Nigel Farage’s pitch to become the new champion of Britain’s trade unions landed with a thud this week — as the country’s biggest labour organisations not only rebuffed his invitation to switch allegiance, but launched a radical demand for wealth redistribution through energy bills.
In an interview with The Times, the Reform UK leader said “if you represent working people in this country, my door is open” and invited unions to attend his party’s conference in September. His offer came after a poll suggested Farage was the most popular party leader among trade union members.
“Unions reject Nigel Farage's invitation to join Reform UK and demand an energy bill social tariff to redistribute wealth.”
But the response from union leaders was swift and scathing. Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Reform have shown absolutely no evidence that they are friends of workers.” Unison general secretary Andrea Egan accused Farage of a “con”, adding: “It’s a con to think Nigel Farage and his rich cronies are interested in unions for anything but cold hard cash.” A GMB spokesperson said: “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.”
Farage’s overture followed his party’s pledge to scrap the Employment Rights Act, which gives workers sick pay from day one and the right to claim unfair dismissal after six months. Wes Streeting, who resigned as health secretary last month and says he would join any future Labour leadership contest, said: “Farage has the audacity to vote consistently against the rights of workers and then claim he’s open to trade unions.”
While Farage acknowledged “disagreements”, he pointed to “historical injustices” surrounding the British Steel pension scheme as potential common ground.
The Trades Union Congress, Britain’s biggest federation of workers, was equally dismissive. General secretary Paul Nowak called Reform’s “party of the workers” claim “laughable”, telling the New Statesman: “It’s crucial to show working-class people and their families that the government is on their side.”
Instead, the TUC called for an “emergency social tariff” to knock money off annual energy bills based on household income, paid for by an increased windfall tax on Britain’s banking sector, which Nowak said is “doing very well at the moment”.
The proposals are far-reaching: a 30% reduction for the lowest-income households, saving £559 a year; a 20% cut for those below median income; and a 10% reduction for middle and some higher earners. The scheme would support 65% of UK households, with the highest-earning 35% receiving no support, and could reduce headline inflation by 0.3-0.4 percentage points, the TUC estimates. The cost: £3.4-5.9bn per annum, funded by a windfall tax on banks that could raise up to £60bn over four years.
The TUC wants the tariff as an emergency measure, then as a permanent shield against volatile global energy markets. Labour received £1.4m from seven different unions in donations in the first three months of this year, according to latest figures, including £392,544 from Unite despite that union’s criticism of the government.
Meanwhile, fractures within the union movement itself surfaced. The NEU, Britain’s largest teachers’ union, is in a bitter dispute with Unite, Unison and the GMB over who organises teaching assistants — a row that could, according to a source familiar with the matter, result in the teachers’ suspension from the TUC.