PAUL NOWAK: 'Nigel Farage wants to kill good union jobs'
'Nigel Farage always stands on the side of the rich and powerful – just like he has done with his opposition to stronger workers’ rights', TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak writes about Labour's energy
Paul Nowak is the general secretary of the TUC
This is a serious plan to create hundreds of thousands of jobs across the country. And not just any jobs.
Companies receiving public contracts and grants will be required to deliver good jobs – union jobs with fair pay, proper rights, and the kind of security you can actually build a life on. Whether it’s welders in Wrexham, turbine technicians in Grimsby or pipefitters on Teesside – this plan is about giving working people a future. It’s about making sure no community is left behind as we move to cleaner, greener energy.
After years of Tory neglect this shows what’s possible when government, unions and employers sit down and make a plan together.
It’s how we start to rebuild Britain’s industrial strength and give the next generation a future in green tech, engineering and manufacturing. But let’s be crystal clear. Nigel Farage and Reform would scrap all of this.
No plan. No jobs. No future. They’d rip up clean energy investment, offshore jobs and apprenticeships overseas and sell out working-class communities – just to keep their climate-denying billionaire backers happy.
Farage talks a big game about “sticking up” for ordinary people. But when push comes to shove he’s always stands on the side of the rich and powerful – just like he has done with his opposition to stronger workers’ rights.
He’d rather fan the flames of division than face the hard work of building a better, fairer country. We need real leadership. That means protecting the factories and foundries we have today and building the clean industries of tomorrow right here at home.
It means a properly funded, union-backed plan to support oil and gas workers in the North Sea – so no one is left behind in the transition. That’s what real patriotism looks like. Backing British workers, investing in our future and building an economy that works for everyone. Farage wants to kill good, union jobs. We can’t let him.