Union leaders dismiss Farage invitation to affiliate to Reform UK

Union leaders have rejected an invitation by Nigel Farage to quit Labour and affiliate with Reform UK.

In a video on social media, Farage heralded recent polling that suggested that Reform is neck and neck with Labour among union members, with a lead among members of Unite and the GMB.

He said: “I accept there will be some political differences between trade union leaders and their views and mine, but I want to make this open offer. I want to say to the trade unions, I want to welcome them if they want to affiliate with our party, given the sheer number of their members that are voting for us.

“I want to make this personal invitation to union leaders to come to the Birmingham NEC to our conference in early September, and I’ll sit down and meet you and talk about policy. We are on the side of working people. Reform’s voter base are working people.”

Farage ‘an enemy of trade unions’

However, several trade union leaders have been quick to dismiss Farage’s remarks as a “gimmick” and stressing his opposition to measures to improve workers’ rights.

Fire Brigades Union general secretary Steve Wright described Farage as a “Thatcherite” and an “enemy of trade unions”.

He said: “As a former Tory party member in the 1980s, Farage was a cheerleader for Thatcher’s war on the miners and the biggest onslaught on trade unions since the Second World War.

“As an MP, Farage opposed the introduction of the Employment Rights Act to ban zero hour contracts and outlaw fire and rehire.

“Farage’s deputy Richard Tice has repeatedly stated that Reform wants to raid the pensions that firefighters and other public sector workers have paid into.

“Firefighters and other workers will see this ludicrous stunt for what is by a party led by multi-millionaires that is a threat to the working class.”

In a barb toward the Labour Party, Wright warned that “a failure to properly listen to working people has opened the door to the nightmare of a ‘far right’ government led by Farage coming to power”.

He said: “The Labour government must urgently change course, by introducing a wealth tax to properly fund public services, pensions and increase pay for all workers.”

‘Reform don’t believe in basic rights or fair pay’

Andrea Egan, general secretary of UNISON – Britain’s largest trade union, accused Farage of attempting to con working people and the union movement.

She told LabourList: “It’s a con to think Nigel Farage and his rich cronies are interested in unions for anything but cold hard cash.

“They don’t believe in basic rights or fair pay and consistently voted against every measure to improve them.”

READ MORE – Andrea Egan: ‘It’s not either/or when it comes to economic growth and climate change’

‘Farage would launch worse attacks on workers’ rights than Thatcher’

General secretary of the TSSA Maryam Eslamdoust said that union members “will not be conned by this ridiculously and desperate gimmick” from Nigel Farage.

She said: “The interests of working people are not safe in the hands of Reform UK, a party whose leaders want to protect their own interests at the expense of everyone else.

“A Farage-led government would rip up the Employment Rights Act and launch even worse attacks on workers’ rights than Thatcher.”

‘Reform have no evidence that they are friends of workers’

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham was equally damning of Farage and said: “If I had a pound for every politician who said they are the party of workers, I’d be a rich woman.

“Reform have shown absolutely no evidence that they are friends of workers. Not signing up to the Employment Rights Act, inferring privatisation of the NHS and threatening local authority pensions seems the exact opposite.

“What needs to happen now is for the Labour Party to stop dithering and be the voice of workers. A little less conversation – a little more action.”

‘Labour is the only party who can be trusted to stand up for working people’

Labour Party chair Anna Turley hit out at Farage and said: “Nigel Farage isn’t on the side of working people – he’s just in it for himself.

“This Labour government has delivered the biggest boost to workers’ rights in a generation to address low pay, insecure work and poor working conditions – vital changes which are set to benefit 15 million workers across the country.

“Farage and Reform have promised to strip all these hard-won rights away and instead they are determined to hand out tax cuts to foreign billionaires. That’s bereavement leave, maternity and paternity rights, and sick pay all at risk if Reform won power.

“Labour is the only party who can be trusted to stand up for working people. We always have and we always will.”

Become a friend of LabourList and join our community. Our friends support our vital non-factional work and get access to exclusive content and events. 

Subscribe here to our daily newsletter roundup of Labour news, analysis and comment– and follow us on TikTok, Bluesky, WhatsApp, X and Facebook. You can also write to our editor to share your thoughts on our stories and share your own. The best letters are published every Sunday.

• • SHARE: If you have anything to share that we should be looking into or publishing about this story – or any other topic involving Labour– contact us (strictly anonymously if you wish) at [email protected].
  • SUBSCRIBE: Sign up to LabourList’s morning email here for the best briefing on everything Labour, every weekday morning.
  • BECOME A FRIEND: If you enjoyed this, why not consider becoming a Friend of LabourList? Help sustain our journalism, and of course Friends do get benefits…
  • PARTNER: If you or your organisation might be interested in partnering with us on sponsored events or projects, email [email protected].
  • ADVERTISE: If your organisation would like to advertise or run sponsored pieces on LabourList‘s daily newsletter or website, contact our exclusive ad partners Total Politics at [email protected].