PRIME Minister Sir Keir Starmer is “disproportionately to blame” for Reform UK’s sweeping victories at last week’s local elections, Equity general secretary Paul W Fleming said today.

“This union should have no hesitation in calling for the Prime Minister to set out a timetable in which he resigns,” he told his union’s annual conference.

“Reform is the far-right: not every Reform voter, not every Reform council candidate but the leadership, direction and the policies of that party are those of the far-right.

“I’ve no shame in saying this union opposes them.”

The Labour leader has also fuelled a “culture of nervousness” in British theatres looking to address Israel’s genocide in Gaza, the union leader said.

Sir Keir ordered the Arts Council to “claw back” funding from venues deemed to “promote or platform antisemitism” last week following a spate of anti-Jewish attacks.

Such political interventions put the artistic freedoms of theatres at risk of self-censorship, Mr Fleming told the Morning Star.

He welcomed “urgent and legitimate” approaches to tackling antisemitism but warned worsening censorship in the industry has got “pretty bad.

“A lot of it is indirect; some people say that’s not real — but I would say that that is even more real than the pulling of a show,” Mr Fleming said.

In her conference speech on Saturday, Equity president Lynda Rooke told of drag artists being assaulted and harassed by far-right thugs “determined to get rid of anything to do with equalities and the hard-fought-for gains protecting marginalised communities.”

Co-ordinated campaigns targeting and harassing minority performers on stage have created a “culture of fear,” actor Julie Cheun-Inhin told delegates in Durham Miners’’ Hall.

Performances are being called off because producers are “terrified of being seen as taking a political position” with actors asking to be anonymous over fear of backlash for playing controversial roles, she said: “We are faced with a very real danger of censorship through anxiety.”

Jewish artists, writers, and culture workers called for the “pursuit of racial justice for all racialised groups” after the PM’s intervention prompted Arts Council England chief executive Darren Henley to vow he will act and “step up” on anti-Jewish hatred.

Jewish Artists for Palestine also accused Sir Keir of a “wrongheaded and opportunistic attempt to interfere with Arts Council funding and silence the Palestine liberation movement, in the wake of the rise in antisemitic attacks.”

Index on Censorship CEO Jemimah Steinfeld said: “It’s incredibly tense out there and we fear this is leading to a more risk-averse approach to programming in the arts, which ultimately impacts minorities most. 

“Political interventions only turn up the heat.”

Freedom in the Arts co-founder Denise Fahmy said that “self-censorship is endemic in the sector… [but] the real pressure to conform is from peers.”

Jewish Voice for Liberation (JVL) backed Mr Fleming’s comments.

JVL co-chair Jenny Manson said: “The focus on antisemitism only is a feature of other government bodies.

“And the basis of all this is the misconceived interpretation of  ‘antisemitism’ which conflates criticism of Israel and of zionism with hostility to Jews.”

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has been contacted for comment.