How Nigel Farage is flirting with Labour’s most loyal voters – and the battle to stop him
For much of its history, the trade union movement’s main opponent has been the Conservative Party. But now it finds itself taking on a different type of adversary – one it might describe as a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
It began when Nigel Farage, known for being a staunch advocate of free trade and private markets, declined to criticise the Unite union for its bin strike in Birmingham, before calling for the nationalisation of British Steel following the near collapse of its plant in Scunthorpe.
The Reform UK leader has been sweet-talking the trade unions, speaking their language and brandishing their leaflets in public in what appears to his critics to be a new opportunistic strategy.
Farage’s courting of union members has alarmed the movement’s leaders – so much so that Sky News understands the executive of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), which represents unions across the country, has been holding meetings to draw up a strategy on how best to combat his appeal and more broadly, the far-right.
Over the weekend, as the two main parties were processing the battering they received in the local elections largely courtesy of Farage’s party, Unison’s general secretary Christina McAnea urged members of councils now controlled by Reform to join a union.
“Unions are there to ensure no one can play fast and loose with the law,” she said, after Farage threatened to sack staff working in areas such as diversity or climate change.
‘Political fraud’
Paul Nowak, the general secretary of the TUC, has begun to step up his criticism of the former UKIP leader – accusing him of “cosplaying as a champion of working people”.
“He is not on the side of the working people,” he tells Sky News. “He’s on the side of bad bosses who want to treat staff like disposable labour.
“Unions will continue to expose him for the political fraud he is.”
At the moment, that campaign is largely focused on highlighting Farage’s voting record – in particular his decision to oppose the Employment Rights Bill, legislation unions say they have wanted for decades.
The bill offers protection from unfair dismissal from the first day of employment and sick pay for all workers from the first day of absence, among other measures.
The TUC says the bill is incredibly popular – and not just among Labour voters.
According to a poll it conducted of more than 21,000 people with campaign group Hope Not Hate, banning zero hours contracts is supported by more than seven in 10 UK voters – including two in three Reform voters from the 2024 election.
“People are going to find there are improvements to their life and work,” an insider tells Sky News. “We want them to understand who was for it, and who was against it.”
The TUC has also begun promoting videos on social media in which workers in the electric vehicle industry accuse Farage of threatening their jobs.
Farage’s response to the bill has been to claim that a clause within in that gives workers protection from third party harassment could herald the end of “pub banter”.
‘There has always been fellow feeling with unions’
But Gawain Towler, an ex-Reform press officer who has worked on and off for Farage for 20 years, insists his former boss isn’t against workers’ rights – he’s just opposed to Labour’s bill.
“Reform don’t see it as a workers rights’ bill – we think it takes away opportunities for work because it scares people away from employing people,” he says.
Nigel Farage campaigning during the local elections in Scunthorpe.
Pic: Reuters
He believes “mass migration” is the real obstacle to better wages and job security, and argues net zero policies are “costing union members their jobs”.
The government may point to a recent study suggesting the net zero sector has grown by 10% over the past year, supporting the equivalent of 951,000 full-time jobs.
For Farage’s allies, his courting of union members is neither disingenuous nor new.
“He’s anti-union management, he’s not anti-union,” says Towler, who noted Farage’s friendship with the late union leader and Brexit advocate Bob Crow.
“Nigel has always been a free trader, but he’s never been deeply partisan, which is why he was able to start the Brexit Party. There has always been that fellow feeling with unions.”
Indeed, on one issue, a commonality is emerging between Reform and the GMB union.
While general secretary Gary Smith has criticised Farage for being “soft on Russia” and for voting against the Employment Rights Bill, there is an agreement between the pair over the impact of net zero.
Those sceptical of the government’s plans for the green transition point to Port Talbot in Wales, where 2,500 workers are expected to lose their jobs, and Grangemouth, where the closure of Scotland’s last remaining oil refinery is expected to result in around 400 job losses.
Members of Unite union protest at plans to close Grangemouth oil refinery.
Pic: PA
Although Unite has no common truck with Reform, it has warned there should be “no ban without a plan” when it comes to issuing new oil and gas licences.
‘Labour has one shot with workers’
For some unions, Labour’s position on certain issues has provided Reform with an opening.
There’s disappointment at some Labour policies in government – from partly watering down the Employment Rights Bill to stave off dissent from business leaders, to welfare cuts and offering below-inflation pay rises for public sector workers.
Gawain Little, the general secretary of the General Federation of Trade Unions, tells Sky News the party risks leaving “space open for fakers like Farage to come along and pretend they have people’s interests at heart”.
Only a sense that austerity is over, likewise the cost of living crisis, will truly “challenge” the Reform leader, he says.
One GMB member says Farage’s strategy is “from the same playbook” as right-wing parties in Europe, such as the AfD in Germany and Georgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy.
By “continuously legitimising” Reform by talking tough on migration, union activists who usually get the word out for Labour have been left demoralised.
Farage on the picket line?
