Reform UK’s union outreach rejected by major trade unions

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has invited Britain's major trade unions to sever their historic ties with the Labour Party and affiliate with his party instead, a proposal that has been met with swift and widespread rejection from union leaders. Farage issued the invitation in an interview published on June 8, framing it as a "historic reset" and declaring Reform as "the party of workers."

The appeal, made ahead of the Makerfield by-election on June 18, included an open offer for unions to apply for formal affiliation with Reform UK and an invitation for union leaders to attend the party's national conference in September. Farage argued that Reform, which now controls several local councils, would never treat organized labor with contempt and pledged to work with unions to address issues like the British Steel pensions scandal.

The response from the trade union movement was overwhelmingly negative. Leaders from multiple major unions, including the Trades Union Congress (TUC), Unison, Unite, GMB, and Community, denounced the invitation, citing Reform's policy platform as fundamentally anti-worker. They pointed to the party's votes against the Employment Rights Act, which provides...