Nigel Farage – who often misses parliamentary sessions for his own interests – said working from home was “nonsense” and said Britain needed an ‘attitudinal change’ to hard work
Nigel Farage has been accused of “pure hypocrisy” after he called for an end to working from home.
The brazen Reform UK leader – who often misses parliamentary sessions for his own interests – said working from home was “nonsense” and said Britain needed an “attitudinal change” to hard work. In a rant at a rally in Birmingham yesterday, Mr Farage hit out at people being signed off work for “mild anxiety” and quipped that he has the condition after a “heavy night out”.
But TUC general secretary Paul Nowak hit back at Mr Farage and warned he is not on the side of workers. “Nigel Farage’s attack on working from home is pure hypocrisy,” the union chief said. “This is a man who barely shows up in Parliament or his constituency, yet happily jets off abroad to court wealthy donors and campaign for Trump.
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“It’s also completely true to form. Farage has a long record of siding against workers – opposing stronger rights at work, calling for a lower minimum wage and voting against banning exploitative zero-hours contracts.
“He doesn’t believe in people having work-life balance or job security because that might cut into the profits of the corporate interests who fund Reform.”
Unison General Secretary Andrea Egan said: “Reform UK’s double standards know no limits. They promised to slash council tax bills, but people are paying more in the local authorities Nigel Farage’s party controls.
“He talks about ending working from home, yet his party has advertised roles that encourage it. Although his neglected constituents might prefer it if he did spend a bit of time doing some work closer to home.”
Speaking at the rally yesterday, Mr Farage told Reform supporters: “The country is going bust. We’re caught in a trap where there are many at work who would actually be better off on welfare, and we will have to cut the welfare budget. Not everybody will like it. But, you know, I’m sorry, but mild anxiety, I mean, after a heavy night out, I have mild anxiety.
“You can’t go on the sick because you’ve got mild anxiety. But it is an attitudinal change that Britain needs. An attitudinal change to hard work rather than work life balance, an attitudinal change to the idea of working from home, people aren’t more productive working at home. It’s a load of nonsense. They’re more productive being with other fellow human beings and working as part of a team.”
At the first PMQs after the summer last year, Keir Starmer launched a blistering attack on the Reform UK leader after he swanned off to the US to badmouth Britain.
“The honourable member for Clacton (Mr Farage) is not here representing his constituents in the House that he was elected to,” the PM said. “No, he’s flown to America to badmouth and talk down our country.”
At the time, a Labour source said: “Nigel Farage and his Reform MPs only turn up to parliament for social media clips. Perhaps Farage can spend his self-imposed exile from his job reflecting on the damage his plans would do to Britain.”