The current distance with some unions did not start in government. It began in opposition, when Labour refused to back workers who were on strike and when the party did not endorse some candidates put forward by some of the more left-wing unions.
But so far, sources in Labour have dismissed Farage’s tactics as just words – and believe his previous anti-union rhetoric will weigh against him when he tries to court votes.
In fact, Mr Farage’s calls for the renationalisation of steel have been interpreted as him “trying to jump on the bandwagon” of Labour’s success.
However, Damian Lyons Lowe, the founder of pollster Survation, spots danger for Labour if Farage is able to successfully tilt in the direction of workers’ rights – especially if the government finds itself unable to follow.
He says taking the side of unions in an industrial dispute over pay would be an example of a classic “wedge” strategy that Farage can deploy to back Labour into a corner.
Read more:
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Tories ‘are not doing a deal with Reform,’ Kemi Badenoch insists
And given the government’s initial 2.8% pay offer to public sector workers is below that reportedly drawn up by the independent pay review body for NHS workers and teachers, there is the very real prospect this scenario could arise.
“It could pose a real threat to Labour,” Lyons Lowe says, with union members in “post-industrial” areas potentially receptive to a message of “protectionism, industrial revival, and national self-sufficiency”.
Could what started with Farage brandishing leaflets end up with him joining the picket line?
While one union insider doesn’t think Farage will ultimately convince union leaders, members may be tempted.
The Starmer government has “one shot to deliver for workers”, they warn.
“If they don’t, Farage and Reform are waiting in the wings.”
Up to 14.2 million people could each receive an average of £700 in compensation due to car loan mis-selling, the financial services regulator has said.
Nearly half (44%) of all car loan agreements made between April 2007 and November 2024 could be eligible for payouts, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said.
Those eligible for the compensation will have had a loan where the broker received commission from a lender.
Lenders broke the law by not sharing this fact with consumers, the FCA said, and customers lost out on better deals and sometimes paid more.
A scheme is seen by the FCA as the best outcome for consumers and lenders, as it avoids the courts and the Financial Ombudsman Service, therefore minimising delay, uncertainty and administration costs.
The scheme will be funded by the dozens of lenders involved in the loans, and cost about £8.2bn, on the lower end of expectations, which had been expected to reach as much as £18bn.
The figure was reached by estimating that 85% of eligible applicants will take part in the scheme.
What if you think you’re eligible?
Anyone who believes they have been impacted should contact their lender and has a year to do so. Compensation will begin to be paid in 2026, with an exact timeline yet to be worked out.
The FCA said it would move “as quickly as we can”.
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Payouts due after motor finance scandal
People who have already complained do not need to take action. Complaints about approximately four million loan agreements have already been received.
There’s no need to contact a solicitor or claims management firm, the FCA said, as it aimed for the scheme to be as easy as possible.
A lender won’t have to pay, however, if it can prove the customer could not have got cover anywhere else.
The number of people who will get a payout is not known. While there are 14.2 million agreements identified by the FCA, the same person may have taken out more than one loan over the 17-year period.
More expensive car loans?
Despite the fact many lenders have to contribute to redress, the FCA said the market will continue to function and pointed out the sector has grown in recent years and months.
In delivering compensation quickly, the FCA said it “can ensure that some of the trust and confidence in the market can be repaired”.
It could not, however, rule out that the scheme could mean fewer offers and more expensive car loans, but failure to introduce a scheme would have been worse.
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The FCA said: “We cannot rule out some modest impacts on product availability and prices, we estimate the cost of dealing with complaints would be several billion pounds higher in the absence of a redress scheme.
“In that scenario, impacts on access to motor finance and prices for consumers could be significantly higher with uncertainty continuing for many more years.”
Kemi Badenoch has repeatedly refused to say whether she admires Reform UK leader Nigel Farage.
Speaking to Sky News’ political editor Beth Rigby, the Tory leader said she did not “understand the question” when asked if she held her rival in high regard.
Politics latest: Education secretary won’t say if Jewish students are safe on campus
Asked what she thought of Mr Farage, whose party is currently leading in the polls, Ms Badenoch replied: “I think it’s very interesting that a lot of the media in Westminster is very interested about asking about Nigel Farage.
“I’m not interested in Nigel Farage, I’m interested in the Conservative Party.”
Ms Badenoch was speaking against the backdrop of the Conservative Party conference in Manchester, where the party has announced a string of policies, including a promise to leave the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and “ICE-style” deportations if she wins the next election.
The announcements have been interpreted as an attempt to respond to the threat posed by Reform, who have already announced plans to leave the ECHR and carry out mass deportations.
Last month, they also vowed to scrap indefinite leave to remain, which gives people the right to settle, work and study in the UK and claim benefits, and to make obtaining British citizenship the only route to permanent residence in Britain.
However, the Conservatives have sought to use their conference to distinguish themselves from Reform, branding their spending plans “socialist”.
It comes despite a poll of Tory members by YouGov showing that 64% support an electoral pact with Reform, while almost half of Tory members – 46% – would support a full-blown merger.
