Union Leaders Reject Nigel Farage’s Call For Them To Back Reform UK

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Union leaders have slammed Nigel Farage after he called on them to ditch Labour and back Reform UK instead.

In a major policy announcement, he said Reform was now “the party of the workers”.

He urged trade unions to affiliate with Reform UK and for their leaders to attend the party’s annual conference in Birmingham in September.

Farage, who has not held a press conference since it emerged nearly two months ago that he received £5 million donation from a Thailand-based crypto billionaire, made the announcement in a video on X.

But the trade unions themselves immediately rejected his invitation.

They pointed out that Reform – which has seen several former Tory cabinet ministers defect to the party – voted against Labour’s attempts to strengthen rights for workers.

A GMB spokesperson said: “Mr Farage and his Reform MPs say one thing to workers and do another.

“They voted against sick pay and other essential safeguards. They even want to prevent people organising to make work better at places like Amazon.

“Now they want to stop low-paid working women getting access to their pension scheme.

“We see them for what they are – rebadged Tories after union members’ basic rights.”

Maryam Eslamdoust, the general secretary of the TSSA union, said: “The interests of working people are not safe in the hands of Reform UK, a party whose leaders want to protect their own interests at the expense of everyone else.

“A Farage-led government would rip up the Employment Rights Act and launch even worse attacks on workers’ rights than Thatcher.

“Union members will not be conned by this ridiculous and desperate gimmick from Farage.”

Labour MPs also hit out at Farage, with one saying he was “like a fox campaigning for better henhouse security.”

Alex Sobel, the Labour MP for Leeds Central and Headingley, said: “Nigel Farage opposed Labour’s legislation to ban zero hours contracts and outlaw fire and rehire.

“It’s outrageous for him to seek to pose as a champion of workers’ rights, given his consistent hostility to trade unions.

“Reform UK has no interest whatsoever in promoting employment rights or of campaigning for a national living wage.

“This is pure opportunism from Farage, who would go further than Thatcher with anti-union legislation if he ever came to power.”

Posting on X, fellow Labour MP Luke Charters said: “Quite something from a bloke who voted to water down union rights and opposed day-one sick pay, parental leave, bereavement leave and protections from exploitative zero-hours contracts.

“Like a fox campaigning for better henhouse security.”

FBU general secretary Steve Wright said: “Nigel Farage is a Thatcherite who is an enemy of trade unions and has consistently opposed extending employment rights, as well as workers taking strike action in defence of their jobs.

“As a former Tory party member in the 1980s, Farage was a cheerleader for Thatcher’s war on the miners and the biggest onslaught on trade unions since the Second World War. As an MP, Farage opposed the introduction of Employment Rights Act to ban zero hour contracts and outlaw fire and rehire.

“Firefighters and other workers will see this ludicrous stunt for what is by a party led by multi-millionaires that is a threat to the working class.”

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Our Guide To Every Celebrity Cameo Featured In Madonna’s New Confessions II Short Film

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Effectively an extended music video made up of short vignettes set to the first six songs on the album, Madonna premiered her Confessions II visuals at New York’s Tribeca Film Festival last week.

The 14-minute video has now been uploaded to YouTube, with the Like A Prayer singer being joined by a host of celebrities that include friends, collaborators and other A-list guests who took part in the shoot.

Here’s a quick guide to all the celebrity guests you might have missed in the Confessions II film…

Madonna

Unsurprisingly, the first face we see in the Confessions II film is Madonna herself.

This marks the first music video she’s appeared in since 2024, when she teamed up with The Weeknd on Popular, taken from his TV show The Idol.

While The Idol may have gone down like a lead balloon with critics and viewers, Popular itself proved much more… well… popular, becoming Madonna’s first top 10 single in the UK in 15 years.

Julia Garner

Confessions II’s first surprise cameo comes at the beginning of the Bring Your Love segment, when Madonna suddenly transitions into Julia Garner, sporting her own take on the Grammy winner’s iconic Jean-Paul Gaultier conical bras.

Madonna and Julia already have a well-established connection, as the Weapons actor was due to play the pop pioneer in a now-cancelled film biopic and, later, a stalled Netflix series inspired by the star’s life.

While this project is seemingly still in development purgatory, the two stars are due to share the screen in the second season of Seth Rogen’s The Studio, which is expected to poke fun at the troubled production.

