There are a lot of people out there who have it in for Nigel Farage. Most are on the left but a growing number are on the right. The thing is, as far as I am aware there is no great ideological difference between Farage and his right-wing critics. So, what’s going on?
If we are looking for clues we could do a lot worse than look at some of his bust-ups. Rupert Lowe is a recent example. But you have also got Ben Habib, Douglas Carswell and – if you go back far enough – Alan Sked, the founder of the United Kingdom Independence Party.
My theory is that Farage is incredibly jealous of his position. If he detects a threat to it – real or imagined – his instinct is to react with fury, to remove the threat as completely and as loudly as possible and damn the consequences.
That is not to say that Farage is a one-man band. Clearly he has had a very effective working relationship with Richard Tice over the years. I suspect that Tice knows that he could not do what Farage does. And I suspect that Farage knows that he knows.
I have some sympathy with Farage. The prospects for UKIP did not look great in the early 1990s. Or for a long time to come. But Farage stuck at it. It was a lonely existence. He suffered all that – well, a lot of what – the establishment could throw at him and in the Brexit referendum – with a bit of help – humiliated them. And now, he is on the cusp of becoming Prime Minister. And some people think that they can take it away from him when it is he, Farage, that’s done all the bloody work!
There are consequences of Farage’s jealousy. The upside is that Reform does not have to worry about factional in-fighting. There is only one faction, only one opinion that matters: Farage’s. The downside is that it is Stalinist in nature. No one is allowed to disagree. Anyone who attracts the attention of the media or Hope Not Hate – the supposedly anti-racist pressure group – is out. In my local branch the chairman was recently removed for “something” – we were never quite sure what. And then he was brought back. And then fired again. And then brought back.
What it means is that talent is being driven away. This could be really quite serious. Dominic Cummings – former advisor to Boris Johnson – and someone I think is well worth listening to has expressed his scepticism of the effectiveness of “one man and an iPhone” when dealing with an institution as vast and hostile as the British government.
It may be the case that Farage has been listening to us and the plan is to close down vast parts of the British state: education, NHS, Ofcom, FCA. That would make the government more manageable. But I think that unlikely, in which case Farage will be able to do very little given that – due to the size of the task – he will have to delegate to people who have been promoted on account of loyalty rather than ability.
It may be the case that we have to look to Farage’s successors on the right. The good news is that there will be plenty of them.
Both Ben Habib (the former Deputy Leader of the Reform Party) and Rupert Lowe (who was one of the five Reform Party Members of Parliament) have explained why they are concerned about the direction the Reform Party, under the leadership of Nigel Farage M.P.
Mr Farage could address these concerns by, as a good start, removing Mr Yusef.
Whilst Mr Farage continues to condemn “Islamophobia” (although he does have a different definition of the term than the government does) and talks of removing some, rather than all, illegal immigrants – concerns will continue.
However, elections are not about voting for an ideal political party (no such thing exists – or ever has existed) they are about voting for the least worst political party that has a chance to win the election.
Unless the Conservative Party can really turn things around, firmly present “right wing” policies that are a real break with the last period in office, then the main party “on the right” at the next election is likely to be the Reform Party led by Mr Farage.
Of course, four years is an enternity in politics – but that is how things look presently, if one looks at the opinion polls and-so-on.
Can Mr Farage reverse the growth of the state in Britain – I do not know, presently there is little sign of that – but things could change.
Can Mr Farage reverse the demographic transformation that threatens to destroy the British, especially the English – again I do not know, and such a task would be incredibly difficulty as the main driving force of this transformation is no longer “immigration” (although immigration, both illegal and legal, is certainly very important) – the main driving force of the destruction is now natural increase, births. Both the lack of births among the British population, fertility is now well below replacement level, and the number of births among other population groups – the largest of these other population groups being hostile (yes – hostile) in basic beliefs – principles.
How does one even start to deal with all that? The words “I would not start from here” spring to mind.
It may be that things are just too far gone, both in the growth of the state (government spending, regulations, the Credit Bubble monetary and financial system – and so on) and in the demographic transformation, for things to be reversed.
Still that sounds too much like the “conservative” academic who told me that “history does not have a reverse gear” – and that was a despicable thing to say (it would mean that all we can do is kill ourselves), I do NOT want to adopt that position.
So I wish all true “reactionaries”, all people trying to save Britain, well.
But I think that unlikely, in which case Farage will be able to do very little given that – due to the size of the task – he will have to delegate to people who have been promoted on account of loyalty rather than ability.
Loyalists of average ability can be given a simple algorithm for their tasks as Ministers :
1. Minister : “am I required by law to do this ?”
2a. Civil servant : “No, Minister”
3a. Minister : “OK then, don’t do it.”
2b. Civil servant “Yes, Minister.”
3b. Minister : “Have a draft law on my desk tomorrow morning which repeals whatever law obliges me to to do this. Let’s return to this in the morning.”
The government can then produce a monthy Repeals Potpourri Bill.
That seems obvious. Tice was leader while Farage was ‘retired’ and wasn’t an impressive leader. I remember Reform came 6th in the Rochdale by election that George Galloway won. I think had Farage stayed on the sidelines Reform would have won zero seats last year despite the Tories being godawful.
I don’t like the purging of individuals to the right of Farage/Tice, especially those that had been slandered by deep state rats like Hope not Hate. This is doubly frustrating when you see them field ridiculous wet characters as candidates. For example at the above mentioned Rochdale by election they had an ex -Labour MP who had been drummed out of Labour for sending explicit text messages to a 17yo girl. How he got allowed to be a candidate but others who had said un-PC stuff on Twitter got kicked out doesn’t sit right.
On the other hand, a Reform government would face enemies from all institutions and other parties and will need strong party discipline and severe firmness towards enemies. If Nigel can direct some of his ‘Stalinism’ towards the civil service,the judiciary and human rights industry, Hope Not Hate etc, that might not be a bad thing.
It’s been years since I’ve read it but I think Sean Gabb’s book Cultural Revolution, Cultural War has some good ideas for a British counter-revolutionary government.
It’s not jealousy, it’s a burning desire to not see Reform go the way of UKIP & get taken over by unhinged nutters & fools.
I’ve met Rupert Lowe & whilst we agreed on many things, he is not a thoughtful savvy operator, this is someone who ultimately struck me as driven by prejudices & lazy assumptions.