Reform UK home working axe is ‘hypocrisy’, say MPs

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage just last week stated that anyone working on climate change, diversity, equity and inclusion, or from home, should be “seeking alternative careers very, very quickly” after the party won 65 seats to take control of Durham County Council on May 1.

However, it was soon noticed that job adverts including one for a regional campaign and training manager in the North East were offering “home working” despite Farage’s warning.

Nigel Farage in Newton Aycliffe on Friday afternoon after the party gained overall control of Durham County Council. (Image: Sarah Caldecott) Said adverts have now been dubbed as “hypocritical salt into the wounds” of Durham County Council staff by MPs as Reform UK defends the notion that council staff “should not be working from home”.

Reacting to Farage’s warning, City of Durham MP Mary Kelly Foy told The Northern Echo it should act as a “wake up call” and that workers should be minded to join unions.

Mary Kelly Foy. She said: “Despite Nigel Farage claiming to stand up for British workers, one of the very first announcements he makes after the elections, is to attack those very same workers. 

“Not content with attacking them, he is rubbing hypocritical salt into the wounds by suggesting he will sack them, while currently running recruitment adverts for home working jobs within HIS Party.

“This should be a wake up call to every worker to consider how Reform in power would impact them and their livelihoods.

An image of the advert online for a North East Reform UK job with the option of home working. (Image: GREENHOUSE) “It’s a wake up call to everyone that you too could be out of work if Reform decide one day that they don’t like your job title. 

“It’s also worth remembering that Mr Farage and his Reform MPs voted against the Employment Rights Bill at every stage!

“Now is the time to join a trade union, get involved and defend your hard won rights at work.

“I would remind Nigel Farage that he isn’t the Leader of Durham County Council. There was a time that Mr Farage said he didn’t like outside influences telling us what to do, but here he is doing that very thing.

“I would also like to remind Mr Farage that he shouldn’t underestimate the Durham coalfield.

“This is a city and a region that delivered trade unions into existence. We know that our solidarity and strength lies together, and we know that when Reform fail our communities it is us that will be here to build them up again.”

Easington MP Grahame Morris. (Image: London Portrait Photoqrapher-DAVID WOOLFALL) Easington MP Grahame Morris added: “Nigel Farage is attacking Durham County Council staff, threatening the livelihoods of local families and working people, before Reform councillors have even stepped through the doors at County Hall. 

“It is complete hypocrisy to tell council staff working from home to find new jobs, while Reform is, at this very moment, advertising working from home jobs within their own party. 

“I hope newly elected councillors will stand up and speak out against the contempt their leader is showing towards working people in County Durham.”

North Durham MP Luke Akehurst said: “It’s not appropriate for elected councillors to interfere like this in the day-to-day management of council staff.

Luke Akehurst. (Image: Laurie Noble) “People who have not necessarily got any background in HR or employment law could put the council into a lot of legal trouble by making sweeping statements like this. It’s also not good for staff morale.

“New councillors from any party need to understand they set overall policy, the council then employs professional managers who ensure staff deliver good services.

“I’m not sure why there would be any in-principle objection to staff working from home, as long as they are being monitored and managed to check they are working hard and delivering good quality services.

“It’s an odd bugbear to have. The hypocrisy of allowing their own party staff to work from home makes it even dafter.”

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When asked about the adverts including an option for “home working” a Reform UK spokesman said: “The jobs advertised are for regional directors who, by the very nature of their job, need to be in their respective regions.

“It is unreasonable to expect them to come into an office in London five days a week.

“All Reform UK staff based in London do come into the office five days a week.

“Council staff, who are paid from the public purse rather than private money, should not be working from home.”