Speaking to Sky News, Ms Badenoch admitted there was “a lot we could do better” given the Conservatives had dropped in the polls from 26% to 17% and her personal poll ratings stood at -47.
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Tories ‘failed’ on immigration
But she said: “I don’t let these things distract me. The fact of the matter is that last year we lost in a historic defeat. We never had so few MPs, and it’s going to take time to come back from that.
“I am absolutely determined to get our party out of this, but I always said that things would get worse before they got better because we’d be out of government.”
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The conference has been dominated by questions of collaboration with Reform, after 20 Tory councillors announced they were defecting to Reform – on top of the eight who have moved to Nigel Farage’s party since March.
On Monday, Tory MP Andrew Rosindell said he believed the Conservatives and Reform needed to work together.
“I’ve made it clear all the way through, and nothing has changed, that I am for the Conservatives and Reform working together,” he told GB News.
“We need right-of-centre unity to defeat the left.
“If that means the Conservatives and Reform working together, we should do it. I don’t see Reform as our enemies. It’s a split on the right, and we need to come together.”
Put to her that the Tories may need to work with Reform, Ms Badenoch ruled out a pact and told Beth Rigby: “I’m not interested in doing pacts. I was not elected to have a pact with Reform.
“I was elected to change the Conservative Party, make it clear what we stand for and that’s what I’ve done at this conference.
“Robert Jenrick is not the leader of the Conservative Party, neither is Andrew Rosindell. I am.”
UK
‘Who’s going to protect us?’: Ex-wife of man injured in Manchester synagogue attack says he no longer wants to live in UK
The man injured by a police bullet in the Manchester synagogue attack feels so unsafe he no longer wants to live in this country, his ex-wife has told Sky News.
Along with their children, Naomi Finlay has been visiting Yoni Finlay in hospital since the attack last week.
She said he was “shocked” to hear about the level of antisemitism she and their children had been facing before the synagogue was targeted.
“When I went to see him in the hospital, I spoke to him about some of the antisemitism we’d faced personally,” Mrs Finlay said.
“Some of the things I hadn’t discussed with him before, and he didn’t know. And he was really, really upset for me and the children that this is what we’ve been through.
“He expressed that he definitely does not feel safe in this country – and he’s questioning his future here.”
Yoni Finlay is still in hospital after being injured by police gunfire during the attack
Ms Finlay told Sky News that she and her children have faced threats and abuse, some reported to the police.
“We’ve been shouted at, the kids have been shouted at,” she said.
“My son, his biggest fear is being recognised as Jewish. The second he leaves the synagogue, the kippah comes off his head.
“On October the 7th, two years ago, someone tried to knock my brother over while he was walking back from the synagogue.”
Naomi Finlay says her family have been on ‘constant alert’
‘It’s something you’ve been waiting for’
Ms Finlay added that although the attack on the Heaton Park synagogue was a shock, as her family had been living on “constant alert”, it did not come as a surprise.
“The second I heard something, I knew absolutely – I knew what it was,” she added. “There’s no doubt in your mind. Because it’s something, yes, you’ve been waiting for – but anticipating with dread.”
It took hours before Ms Finlay was able to find out from a family member who was also at the synagogue that Yoni had been injured but was still alive.
“We live close to the synagogue – we saw and heard everything,” she said. “The beginning of the day – where we are just on the streets asking anyone, ‘Have you seen him? Have you seen him?’ – that was definitely the hardest part.
“It was so difficult for the kids, because that’s their dad.”
Read more about the synagogue attack:
Friends of attacker reveal how he became radicalised
Man who helped barricade says attacker was ‘monster’
Shapps: My father-in-law was at synagogue attack
Yoni was among those barricading the doors to stop the attacker, Jihad al Shamie, from getting inside the synagogue.
Al Shamie was shot and killed by police, but one of their bullets came through the synagogue door – striking Yoni and killing Adrian Daulby, one of the two men who lost their lives.
Yoni was in surgery for seven hours on the day of the attack. Ms Finlay added he “remembers everything”, including the moment the bullet struck.
Although she said he is still in a lot of pain, he is now stable and recovering.
“The kids have been taking him some treats,” she said, “saving him half of their chocolate bars and taking them into him.
“Things from school, letters from friends they’ve been taking in to show him. They are just really wanting him back.”
‘Who’s going to protect us?’
Two years to the day since the 7 October terror attack in Israel, Ms Finlay finds it “really hurtful” that pro-Palestine marches are taking place across the country, less than a week on from the attack in which Yoni was injured.
“It was just that little bit further away – and now it’s not further away,” she said. “Even today there’s protests going on – on one of the saddest days for Jewish people worldwide.
“I feel like we can’t even get a break on that one day to actually grieve and process our feelings.”
Although she said the police have been “amazing” since the attack, she worries about what will happen to her and her family when the attention dies down.
“We worry that in a few weeks, when all this simmers down, are we still going to feel reassured? Are we still going to be protected?
“You know, who’s going to look after our kids when they’re in school? Who’s going to look after us when we go pray in the synagogue? Who’s going to protect us?”
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