Latest news with #Reform-style
Telegraph
04-05-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
The Tories need to fight out their internal battle or they are doomed
In time honoured fashion, the Tories and Labour have studied the drubbing they received last week and concluded that the public wants them to carry on as normal. We'll go 'further, faster', says Sir Keir. 'No lurch to the Right', insist the Conservatives. For Labour this is a reasonable bet: the economy might turn around, its vote isn't so divided (yet). But for the Tories, it's utter madness – a tone deaf, do-nothingness that will send them the way of the old Liberal Party and WH Smith. As with Smith's, the Tory brand is so moribund and confusing, I've forgotten what they used to sell. Paper? Council houses? Knighthoods and pens. Team Kemi's 'don't lose your head' argument does enjoy a superficial logic. They say: we can't copy Reform because Reform isn't real. In these local elections, it won a third of the vote on a third of the turnout, on a contradictory platform that fails scrutiny (cut taxes, raise welfare). Labour has sunk in the polls, too – because governing in the 21st century is jolly hard, thanks to an elderly population and sluggish growth, and Starmer proves that entering office promising the moon will lead to disappointment. Nevertheless, similarly awful, centre-left parties have won re-election in Canada and Australia. Why? Because the centre-right opposition allowed itself to be branded as Trumpian. In other words, when it comes to running the country, the voters will ultimately choose an impression of competence over Reform-style theatrics – a reality that will become clear at the next UK election, when Reform nominates Darren Grimes for home secretary (his nan would nae believe it). Moreover, echoing Reform would encourage some Tory MPs to defect to the Lib Dems. Therefore, unwilling or unable to embrace radical positions on immigration or net-zero, Kemi prefers to let her party evolve behind closed doors, via a policy negotiation process that will someday emerge onto the balcony as a fully-fledged 'plan'. The problem with this conclave style of politics is it cedes all publicity to Nigel Farage. Kemi only appears on television to explain why she has nothing to say and why it's rude of journalists to ask. In these tense confrontations, occasionally bordering on violence, one gets a flash of why grassroots Tories voted for her in October 2024. They thought they were getting a Nigerian-British woman who loves the country but can see its flaws, and has no fear in naming them. But her handlers, anticipating bad reviews among the critical voting blocs of Times columnists and Dr Who actors, decided to rein her majesty in and 'soften' her image. The result: an uncomfortable silence. You know Kemi wants to let rip; we can see what she's capable of from PMQs. But too often she lacks confidence or definition, and I for one am tired of being invited to press conferences to be given a lecture on 'the Kantian dualism in mass migration,' deploying philosophical reflection to disguise the absence of hard policy. Modern politics is an attention economy. For the past year, the Tories have chosen not to compete – and damage has plainly been done. The significance of the local elections is that in many parts of the country the Tories lost their historic position as the natural anti-Labour vote. Take my turf of Kent, where they went from 62 seats on Thursday night to just 5 in the morning; Reform is on 57. This was extraordinary. Even in 1993, when the Tories last lost the council at the height of Labour's revival, they still retained 41 councillors. I grew up believing Kentish politics operated somewhere to the Right of Mississippi, dominated by the blues with the occasional breakthrough for the reds in the coastal towns. But a revolution in voter psychology has taken effect. In the future, anyone who wishes to vote tactically to get rid of Keir Starmer, especially if they live east of the river Medway, will no longer automatically vote Tory: they might judge that Reform has a better chance. If sitting around praying for Reform to collapse doesn't fix things, the Tories could always offer a pact. This, of course, would acknowledge their diminished status, look desperate, and Nigel is likely to plot an amusingly public display of saying 'no'. So the only alternative is to court Reform voters and rebrand the party from top to bottom as populist and patriotic. The more liberal Tories fight back against this, the better. Have the battle and win it: their mass-defection to Ed Davey's clown show will confirm that the party has made a choice and is sticking to it. Tony Blair had his clause 4 moment. Keir Starmer expelled Jeremy Corbyn. The death of the old, Cameronian coalition of economic and social liberals is overdue anyway, because Brexit rendered it irrelevant. The day after that referendum, half the conservatives I grew up with became rabid nationalists, the other half bitter liberals – and the urban centre of my home town of Sevenoaks, once populated by Hyacinth Buckets, is now a mini Hoxton. They actually held a 'climate fair' on the green this weekend. I'm pleased to say it was freezing cold. Cutting one's losses among the joss-stick burning classes is the only way to build up votes elsewhere, and if gambling on a new message and a new demography feels temperamentally unconservative, remember that Peel did it, Disraeli did it and Thatcher did it, too. The paradox of conservatism is that it retains its identity, as the traditional party of governance, by changing – including its highest personnel. Which brings us to the final question: is Kemi best placed to revive the Tories? The local results suggest that so far she's failing, and it further weakens her position that the party has a viable alternative. After losing the leadership election, Rob Jenrick adopted the old trick of turning up to the office the next day and acting as if he got the job, issuing press releases, running marathons, taking senior but young-looking journalists to lunch, where he has impressed them with his analysis of the national crisis, his understanding of what needs to be done. All Kemi can say to fend off his implicit challenge is that to have five leaders within two years would look ridiculous – but the sad truth is that no one is looking anyway. While Reform is capturing the high street, like an invasion of Turkish barbers, the Tories are in danger of closing down for good.
