TUC concerned about integrity of UK politics following Reform donations

Alan Jones, Press Association Industrial Correspondent

Unions are warning about the ‘Americanisation of our politics’ and ‘out-of-control’ political spending in a fresh attack on huge donations to Reform in recent days.

The TUC said the £72 million given by two crypto billionaires was “unprecedented” and should concern anyone who cares about the integrity of the UK’s democracy.

A statement by the TUC general council said: “We cannot afford to see the Americanisation of our politics, with out-of-control political spending, funded by stratospheric sums of crypto and corporate cash.

“These donations show clearly whose side Reform are on, with crypto billionaires, foreign and powerful corporate interests lining up to pour in eye-watering sums of money to advance their agendas.”

The TUC said trade union funding was the cleanest money in politics, with donations made up of the collective subscriptions of care workers, teaching assistants, shop workers and millions of trade union members, “democratically controlled and heavily regulated”.

The statement, issued at the TUC Congress in Brighton, said: “Working people deserve, and need, a meaningful stake in how Britain is run.

“Trade unions exist to rebalance power in the workplace and society, and ensure that the voices of millions of workers can be heard collectively in our democracy and are not drowned out by those with the deepest pockets.

“We will continue to work with policymakers to clean up our politics and strengthen public trust in our democratic system.

“We expect our Government to protect our democracy from being captured by the super-rich.

“Unions are committed to ensuring that working people have a strong, collective voice in the decisions that affect their jobs, their communities and their futures.”

TUC general secretary Paul Nowak told the conference it was “laughable” that some people were trying to link the Reform donations to the money trade unions give Labour through affiliation fees.

“Reform have got the billions but we have got millions of workers, and we have right, and the British public, on our side.”

Delegates agreed a motion saying that the donations row was diminishing trust in democracy, that the far right was seeking to exploit.

The Government was urged to strengthen its Representation of the People Bill and to have a permanent ban on political donations via cryptocurrencies to prevent “anonymous and untraceable” funding.

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