Unions and renters’ groups have criticised Reform UK after the party’s business spokesperson, Richard Tice, pledged to introduce a “great repeal act” that would abolish Labour legislation on workers’ rights and protection for tenants.
In his first speech since being appointed by Nigel Farage to a portfolio covering business, trade and energy, Tice promised a bonfire of regulations, including an end to net zero targets and a new push for home-produced shale gas using fracking.
Hitting out at what he called “daft” regulations, Tice said a Reform government would repeal the Employment Rights Act and the Renters’ Rights Act, two of the flagship pieces of legislation passed by Keir Starmer’s government.
“We will repeal things that are unnecessary or against the strategic national interest,” he told an event in Birmingham, saying some of this involved “well-intentioned legislation that is having exactly the opposite effect”.
The Employment Rights Act, passed in December, offers significant new rights connected to sick pay, parental leave and zero-hours contracts, including rights to guaranteed hours and payment for short-notice cancellation of shifts, and a ban on most fire-and-rehire practices.
Tice said the act was “destroying jobs for young people”, blaming it for an increase in youth unemployment.
He also said Reform would also repeal the Renters’ Rights Act, blaming it for reducing the supply of rental properties and pushing up rents.
The legislation abolishes “no fault evictions”, which allow landlords to remove tenants without giving a reason, replaces fixed-term tenancies with open-ended agreements and introduces new duties over health hazards.
Tice said the law had meant too many landlords found it was “too risky” to rent in case they could not remove tenants. “There’s a balance of risk and reward, and too many landlords have said, enough is enough,” he said.
Sarah Elliott, chief executive of the homeless charity Shelter, said: “How can any political party claim to stand with working families while plotting to keep them trapped in an unfair system with threadbare rights?
“Scrapping these vital reforms will do nothing but condemn thousands to the hellish conditions they have endured for decades, while giving unscrupulous landlords free rein to turf renters out of their homes for no good reason.”
Clara Collingwood, interim director at the Renters’ Reform Coalition, said: “Scrapping the basic protections in this act would be a huge setback for millions of renters, driving up homelessness and making life harder, particularly for those on lower incomes. Reform should think again.”
Andrea Egan, general secretary of the Unison union, said Reform’s MPs “have consistently voted against every measure to improve fairness and rights at work”. She added: “These new changes are popular with the public and could improve the lives of millions. Scrapping them would be a huge mistake.”
Tice’s language about a great repeal act echoes that of Donald Trump’s “big beautiful bill” taxation package. In another nod to the US president, Tice said a Reform government should consider “tight quotas and significant tariffs” on some Chinese imports, to protect UK manufacturing.
He called for a new sovereign wealth fund to invest in UK energy, including renewed oil drilling in the North Sea and fracking.
“What about saying Lincolnshire gas for Lincolnshire jobs for Lincolnshire growth; Yorkshire gas for Yorkshire jobs for Yorkshire growth?” he said. “It’s our patriotic duty to use our energy treasure.”
Mike Childs, Friends of the Earth’s head of policy, said: “If Reform truly wants to back Britain they should back the UK’s vast homegrown renewable power – alongside a nationwide programme of home insulation – which would deliver real energy security.”