It's time to widen the attacks on Reform UK and expose their plan to strip workers of their rights

Martin Shipton

When celebrities endorse politicians or political causes, it can appear crass and embarrassing, especially when they’ve previously had little to say, aren’t very articulate and it’s clear they are simply being used.

But sometimes well-known individuals from outside conventional political circles can make a credible contribution. Michael Sheen’s long commitment to social engagement has earned him the right to speak publicly about Wales’ future and it’s no surprise that he favours Plaid Cymru over Reform UK.

In the United States, where Trump is already showing us how Farage would like to behave in government, there have been some good interventions from celebrities.

Bruce Springsteen’s swiftly written Streets of Minneapolis following the murder of two innocent protesters by ICE agents is a magnificent revival of the protest song. And now Robert De Niro has entered the fray with a perfect take-down of the fake patriotism relied on in the US to engender support for repressive policies.

De Niro said: “I choke on [the] phrase ‘we all love our country’ because our country isn't so lovable right now. In the current climate, declaring love for our country is like an abused spouse professing love for their abuser.

“I've never thought of citizenship as being an act of love. I've tried to be a good citizen. I pay my taxes, vote, obey the law, recycle, stay within the speed limit … In return, I'm grateful for the opportunities and freedoms my family, my fellow citizens, my immigrant ancestors have enjoyed. But my heart is broken as I see them being taken away, both the freedoms and, increasingly, my fellow citizens.

“I'm not going anywhere. This is my house, my home. But I have to tell you, I'm not too crazy about living in this dysfunctional relationship. Our country, as President Lincoln reminded us, is meant to be a government of the people, by the people and for the people.

“Tragically, we're now in a country of, by and for a handful of dishonest, greedy and cruel authoritarians. So - love our country? Let me ask you, can you love a country where our neighbors are shot down in the streets by masked government thugs? Can you love a country that denies health care for tens of millions of our fellow citizens? Can you love a country that ends contributions to sick and starving people around the world, causing hundreds of thousands of preventable deaths, many of them innocent children? Can you love a country that trashes our economy to give tax breaks to its billionaire cronies? Can you love a country that denies science and sacrifices to climate the very air our children breathe? Can you love a country that pardons violent criminals and protects pedophiles?

“I could go on and on and on and on. The bottom line is that I feel betrayed by my country. It doesn't have to be perfect, but it does need to return to the values that gave us our strength and humanity.”

There are resonances in the UK, where ever since the Victorian era there has been a conscious drive to engender a sense of British patriotism that transcends the material interests of the great majority of people who do not belong to the wealthy elite.

The Royal Family, nostalgia for the British Empire and the ubiquitous presence of the Union flag have been shamelessly pushed as elements of our heritage that should be revered at all times.

There have, of course, been counter-influences, like the trade union movement, which secured major social advances like sickness benefit, holiday pay, maternity pay and protection against unfair dismissal. But today the political party that is leading the polls in Britain simultaneously wants to perpetuate imperial nostalgia and reduce workers’ rights.

Reform UK and its supporters talk constantly about “wanting our country back”, but apart from deporting people from ethnic minorities and attaching flags to lampposts haven’t been wholly candid about the kind of place they would like Britain to be.

Workers rights

There was, of course, a considerable hint last year when Reform’s MPs voted against the extension of workers’ rights introduced by Labour’s UK Government in its Employment Rights Act.

This week Reform’s deputy leader Richard Tice pledged to introduce a “Great Repeal Act” that would abolish Labour legislation on workers’ rights and protection for tenants.

In his first speech since being appointed by Farage to a portfolio covering business, trade and energy, Tice promised a bonfire of regulations, including an end to net zero targets and a new push for home-produced shale gas using fracking.

Criticising what he called “daft” regulations, Tice said a Reform government would repeal the Employment Rights Act and the Renters’ Rights Act, two of the flagship pieces of legislation passed by Starmer’s government.

“We will repeal things that are unnecessary or against the strategic national interest,” he said at a policy launch event in Birmingham.

The Employment Rights Act, passed in December, offers significant new rights connected to sick pay, parental leave and zero-hours contracts, including rights to guaranteed hours and payment for short-notice cancellation of shifts, and a ban on most fire-and-rehire practices.

Strangely enough, Reform in Wales hasn’t focussed on these plans to roll back workers’ and tenants’ rights, probably because it realises the provisions are likely to be popular with the very voters the party is most likely to recruit as supporters.

Instead, Reform’s appointed leader in Wales, Dan Thomas, has continued on social media to bang on about the Welsh Government’s Nation of Sanctuary programme while, as always, failing to mention that 91% of its budget was spent on resettling Ukrainian refugees.

The Great Repeal Act

The “Great Repeal Act” referred to by Tice - surely a conscious echo of Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill Act” that has provided the wealthy with tax breaks while depriving poor Americans of health cover - has been roundly condemned by those who understand the impact it will have on the most vulnerable.

Sarah Elliott, chief executive of the homeless charity Shelter, said: “How can any political party claim to stand with working families while plotting to keep them trapped in an unfair system with threadbare rights?

“Scrapping these vital reforms will do nothing but condemn thousands to the hellish conditions they have endured for decades, while giving unscrupulous landlords free rein to turf renters out of their homes for no good reason.”

Andrea Egan, general secretary of the Unison union, said Reform’s MPs “have consistently voted against every measure to improve fairness and rights at work”. She added: “These new changes are popular with the public and could improve the lives of millions. Scrapping them would be a huge mistake.”

Toxic

Reform has polluted public discourse with its toxic racism that demonises migrants and has a hugely negative impact on all people of colour. Voters showed in Caerphilly last October and in Gorton and Denton this week that they will vote tactically to ensure Reform is not elected.

But the damaging far right policies Reform espouses that are geared to further enriching its billionaire backers like those in the fossil fuel industries provide another level of ammunition for those dedicated to exposing them as the charlatans they are.

The attacks on Reform need to widen in the hope that as many as possible of those who have been sucked into the cult will realise before the Senedd election on May 7 that it’s a party that cares nothing for Wales or the people who live here.