Yahoo
23-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Starmer to condemn Farage's ‘dangerous right-wing politics' as Reform UK surges in the polls
Sir Keir Starmer will condemn the "dangerous right-wing politics" of Reform UK and insist that Nigel Farage's party are "not the answer for Britain". In a sign of growing fears in Downing Street at Reform's surge in the polls, the prime minister will take the fight directly to the insurgent right-wing party, arguing its policies are 'alien' to the needs of working people. Mr Farage's party topped Labour in Techne's weekly tracker poll for The Independent for the first time last week, with 26 per cent of the popular vote, and is on course to win its first seats at Holyrood in next May's Scottish elections. And, addressing the Scottish Labour conference in Glasgow on Sunday, Sir Keir will challenge gathered MSPs, MPs and activists to 'show a path to the future', warning that if his party does not then 'others will fill that void'. The PM will say that, with their "dangerous right-wing politics", Reform "will say they are the ones who can tilt politics towards the interests of working people". But he will insist that "their proposals do precisely the opposite", adding that Labour has "to be ready for this test, ready to point out that beneath the bluster, the alternative they offer is alien to working people". Hitting out at Mr Farage's party, which won five seats in last year's general election, the Sir Keir will say: "You want to know what Farage and Reform are doing, on their rare visits to Parliament? "They're voting against our employment right bill. They talk the language of workers' rights online and on doorsteps, but they want to charge people to use the NHS. "They are not the answer people are looking for. That is not the answer for Britain. And it will never be the answer for Scotland." Labour has increasingly been attempting to take the fight to Reform, amid fears the party is riding a wave of discontent at Sir Keir's government and could unseat scores of his MPs at the next general election. Sir Keir also privately wrote to his cabinet to warn of the threat of Reform, according to reports, telling his top team that 'if governments are not changing the system in favour of working people, then voters will find someone else who does'. Left-wingers have condemned the party's attempts to apparently 'outdo' Mr Farage, publishing videos of illegal working raids and deportation flights while highlighting its record on deportations using Reform-style posters. Veteran Labour MP and former shadow home secretary Diane Abbott has accused Sir Keir of turning Labour into 'Reform-lite'. Sunday marks the first time Sir Keir has addressed the Scottish Labour conference since Labour won power in July's general election. The prime minister will also use his speech to hit out at John Swinney's Scottish government, accusing them of failing to seize the opportunities offered by his Labour administration in Westminster. The SNP will come under fire for voting against Labour's budget, with Sir Keir to say the Scottish Government had been given a £47.7 billion settlement that was "the most money ever provided in the devolution era", providing a "stable foundation for the economy". While he will say this cash provides "more money for Scottish schools, more money for Scottish hospitals, more money for Scottish police services, more money for Scotland", he will condemn the SNP for voting against it, claiming this shows "the same old SNP - gesture politics first, Scotland second". Sir Keir will also raise the "possibilities for change" for Scotland if voters elected a Labour government at Holyrood in 2026. He will tell the conference: "While we will work with whoever the Scottish people elect, just imagine what we could achieve, together. "Imagine the possibilities for change. If we end the 19-year SNP rule in Scotland as emphatically as we ended 14 years of Tory rule in Britain. "A Labour government in Westminster, a Labour government in Holyrood, with Anas Sarwar, a Labour first minister." A Reform Scotland spokesperson said: "Keir Starmer can try and deflect all he wants but the reality is that he is failing Scotland and he is now a deeply unpopular figure here. "Whilst Labour continue the Tory tradition of failing Scotland in Westminster, Reform offer real change from status quo. Scottish people are sick of Tory and Labour lies." The spokesperson added: "Scotland is broken, Scotland needs Reform." Meanwhile, SNP depute Westminster leader Pete Wishart said: "Sir Keir Starmer must do what Anas Sarwar failed to and take the opportunity tomorrow to apologise to the people of Scotland. "Whether on Grangemouth, energy bills or their promises to pensioners, Starmer and the Labour Party promised change and have broken so many of those promises that they used to get elected - all while Anas Sarwar has stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Sir Keir. "The people of Scotland won't be fooled by Labour's empty rhetoric." Mr Wishart went on: "It's clear Labour under Anas Sarwar and Keir Starmer are in complete disarray. "It is rich for Sir Keir to lecture the Scottish electorate on the dangers of Nigel Farage when the Labour party is locked in a battle for second place with him, pandering to his shameful ideologies."
