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Unite the Union lays into Starmer’s Labour, threatens split

Unite the Union is the largest trade union in the UK, and it has a long history with the Labour Party. As such, it’s momentous that general secretary Sharon Graham has launched an attack on the party at start of the 2025 Labour Conference. It comes as Keir Starmer’s approval has hit the lowest level of any British prime minister.


Sharon Graham: Starmer is a ‘head scratcher’

Speaking to Sky News’s Trevor Phillips, Graham said:

Well, I think workers are scratching their heads. I’m scratching my head, let alone anybody else, in terms of what are the choices that Labour are making. This does not feel like Labour. Picking the pocket of pensioners, leaving the super-rich totally untouched, having two refineries close in less than a year and no plan for jobs.

That is what Labour need to focus on now. And if they don’t do that, then people are going to start to move away from them in droves. They really need to wake up, smell the coffee, and be Labour. Don’t be embarrassed to be Labour. They’re the Labour government. Do Labour things.

Sounding surprised, Phillips responded:

what you’re saying is they’ve made the wrong choices.

Phillips himself has a long history as a Labour politician, with Peter Mandelson having served as his best man in 1981. Graham was clear in her response:

Well, I think they have made the wrong choices. I think the last 14 months has been the wrong choices.

On 8 September, we covered Unite’s dissatisfaction with Labour over the Employment Relations Bill, with Graham stating:

Labour’s promise to ban fire and rehire is now a burnt-out shell. By amending the Employment Relations Bill to allow councils to use fire and rehire, has given them the green light to push down workers’ pay to cut debt. Yet again workers pay the price.

This along with the government’s reshuffle, taking out all ministers who have worked with unions on the Bill, signals a move in the wrong direction. Workers will feel duped when they realise the Bill is a paper tiger.

Unscrupulous employers will continue to exploit workers and the Bill will do little to combat that.

Common opinion

Sharon Graham’s opinion is consistent with the views of the public:


Graham is speaking out on the matter:


As some people have noted, this is happening at the same time that Jeremy Corbyn and other MPs are establishing a new party on the left:

Featured image via Sky News

By Willem Moore

This post was originally published on Canary.