Trade unions have firmly rebuffed an invitation from Nigel Farage to abandon the Labour Party and affiliate with Reform UK instead.
In an interview with The Times, Farage said, "If you represent working people in this country, my door is open," and invited union leaders to attend his party's conference in September. The offer followed a poll suggesting Farage is the most popular party leader among trade union members.
But union leaders were quick to dismiss the overture. Unite general secretary Sharon Graham stated, "Reform have shown absolutely no evidence that they are friends of workers." She added, "What needs to happen now is for the Labour Party to stop dithering and be the voice of workers."
Unison general secretary Andrea Egan accused Reform UK of having "shown what it thinks of working people" by pledging to repeal Labour's Employment Rights Act, which became law last year. "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 commented, "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 and is a potential future Labour leader, said: "Farage has the audacity to vote consistently against the rights of workers and then claim he's open to trade unions."
Reform has pledged to scrap the Employment Rights Act, which gives workers the right to sick pay from their first day and the right to claim unfair dismissal after six months.
In a social media video, Farage acknowledged there would be "disagreements" with union leaders but invited them to discuss policies at his party's conference. He pointed to potential common ground on "historical injustices" surrounding the British Steel pension scheme.
Labour is backed by 11 trade unions representing four million workers. Union members can vote in Labour leadership contests, and union representatives sit on the party's National Executive Committee. Unions support Labour financially via membership fees and donations; Labour received £1.4 million from seven unions in the first three months of this year.