The Independent
23-02-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Starmer to condemn Farage's ‘dangerous right-wing politics' as Reform UK surges in the polls
Sir Keir Starmer will condemn the "dangerous right-wing politics" of Reform UK and insist that Nigel Farage 's party are "not the answer for Britain". In a sign of growing fears in Downing Street at Reform's surge in the polls, the prime minister will take the fight directly to the insurgent right-wing party, arguing its policies are 'alien' to the needs of working people. Mr Farage's party topped Labour in Techne's weekly tracker poll for The Independent for the first time last week, with 26 per cent of the popular vote, and is on course to win its first seats at Holyrood in next May's Scottish elections. And, addressing the Scottish Labour conference in Glasgow on Sunday, Sir Keir will challenge gathered MSPs, MPs and activists to 'show a path to the future', warning that if his party does not then 'others will fill that void'. The PM will say that, with their "dangerous right-wing politics", Reform "will say they are the ones who can tilt politics towards the interests of working people". But he will insist that "their proposals do precisely the opposite", adding that Labour has "to be ready for this test, ready to point out that beneath the bluster, the alternative they offer is alien to working people". Hitting out at Mr Farage's party, which won five seats in last year's general election, the Sir Keir will say: "You want to know what Farage and Reform are doing, on their rare visits to Parliament? "They're voting against our employment right bill. They talk the language of workers' rights online and on doorsteps, but they want to charge people to use the NHS. "They are not the answer people are looking for. That is not the answer for Britain. And it will never be the answer for Scotland." Labour has increasingly been attempting to take the fight to Reform, amid fears the party is riding a wave of discontent at Sir Keir's government and could unseat scores of his MPs at the next general election. Sir Keir also privately wrote to his cabinet to warn of the threat of Reform, according to reports, telling his top team that 'if governments are not changing the system in favour of working people, then voters will find someone else who does'. Left-wingers have condemned the party's attempts to apparently 'outdo' Mr Farage, publishing videos of illegal working raids and deportation flights while highlighting its record on deportations using Reform-style posters. Veteran Labour MP and former shadow home secretary Diane Abbott has accused Sir Keir of turning Labour into 'Reform-lite'. Sunday marks the first time Sir Keir has addressed the Scottish Labour conference since Labour won power in July's general election. The prime minister will also use his speech to hit out at John Swinney 's Scottish government, accusing them of failing to seize the opportunities offered by his Labour administration in Westminster. The SNP will come under fire for voting against Labour's budget, with Sir Keir to say the Scottish Government had been given a £47.7 billion settlement that was "the most money ever provided in the devolution era", providing a "stable foundation for the economy". While he will say this cash provides "more money for Scottish schools, more money for Scottish hospitals, more money for Scottish police services, more money for Scotland", he will condemn the SNP for voting against it, claiming this shows "the same old SNP - gesture politics first, Scotland second". Sir Keir will also raise the "possibilities for change" for Scotland if voters elected a Labour government at Holyrood in 2026. He will tell the conference: "While we will work with whoever the Scottish people elect, just imagine what we could achieve, together. "Imagine the possibilities for change. If we end the 19-year SNP rule in Scotland as emphatically as we ended 14 years of Tory rule in Britain. "A Labour government in Westminster, a Labour government in Holyrood, with Anas Sarwar, a Labour first minister." A Reform Scotland spokesperson said: "Keir Starmer can try and deflect all he wants but the reality is that he is failing Scotland and he is now a deeply unpopular figure here. "Whilst Labour continue the Tory tradition of failing Scotland in Westminster, Reform offer real change from status quo. Scottish people are sick of Tory and Labour lies." The spokesperson