Unison and the GMB had all publicly rebuffed the offer.
“Unions snub Farage's Reform offer and urge Labour to adopt emergency energy tariff for working families.”
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Reform have shown absolutely no evidence that they are friends of workers. What needs to happen now is for the Labour Party to stop dithering and be the voice of workers.” Unison’s Andrea Egan accused Farage of a “con”, pointing to his party’s pledge to repeal Labour’s Employment Rights Act, which gives workers sick pay from day one and the right to claim unfair dismissal after six months. “It’s a con to think Nigel Farage and his rich cronies are interested in unions for anything but cold hard cash,” she added.
The GMB spokesperson was blunt: “Mr Farage and his Reform MPs say one thing to workers and do another… we see them for what they are – re-badged Tories after union members’ basic rights.” Wes Streeting, who resigned as health secretary last month, said: “Farage has the audacity to vote consistently against the rights of workers and then claim he’s open to trade unions.”
Farage acknowledged there would be “disagreements” but insisted there could be common ground, pointing to “historical injustices” around the British Steel pension scheme. Labour, which receives millions in union donations – £1.4m from seven unions in the first three months of this year alone – is backed by 11 unions representing four million workers.
Meanwhile, the Trades Union Congress has thrown down its own gauntlet to the government, demanding an “emergency social tariff” on energy bills to redistribute wealth as household costs rise. Paul Nowak, the TUC general secretary, told the New Statesman: “It’s crucial to show working-class people and their families that the government is on their side and with Nigel Farage’s claim that Reform UK is the party of workers this week, it’s important that every decision the government takes is sending a signal to working people that it’s for them.”
The TUC proposes a 30 per cent reduction in annual bills for the lowest-income households – a saving of £559 a year – with 20 per cent off for those below median income and 10 per cent for middle earners, covering 65 per cent of UK households. The scheme would cost £3.4-5.9bn per annum, paid for by a windfall tax on banks that the TUC says could raise up to £60bn over four years.
But even as unions rally against Farage, internal fractures are widening. Britain’s largest teachers’ union, the NEU, is locked in a bitter dispute with Unite, Unison and the GMB over who should organise teaching assistants – a row that, according to a source familiar with the matter, could lead to the NEU’s suspension from the TUC. The labour movement, once embodied by the bronze “Spirit of Brotherhood” outside the TUC’s Bloomsbury headquarters, now appears deeply divided at a time when it faces a populist challenge from the right.