Sabrina Carpenter

Bring Your Love then introduces Sabrina Carpenter, a featured artist on the track, who sports a matching outfit to Madonna.

Sabrina and Madonna premiered Bring Your Love, Confessions II’s lead single, during the Please Please Please singer’s headlining slot at Coachella in April, after which it was given a full release.

The pop tune gave Madonna her 73rd top 40 single in the UK, having so far peaked at number 29.

João Pedro and Cole Palmer

From Bring Your Love, we head to the club setting of Danceteria, inspired by the 80s New York nightspot of the same name.

Among the first shots in the Danceteria sequence is a string of four men standing at urinals (the scene takes place in a club bathroom, we should stress), two of whom are Chelsea footballers João Pedro and Cole Palmer.

Last year, Madonna made headlines when she and her boyfriend Akeem Morris attended a Chelsea game, where Cole scored no fewer than four goals for the London-based team.

Kate Moss

Another of the A-listers featured in the Danceteria musical number is Kate Moss.

She’s first seen applying lipstick in the bathroom mirror, before dancing shoulder-to-shoulder with Madonna and appearing in a close-up during the lyric “hide the cocaine” in what may have been a playful nod to her colourful past.

Odessa A’zion

Odessa A’zion has the unenviable task of going head-to-head with Madonna when they have a minor scuffle during Danceteria.

The Bafta nominee is a real star on the rise right now thanks to her work in the film Marty Supreme and the TV series I Love LA as well as Stranger Things: Tales From ’85.

Gwendoline Christie

Game Of Thrones star Gwendoline Christie is spotted peeping over a toilet cubicle wall while Madonna and a dancer are seen getting up close and personal.

She and Madonna have crossed paths numerous times over the years.

Back in 2015, the British actor joined Madonna on stage during her Rebel Heart tour, with the two sharing a moment together during her follow-up Madame X tour in 2020.

Shygirl, Arca and Richard E Grant

There’s then a three-for-one when a trio of stars are spotted laughing it up in a toilet cubicle together, with musicians Shygirl and Arca sharing the screen with Richard E Grant.

Notably, Arca co-produced Confessions II’s opening track I Feel So Free, having previously joined Madonna on stage during her Celebration Tour in 2023.

Debi Mazar

Debi Mazar is one of the 80s nightlife fixtures who gets name-checked in the lyrics of Dancerteria, so it makes sense that she should also make a cameo.

She and Madonna are lifelong friends, with the Kaos star previously making appearances in the music videos for her hits Papa Don’t Preach, True Blue, Justify My Love, Deeper And Deeper, and Music.

Archie Madekwe

Richard E Grant’s Saltburn co-star Archie Madekwe also appears in the Danceteria segment of Confessions II’s visual accompaniment.

He appears during a section which mentions Danceteria’s real-life DJ, the late Mark Kamins, accepting a tape from Madonna on which she’d scrawled “Everybody”, in a nod to how she got her debut single played to the masses in New York clubs before its official release.

Honey Dijon

Music producer Honey Dijon is one of the stars who joins in the group dance towards the end of Danceteria.

Honey previously put together the official remix of Madonna’s album track I Don’t Search I Find, before making not one but two cameos on her Celebration Tour.

Benedict Cumberbatch

The last star to make an appearance in Danceteria is arguably the biggest name of them all, Oscar nominee Benedict Cumberbatch.

He gets up close and personal with Madonna, when she grabs him by the head and makes him declare: “Everybody get up and dance.”

Feid

Madonna’s Confessions II film was how she shared with the world that album track Read My Lips would feature an appearance from the Colombian singer Feid.

After he appears in the mirror of Danceteria, he takes centre stage during the Read My Lips portion, surrounded by versions of Madonna performing on screens around him.

Lourdes Leon

Lourdes Leon
Lourdes Leon

Madonna definitely saved the best till last, though.

At the end of Read My Lips, her eldest daughter Lourdes Leon unmasks herself and declares “I wish a motherfucker would”, seemingly in reference to the previous lyric “shut your mouth”.

She also gets the final word of the piece, ending the I Feel So Free reprise with a “cut, bitch”.

Madonna’s new album Confessions II is released on Friday 3 July. Watch Confessions II – The Film for yourself below:

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