added: "Scotland is broken, Scotland needs Reform." Meanwhile, SNP depute Westminster leader Pete Wishart said: "Sir Keir Starmer must do what Anas Sarwar failed to and take the opportunity tomorrow to apologise to the people of Scotland. "Whether on Grangemouth, energy bills or their promises to pensioners, Starmer and the Labour Party promised change and have broken so many of those promises that they used to get elected - all while Anas Sarwar has stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Sir Keir. "The people of Scotland won't be fooled by Labour's empty rhetoric." Mr Wishart went on: "It's clear Labour under Anas Sarwar and Keir Starmer are in complete disarray. "It is rich for Sir Keir to lecture the Scottish electorate on the dangers of Nigel Farage when the Labour party is locked in a battle for second place with him, pandering to his shameful ideologies."
Middle East Eye
21-02-2025
- Politics
- Middle East Eye
Labour MPs and supporters ‘outraged' by slew of harsh anti-immigration measures
On 10 February, the Home Office released the first-ever footage of people boarding a charter jet for deportation from the UK. They are led off a bus and up the stairway to the jet by Border Force staff in high-vis vests. Their faces are blurred. One of the men is in shackles. The videos and images of this previously secretive process are part of a flurry of anti-immigration measures introduced by the Labour government in recent weeks. The week before, the party placed a series of adverts on social media with Reform-style branding, vaunting its deportation figures. The shift in messaging has been partly attributed to Labour Together, a think tank founded by Morgan McSweeney, Prime Minister Keir Starmer's chief of staff, who has made it his top priority to combat the rise of the hard-right Reform party. The think tank released a migration policy paper in January that called for the government to adopt a strict Australian-style migration plan and set caps on immigration figures. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters However, the campaign prompted a fierce backlash, with MPs and rights groups accusing the government of using 'performative' stunts to attract Reform voters following a surge in support for Nigel Farage's party. Rights groups have warned that the move could inflame tensions in communities and see a resurgence of last summer's anti-immigration riots. Several Labour MPs have also said that the messaging is unlikely to lure Reform voters. Diane Abbott described Labour's attempt to style themselves as 'Reform-lite' a 'big mistake", and Clive Lewis warned that the Home Office was 'enabling the mainstreaming of racism'. A letter signed by nearly 1,000 MPs and trade unionists decried the measures and accused the government of 'copying the performative cruelty of failed Tory governments'. 'There is a totally mistaken idea that if you feed Reform's narratives, somehow they'll go away,' a spokesperson for the Labour Campaign for Free Movement (LCFM), a migrants' rights network of Labour members and supporters, told MEE. 'The only way to really defeat Reform and defeat the politics it represents is to deliver for people, to make people's lives better, and that means a certain amount of economic radicalism.' According to LCFM, the Labour leadership's anti-immigration drive has galvanised people across the party. 'It's not just on the left of the party, right across the party, people are totally astonished and outraged by the policy of performative cruelty,' the spokesperson said. 'There is a real feeling that there needs to be concerted pushback, and we will aim to be a part of that." Not just posturing But Labour's increasingly hostile stance on migration is not just posturing. The government is funnelling up to £329m into its deportation drive and has made changes to its citizenship application guidance to exclude people who arrive in the UK irregularly. On 10 February, Free Movement, a blog that provides information to people affected by immigeration control, revealed that the Home Office had quietly altered guidance for visa and immigration staff for citizenship applications to preclude anyone who arrived in the UK via a 'dangerous route'. Described as a 'clarification', the amendment to the 'good character' guidance - a requirement relating to criminal convictions that adults and children over the age of 10 must meet in British citizenship applications - states: 'A person who applies for citizenship from 10 February 2025 who has previously arrived without a required valid entry clearance or electronic travel authorisation, having made a dangerous journey, will normally be refused citizenship." Labour MPs and trade unionists accuse party of 'performative cruelty' on migration Read More » 'A dangerous journey includes, but is not limited to, travelling by small boat or concealed in a vehicle or other conveyance,' it clarifies. While the guidance previously stated that irregular entry that occurred more than 10 years ago could not be grounds for refusal, the amendment states that an applicant who arrived via such a route will be rejected 'regardless of the time that has passed since the illegal entry took place'. On 12 February, Lord Hanson, a minister of state at the Home Office, stated that individuals who entered the UK irregularly can still apply for citizenship and mitigating factors will be considered. But Shanaz Ali, a solicitor at the law firm Bindmans, says the rules are still unclear. 