Your analysis is cutting and among its several dissections the sharpest observation for me is: 'Reform UK thrives on the illusion that there is no alternative, that the centre is dead, the left is weak, and fear is the only currency.' When Cameron+Clegg decided on the jolly wheeze of a referendum Farage understood ordinary Brits' dissatisfaction with the people in government and, like any City trader, saw an opportunity to make a killing. He is doing that again. Ordinary Brits know very well that 'the centre is dead' - just walk down any high street in an unfashionable town or district. They know their utilities are owned by the French or the Germans or the Chinese or someone's Sovereign Wealth Fund. Ordinary people have no power because ALL governments since Attlee (and probably since the Welsh Wizard) have worked tirelessly to ensure it. Farage, were he ever to become PM, would be no different. That is why 54% of the electorate in Runcorn chose not to vote...
Thank-you for engaging with our work. We writre about things that worry us - lots of concerns are raised by Trump across the Atlantic, but there are significant troubles at home, too, whose ugly roots have already taken hold in the US.
Farage is a Pound Shop Trump. A grifter. But he does know how to stir the pot and play grievance politics well. It is imperative that Labour listens to sense, and stops trying to out-Refom the Reform UK party. Its allowing Farage to set the agenda and move the Overton Window. For example, the idea of safe routes for asylum seekers feels like a taboo conversation that Labour will not touch. The only discourse now appears to be who can punish these peole the most.
As we said in the article, Labour will lose all viability this way, and people who like Refom UK will just go and vote for Reform anyway. Voters who held their nose and voted Labour in 2024 will just go elsewhere in 2029 if things continue as they are. That is, of course, if they choose to go and vote at all.
Your analysis is cutting and among its several dissections the sharpest observation for me is: 'Reform UK thrives on the illusion that there is no alternative, that the centre is dead, the left is weak, and fear is the only currency.' When Cameron+Clegg decided on the jolly wheeze of a referendum Farage understood ordinary Brits' dissatisfaction with the people in government and, like any City trader, saw an opportunity to make a killing. He is doing that again. Ordinary Brits know very well that 'the centre is dead' - just walk down any high street in an unfashionable town or district. They know their utilities are owned by the French or the Germans or the Chinese or someone's Sovereign Wealth Fund. Ordinary people have no power because ALL governments since Attlee (and probably since the Welsh Wizard) have worked tirelessly to ensure it. Farage, were he ever to become PM, would be no different. That is why 54% of the electorate in Runcorn chose not to vote...
Thank-you for engaging with our work. We writre about things that worry us - lots of concerns are raised by Trump across the Atlantic, but there are significant troubles at home, too, whose ugly roots have already taken hold in the US.
Farage is a Pound Shop Trump. A grifter. But he does know how to stir the pot and play grievance politics well. It is imperative that Labour listens to sense, and stops trying to out-Refom the Reform UK party. Its allowing Farage to set the agenda and move the Overton Window. For example, the idea of safe routes for asylum seekers feels like a taboo conversation that Labour will not touch. The only discourse now appears to be who can punish these peole the most.
As we said in the article, Labour will lose all viability this way, and people who like Refom UK will just go and vote for Reform anyway. Voters who held their nose and voted Labour in 2024 will just go elsewhere in 2029 if things continue as they are. That is, of course, if they choose to go and vote at all.