Unions rebuff Farage and say Reform ‘cosplaying’ as workers’ champions

TUC, GMB and Unison leaders reject invitation to affiliate to Reform amid rising support for party among their members

Major trade unions and the TUC have rebuffed Nigel Farage’s call for unions to affiliate to Reform UK, saying the party is “cosplaying” as workers’ champions and has opposed new employment rights.

Farage issued a call on Tuesday for unions to attend Reform’s conference and to affiliate to the party, and he suggested one union may be on the brink of doing so.

Eleven trade unions are affiliated to the Labour party but a recent poll suggested there was growing support among trade union members for Reform UK .

But leaders of the TUC, GMB and Unison all hit back at Farage’s invitation, saying Reform was the party of “corporate interests” and criticising its opposition to new rights for workers.

In an interview with the Times, Farage said union leaders were “spending their members’ money on policies that their members do not support”. He said: “Reform now runs councils that employ tens of thousands of unionised workers: bin men and women, social workers, care staff, school support workers.

“Unlike the snobbish Tories of old, we will never treat organised labour with contempt. If you represent working people in this country, my door is open. The doors of every Reform council leader from Sunderland to Sandwell are open.”

The TUC general secretary, Paul Nowak, said Farage’s past comments on workers’ rights legislation and plans to repeal the Equality Act spoke for themselves. “Let’s be crystal clear: Reform are no friends of working people. If they were, they wouldn’t be planning to rip up workers’ rights like day one sick pay and protection from fire-and-rehire and zero-hours contracts,” he said.