Nigel Farage’s attempt to woo Britain’s trade unions has been met with a barrage of scorn — and a rival policy demand that piles pressure on Keir Starmer’s embattled government. The Reform UK leader invited unions to cut their historic ties with Labour and affiliate with his party instead, pointing to a poll that showed him as the most popular party leader among union members. “If you represent working people in this country, my door is open,” he told The Times, offering them slots at Reform’s September conference.
The response was swift and brutal. Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Reform have shown absolutely no evidence that they are friends of workers.” Her remedy was not a change of allegiance but a call for Labour to “stop dithering and be the voice of workers”. Unison’s Andrea Egan accused Farage of a “con”, noting his party’s pledge to repeal Labour’s Employment Rights Act — which gave 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 said. A GMB spokesperson labelled Reform “re-badged Tories after union members’ basic rights”.
“Unions reject Farage's invitation to defect, call on Labour to adopt emergency energy bill tariff”
Wes Streeting, the former health secretary who resigned last month and has indicated he would stand in any future Labour leadership contest, joined the attack: “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 suggested common ground on the British Steel pension scheme, which he said his party would “like to help you sort out”.
Labour currently depends on 11 affiliated unions representing four million workers. Union members vote in Labour leadership contests and sit on its National Executive Committee. In the first three months of this year, seven unions donated £1.4 million to Labour, including £366,936 from Unison and £392,544 from Unite — despite Unite’s recent criticism of the government.
Now the Trades Union Congress (TUC), Britain’s biggest federation of workers, has issued a direct challenge to Starmer. With the energy price cap expiring this month and household bills set to rise, the TUC is calling for an “emergency social tariff” that would cut annual bills by up to 30 per cent for the lowest-income households — a saving of £559 a year. Households earning below the median would get 20 per cent off (£373), while middle and some higher earners would receive 10 per cent (£186). The plan would cover 65 per cent of UK households, with the richest 35 per cent receiving no support.
Paul Nowak, the TUC’s general secretary, said the scheme, which could reduce headline inflation by up to 0.4 percentage points, should be paid for by an increased windfall tax on banks — a move he said could raise £60 billion over four years. “It’s crucial to show working-class people and their families that the government is on their side,” Nowak told the New Statesman. “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.”
On Farage’s overture, Nowak was dismissive. “This policy would be equally popular with Reform voters as it would be with Labour a…” he said, his sentence trailing off — a withering verdict on the Reform leader’s “party of the workers” claim, which the TUC has described as “laughable”. The question now is whether Starmer, under relentless pressure from both a resurgent right and a restive left, can act fast enough to convince the unions — and their four million members — that Labour still deserves their loyalty.