In an exclusive interview with The Mirror, the new boss of the Trade Union Congress, which represents 5.5 million workers, warns of the rise of the ‘poisonous’ far right
The ‘far right’s poison’ is dangerously invading work forces including in hospitals, schools and prisons, warns the new TUC President.
And now Steve Gillan, has vowed to “wage war on the rise of this frightening hate”. The Trades Union Congress acts as a voice for more than 5.5 million workers and Mr Gillan says it must lead this fight in 2026 but urges the Government to go further to address the root causes.
In an exclusive interview with the Mirror, he warns about the rise of Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party, international interference and social media far-right influencers.
He says: “It is scary. Some trade unions have done surveys of their members and found a large proportion are lurching to Reform,” he said. “In the Midlands, one union’s snap survey found 43 per cent of their membership are more likely to vote reform.
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“The rise of the far right in the workforce is extremely dangerous. We are at a crossroads now, we actually fall into this spiral where we can’t get out of it or we fight back.
“Most people in Great Britain are decent law-abiding people who just want decent housing and decent jobs. “But some people are becoming more emboldened because of right-wing influencers and activists. You only have to look at Stephen Yaxley-Lennon (Tommy Robinson) who put on that big demo in London. “
Mr Gillan was referencing the “free speech” march in the capital in September, seen by many as an anti-migrant protest, which saw more than 100,000 “ordinary Brits” take to the streets.
“Ordinary men and women were turning out for it and if he can do that, that’s dangerous because effectively he is a convicted criminal. It’s frightening,” Mr Gillan said. Relating the rise of right-wing extremists in the UK to Nazi Germany, he says: “We can’t let history repeat itself.
A father of two, living in Essex, Mr Gillan says he is determined to make the UK a better place for his three grandchildren to grow up in.
He is worried about far-right views ‘invading’ the workforce, the former prison officer said: “Every occupation is touched by it and it does alarm me greatly that this is even in our schools, NHS, fire and police services.
“It’s not just people of a certain generation that are going to the far right, some young people are as well. They can be easily influenced by these so-called far-right influencers on social media, on TikTok, Facebook, Instagram
“They are influenced by right rhetoric and I think that’s the reason for that. It’s not because these individuals are necessarily racist. I actually think some people have given up hope, because they see themselves in communities that have been starved over the years of funding. So they haven’t got decent affordable housing.
“Industry over the last 30 or 40 years has shut down, it’s insecure jobs, zero-hour contracts.”
He said when he began his career as a prison officer a minority of his colleagues wore National Front badges under their ties.
“That racism is still there, it’s just better hidden,” he said. ”But people are becoming disillusioned and turning to the right from mainstream parties and they see Reform as an alternative.”
He said he was ‘very disappointed’ when Sir Keir Starmer said the UK risked becoming “an island of strangers” in a speech about immigration. The PM later said he regretted the comment.
“All this nonsense with raise the flags and Keir Starmer’s comments about a ‘land of strangers’. We haven’t become an island of strangers, I think Britain has much to offer and it shouldn’t matter the colour of people’s skin.
He said that’s why TUC will be supporting Show Racism the red card in schools and working with Hope not Hate and stand up to Racism.
And now he is determined to make a difference: “I think the trade union holds the key, along with the Labour government,” he said.
“We’ve got to challenge far-right ideology within workplaces. It’s our job to debunk that online disinformation concerning migration and the economy.
“It is the historic need to wrongly blame others for what is happening. If you look throughout history books that’s always happened, from Nazi Germany.
“When things aren’t going well, all you need is someone like an influencer saying ‘that’s because that guy over there is taking your job, he’s taking your housing, he’s taking your doctor’s appointment, he’s taking your dental appointment’. And of course when people feel vulnerable, they latch on to that, and they’re looking for someone to blame.
“They don’t necessarily blame governments, where they should be pointing the finger, instead they point to whoever the narrative is focused on.
“And at the moment, that narrative is focused on migrants, Muslims, and other minority groups.
“That’s no different from Nazi Germany when, you know, the growth of Nazism was saying, ‘look around you, you know, these Jewish people, these foreigners, these Catholics, these trade unionists, they’re all a danger to your value in life. Let’s make Germany great again’.
“History’s repeating itself.Unfortunately, we’ve always had to have a scapegoat. I think we need to take the lead to stop this hatred, to fight back, but of course we’ve got to take the Labour Government with us.”
He says the Employment Rights Act – an overhaul of UK employment law, cracking down on zero-hours contracts – is a good start, but: “They’ve got to make sure that they’re dealing with the economic causes too.
“We’ve got to push the government to reduce poverty, to improve public services, increase housing, and increase security, and counteract those narratives of blame exploited by the far right.
“The Labour government are trying at the moment to outdo reform by being seen as tough on the small boats, being seen as tough on visas. That won’t work against reform or the far-right narrative because they will just keep moving the goalpostsThe Labour government has got to deal with the root causes of why people are turning to the far right.
“Those root causes are quite simple: housing, decent jobs, the NHS, doctors appointments, dental appointments and giving people hope for the future.
“They need to strengthen laws against foreign interference and combat misinformation.
“I think there’s a danger here of actually getting patriotism mixed up with nationalism.
“The difference is there is nothing wrong with being proud of your country but when you take nationalism too far, it becomes all about the country rather than about people, foreign people, and then it becomes a problem.
“And that’s exactly what happened in Nazi Germany. And I’m afraid we’re falling into that trap. There are green shoots of positivity out there and as TUC president, I think we’ve got to tap into that.
“Some communities are actually fighting back against this narrative and I will also use my position in 2026 to continue to fight and campaign against the rise of the far right. It is not in the interests of communities and society and more importantly it is not in the interest of workers in the workplace.“
