TUC leader attacks Nigel Farage for ‘selling out’ workers

A senior union leader has accused Reform’s Nigel Farage of “selling out” workers.

TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said every Reform MP, including the party’s leader, voted against new employment rights for workers.

In his keynote speech to the TUC Congress in Brighton, he said there was a “world of difference” between what Mr Farage says and what he does.

Mr Nowak said: “It’s time to come clean about whose side you are really on. Because here’s the truth – you’re not representing working people, you are selling them out.

“To those who voted Reform at the last election, and to those who are considering voting for Reform, I get your frustration with mainstream politics.

“I get your sense that change isn’t coming fast enough and I respect your right to vote for whoever you choose.

“But ask yourself this fundamental question – do you believe, in your gut, that Nigel Farage really cares about the people of Clacton, when he is off collecting his speaker fees in the United States?

“That Richard Tice really worries about the people of Skegness, while he’s living it up at home in Dubai?

“Or are they just right-wing con-men, lining their own pockets?”

Mr Nowak said the Tory Party was losing credibility every day and he attacked MP Robert Jenrick, describing him as an “opportunistic xenophobe”.

He also urged the Government to show workers “whose side you are on”, saying that Labour was elected on a manifesto that promised change, but for too many people, change feels like a “slogan”.

He said: “That can’t continue. Throughout our history, we’ve been at our best when we’ve been ambitious for working people.

“So, today, my message to the Government is simply this – deliver the manifesto on which you won a huge majority last July.

“Deliver good jobs, decent public services and better living standards in every corner of the country. Deliver the change people voted for and show working-class communities whose side you are on.”

The TUC leader called for a windfall tax on bank profits and gambling companies as well as new taxes on wealth.

“If billionaires can afford fleets of private yachts, day trips into space, weddings that shut down Venice, they can pay a bit more tax.

“And make it clear – a Labour government will never stand aside and watch a child’s potential be wasted because of poverty. Lift the two-child cap and give our kids the future they deserve.”

Mr Nowak also repeated his call for the employment rights Bill to be delivered in full.