Andy Burnham’s new economics advisor oversaw an illegal sacking and an incident where police were called on his own staff, according to a trade union.
The Independent Workers’ of Great Britain (IWGB) union said Andy Haldane should not be “anywhere near a government that claims to stand for working people”.
Last week it was reported that Burnham was receiving advice from some “top economists” ahead of his Labour leadership run, including Haldane, a former Bank of England chief economist.
Haldane was the chief executive of the Royal Society of Arts (RSA) from 2021 to 2025, where he oversaw a period of unrest, with staff taking strike action for the first time in the charity’s 270-year history after management refused to recognise their trade union.
Burnham’s appointment of new economic advisors is seen as an attempt to bolster his fiscal credibility. However, Haldane’s former staff have expressed concerns that his inclusion “points in the opposite direction” of a leadership that can “bring people together”.
A statement from the IWGB charity workers’ branch, seen by Novara Media, said: “At a time when millions feel excluded from political decision-making, the country needs leaders who can listen, build trust and bring people together.
“Andy Haldane’s record points in the opposite direction. It reflects a style of leadership that concentrates power, disregards collective voices and deepens division rather than overcoming it.
“As Andy Burnham puts together a team to run this country, he must ask himself whether Haldane is someone who belongs anywhere near power in a government that claims to stand for working people.
“As Chief Economist at the Bank of England, Haldane argued that declining union membership and ‘divide and rule’ tactics had left workers less able to bargain for fair pay. As CEO of the RSA, he employed precisely those tactics against his own staff.”
On one occasion, the RSA even “phoned the Met Police on its own employees as they protested peacefully outside the building”, the union said, adding, “Industrial relations improved significantly at the RSA after Haldane’s ‘retirement’ and departure from the organisation in 2025.”
Kirby Fullerton, former senior fellowship development manager at the RSA and a union rep, told Novara Media: “When Haldane joined the RSA, he immediately escalated things and took a combative, patronising attitude towards our efforts to unionise. He dug his heels in and refused to engage in meaningful dialogue with his workforce. I often referred to him as the Wizard of Oz – using his credentials and clout to say all the right things publicly, but behind closed doors it was a very different story.
“The level of intimidation and anti-union sentiment I felt from Haldane and his management team made me genuinely fearful of losing my job, despite trade union protections. I was not alone in this – RSA workers, their mental health and wages, suffered under his leadership. That was the culture he, as chief executive, was responsible for setting.
“If Labour wants to signal change and build trust, Haldane has no place in its government.”
In 2023, an employment tribunal found that RSA had broken the law by unfairly dismissing Ruth Hannan, Head of Policy and Participation, for speaking out the way staff were treated. The RSA said it was “disappointed and surprised” by the decision, adding the IWGB “continues to use this case as an example of RSA wrongdoing, which we feel to be vexatious and unjust.”
Hannan told Novara Media: “After my experience of both campaigning for RSA staff to unionise and to be sacked as a result, it was clear to me that what Andy Haldane says in public is not what he exacts in practice.
“Andy Burnham strikes me as a man with strong values. This is not how I would describe Andy Haldane, after my experience.”
In December 2023, RSA hosted an event by UKIB – the UK-Israeli Chamber of Commerce, which included a video-call from Israel’s president Isaac Herzog, who has been accused by a UN Commission of Inquiry of inciting genocide. Some staff walked out during their lunch break to join a demonstration against the event.
“It felt clear to staff that, under Haldane’s leadership, dissent of any kind was something to be managed and suppressed, not engaged with or taken on board… Staff who walked out of the building in protest were singled out for one-on-ones and reported feeling intimidated by him,” the IWGB said.
In 2023, staff at the RSA took strike action for the first time in the charity’s history. Many RSA Fellows voiced their concern and some left the organisation. Public figures including Yanis Varoufakis, George Monbiot and Chris Packham withdrew from events in solidarity with striking staff.
The dispute was all the more controversial given the RSA’s progressive aims. Its website says, “We’ve never stopped asking: how can we build a world that works better for everyone?” The staff eventually won statutory recognition for the IWGB with the backing of 85% of the workers involved.
Andy Haldane has been approached for comment.
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