This petition was submitted during the 2017-2019 parliament
Rejected petition Ban trade unions in the UK from being political/donating to political parties.
Many workers across the UK are encouraged and often need to join trade unions. However, millions are thus immorally forced to fund political parties that they may not want to fund or support, yet face the choice of either doing so or going without legal and employment support.
More details
Trade unions should not be political. Members should not be exploited into financially supporting a political party in return for receiving access to legal advice and support to protect them in their place of employment. The biggest example of this exploitation can be seen in the Labour Party, who in 2016 alone attributed almost half of its funding to trade unions - millions of pounds from hardworking men and women across the country, often without being informed of the option to opt-out.
This petition was rejected
Why was this petition rejected?
It’s not clear what the petition is asking the UK Government or Parliament to do.
Petitions need to call on the Government or Parliament to take a specific action.
We're not sure exactly what you'd like the Government or Parliament to do. Trade Union members are not required to contribute to a political fund. New members of trades unions are required to opt in if they wish to contribute to the union's political fund, while exisitng members who had previously opted-in to the political fund are able to opt out. You can find more information at
We only reject petitions that don’t meet the petition standards.