Mick Lynch, the former RMT general secretary who retired in March after years of becoming one of the most distinctive voices in British trade unionism, appeared on Newsnight alongside Reform’s Laila Cunningham and delivered what observers have described as one of the more thorough takedowns of the party’s politics in recent memory.
He called Reform and Restore Britain “despicable.” He told working class people to “turn away from the hatred that is being spread.” And when Cunningham challenged him on what he meant, he explained her party’s policies back to her more clearly than she could explain them herself.
Lynch has never been one to mince his words. His tenure at the RMT made him a regular feature in confrontations with political interviewers who expected him to be defensive about strikes and found him instead forensically dismantling their premises. This Newsnight appearance was in the same register.
The blanket problem
Lynch’s opening political observation was about the structural trap Reform finds itself in as it tries to grow beyond its existing base.
“As Reform try to appeal to the centre to consolidate their vote, they’re going to have to stretch their blanket to cover these ultra-right nationalists represented by Rupert Lowe.”
It is a specific and accurate observation. As we reported in our Makerfield byelection odds piece, Restore Britain – Rupert Lowe’s breakaway party after Farage pushed him out of Reform – is polling at 8% in Makerfield and splitting the right-wing vote. As we reported in our Electoral Dysfunction analysis, Ruth Davidson identified the same structural problem: Farage had a choice between broadening his base for government or deepening it toward the far right, and on the Nowak case he chose to deepen it. Lynch’s “blanket” metaphor captures the same dynamic – the further right Reform goes to hold its base, the harder it becomes to appeal to the centre it needs to win nationally.
“They’re all despicable as far as I’m concerned and working class people should turn away from them. They should turn away from the hatred that is being spread.”
What Reform actually believes – and Cunningham’s response
Cunningham, who has now appeared on Newsnight multiple times in recent weeks as the public face of a party whose leader is in virtual hiding – as we reported in our Victoria Derbyshire Cunningham piece – asked Lynch what he was referring to when he mentioned hatred being spread.
Lynch was prepared.
“Your party believes in mass deportations of people living in this country.”
Cunningham’s defence: this only applies to illegal migrants. Lynch’s response: Reform have specifically threatened to deport any economic migrant using the welfare system. This is a documented policy commitment – as we reported in our Stefanovic Reform policies piece, Stefanovic documented Reform’s Great Repeal Act which would strip workers’ rights protections, repeal the Equality Act and leave the ECHR – none of which is limited to illegal migrants.
When Cunningham argued that social housing and benefits should be for British people only, Lynch gave her the answer that argument requires.
“The British people includes people that live here that come from abroad!”
The economic argument
When Cunningham pushed back and asked what British trade unionists would think, Lynch pivoted to the core argument he was there to make.
“What we believe is we pay for each other through a fair tax system where wealth is distributed properly so that all people can advance.”
And then, directly to Cunningham: “You believe in isolating people and taking advantage of poverty so that you can divide them and make your friends even richer!”
This is the formulation that has circulated most widely from the interview. It is also, as an encapsulation of the left’s critique of Reform’s political economy, reasonably precise. As we reported in our Gary Smith GMB piece, Smith argued that Reform’s leaders were “cheering Thatcher to the rafters” while union members were on picket lines – the same fundamental argument that Reform’s concern for working class people is rhetorical while its policies serve different interests. As we reported in our Zucman wealth tax piece, Zucman documented that billionaires pay half the effective tax rate of workers and that the 200 wealthiest UK families have gone from 5% to 25% of GDP since 1989. “Making your friends even richer” is not an abstract charge.
Lynch also reminded Cunningham of Farage’s previous comments about the NHS – a subject on which Farage’s record is, as we have reported, considerably more complicated than his current public positioning suggests.
Cunningham’s Newsnight residency
This is Cunningham’s third significant Newsnight appearance in recent weeks, and her third time being the public face of a party whose leader has not held a press conference in over 40 days. As we reported in our Victoria Derbyshire piece, Derbyshire pressed her on why Farage hadn’t held a press conference since his £5 million gift was revealed. As we reported in our Leroy Logan Newsnight piece, ex-Met superintendent Logan told her directly: “This is clearly cause and effect – you’re fooling yourself.” And now Lynch has told her she is taking advantage of poverty to divide people and enrich her friends.
Cunningham keeps showing up. This is to her credit. Farage keeps not showing up. This is not.
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