Britain’s largest teaching union has launched a blistering attack on Reform UK, branding the party “racist and far-right” in a move that has ignited a fiery row with party leader Nigel Farage.
Delegates at the National Education Union (NEU) annual conference in Harrogate overwhelmingly passed a motion to utilise the union’s political fund to campaign against Reform UK candidates in the run-up to the next General Election. The union claims the party’s stance on immigration and its wider rhetoric fosters racism, scapegoats minorities, and promotes division in British society.
The motion declared: “Reform UK is a racist and far-right party because of its policies around immigration and its campaigns against migrants.” It further accused the party of seeking to capitalise on despair and division, stating: “Organisations like Reform UK seek to build on the poverty and alienation in our society by scapegoating refugees, asylum seekers, Muslims, Jews, and others who do not fit their beliefs.”
NEU general secretary Daniel Kebede did not hold back in his criticism of Farage, branding him a “pound shop Trump” and accusing him of engaging in “dog whistle politics”. Speaking to the press, Mr Kebede said: “There’s an awful lot of racists getting involved in Reform. I think Nigel Farage is a right-wing populist. He’s following the Trump playbook – directly targeting education unions, as we’ve seen in the U.S. with Elon Musk and Donald Trump attacking teachers’ unions.”
He added, with a wry smile: “It seems our union is living rent free in his head.”
Farage, speaking in County Durham later that day, hit back, accusing Kebede of being a “self-declared Marxist” and claiming that the NEU was indoctrinating schoolchildren against Reform UK. “He’s encouraging the literal poisoning of young minds,” Farage asserted. “This union is spreading propaganda in schools, telling kids that we are a racist party. If we win the 2029 General Election, we will go to war with the NEU and the rest of the left-wing teaching unions.”
Reform MP Lee Anderson echoed Farage’s criticism, accusing the NEU of abandoning its responsibility to political neutrality. “Instead of educating our youth, the NEU seems more focused on political indoctrination and silencing views it doesn’t agree with,” Anderson said. “This is not only morally wrong but also potentially unlawful.”
The union’s motion also noted a rise in young people being drawn into racist and far-right ideologies, calling for educators to counter this trend through active teaching and engagement. Nottingham delegate Kathryn Norouzi warned: “Reform UK’s statements are designed to incite fear and division. As a union, we must have the courage and clarity to oppose them. We must call them out for what they are – a racist party – and use our political fund to campaign against them.”
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However, the motion was not without opposition from within the NEU itself. Simon Clarkson, a delegate from Leicester, argued that such debates only serve to strengthen Farage’s hand. “This will give him more weapons to attack us,” he warned. “We already have the tools to counter Reform’s influence – we don’t need to deploy our political fund.”
Despite the internal dissent, the motion passed, signalling a clear intent by the NEU to actively campaign against Reform UK in future elections.
This confrontation has laid bare the growing polarisation within British politics, particularly on the topic of education, identity, and free speech. As the General Election looms ever closer, the clash between teaching unions and right-wing populist forces may become a defining battleground.
Whether this row energises or alienates the voting public remains to be seen – but one thing is certain: neither the NEU nor Reform UK appear ready to back down.
