The head of the UK’s biggest union has urged staff at Reform UK-controlled councils to sign up after Nigel Farage warned workers to seek “alternative careers”.
Farage said during a speech on Friday that he would advise council staff working on diversity or climate change initiatives to seek “alternative careers very, very quickly” after Reform UK took control of Durham county council.
The Clacton MP’s party made major gains in Thursday’s local elections, picking up 10 councils and more than 600 seats. The party also won two mayoral races and secured a fifth MP in Runcorn and Helsby with Sarah Pochin.
Responding to Farage’s comments, Unison general secretary Christina McAnea said: “Unions are there to ensure no one can play fast and loose with the law.
“Any staff working for councils now controlled by Reform, and who aren’t yet members, should sign up so they can be protected too.”
Farage has said he wants a British equivalent of Doge – referring to the Elon Musk’s so-called “department of government efficiency”, which is slashing government spending in the US, in every council.
“We want to give council tax payers better value for money. We want to reduce excessive expenditure,” he said.
On Saturday, a newly elected Reform UK councillor said Durham county council would be “getting the auditors in” right away to slash spending in areas like net zero and green initiatives.
“We’re getting the auditors in to see … actually what those jobs are, and if they’re good value for money, and if they’re not, well, the answer is, ‘Yeah, goodbye’,” Darren Grimes, a Durham councillor and former GB News presenter told the Today programme.
McAnea said the new Reform UK councillors have “much to learn about local government” and will “quickly discover there’s nothing left to cut and many authorities are balancing on the edge of the financial precipice”.
She said: “This is not the US. Thankfully, workers in the UK have laws to protect them from bad employers.
“And soon employees will get even more protection from unscrupulous bosses when the government’s new employment rights come in.
“Most local authorities would love to be doing their core work, as Mr Farage says. But they simply don’t have the staff nor the resources to do even that.”
The newly elected Greater Lincolnshire mayor, Andrea Jenkyns, has also cited her intentions to cut inclusion officers at the authority. She secured her position after receiving nearly 40,000 more votes than the Conservative candidate, Rob Waltham.
A source from Staffordshire county council, which converted to Reform after the party secured 49 seats in this week’s election, told the Guardian that the authority did not currently employ any staff who focused on diversity initiatives.
Regarding McAnea’s comments, a Reform UK spokesperson told the Guardian: “Union members across the country voted for Reform UK on Thursday.
“Instead of attacking us, they should try and understand why so many of their members are supporting us and joining as members.”