'There is a presumption that, hopefully, the Home Office will take into account factors, and there might be some discretion, but it's just not as clear as it was in previous guidance,' Ali told MEE. 'The addition is a really short paragraph that says applications submitted [from] 10 February onwards where someone has entered illegally will normally be refused, so it doesn't really tell you what sort of mitigating factors that the Home Office will take into account or expressly that they will at all.' Lack of clarity Ali said that, since the change, Bindmans has been contacted by multiple people concerned about their future in the UK. 'So many people have been here for more than 10 years and are now at the point of applying for citizenship and are now worried to apply,' Ali said. She added that the lack of clarity will deter many from applying, as the application fee - coming to £1500 - is non-refundable. 'The government continues to say that individuals and families need to travel to the UK legally and come through safe routes, but there are no available safe routes for so many people,' Ali said. 'Instead of making these policy changes, the government needs to make safe routes for people who are fleeing from terrible situations.' Xuan, who wished to use a pseudonym, told MEE that his wife had been preparing to apply for indefinite leave to remain when they heard about the change in guidance. She had been trafficked to the UK from Vietnam in 2009 and forced into sex work. She did this for a number of years, and suffered physical abuse. 'She's been waiting for over 16 years now,' Xuan said. 'She's been suffering from poor mental health since she was trafficked, and now this new law has made it even worse."
Yahoo
06-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
'Making the situation worse': Labour launch Reform-style Facebook pages
THE Labour Party have come under fire after launching Reform-style Facebook pages aimed at promoting their record on migration and crime. One page, "titled "Protecting Britain's Communities" aims to "outline the Labour Party's plans to uphold the rule of law and keep communities safe", highlighting articles about how the Government is tackling antisocial behaviour. A second page, titled "UK Migration Updates", boasts of the number of deportations carried out by the Labour Government. The party has also launched a series of social media advertisements, in Reform blue, also praising its deportation stats. "Breaking news: Labour hits 5 year high in migrant removals," the text reads. READ MORE: It comes as YouGov recorded Nigel Farage's Reform UK ahead of Labour for the first time. The survey showed that if a General Election were held tomorrow, 25% of UK voters would choose Reform, while 24% chose Labour. In the wake of the news, dozens of Labour MPs set up an internal group to focus on how to handle the threat from Reform. PA reported that the aim of the group is to identify ways to better promote Labour's work on areas like migration and crime. One Labour source spoke highly of the new tactics in The Guardian. 'The Tories and Reform offer nothing but weasel words, while this Labour government gets on with fixing the asylum system, which the Tories broke," they said. "We intend to let the public know about our plan for change through every available channel. It's already seen thousands of people with no right to be here removed from Britain and tough new border security measures to reduce small boat crossings.' However, the new social media strategy has provoked anger from MPs and campaigners. York MP Rachael Maskell (below), whose local party has set up the UK Migration Watch page, said: 'I would caution the party against raising such community tensions when we know there are so many asylum seekers who have experienced persecution in their lives. I represent England's only human rights city, where we uphold the dignity of all.' Meanwhile, Steve Valdez-Symonds, refugee and migrant rights director at Amnesty International UK, told The Guardian: 'It is seriously worrying that the government seems set on repeating the mistakes of the past – under both Conservative and Labour leadership. 'For anyone wishing to see that every person's human dignity is properly respected, and that we have a fair and efficient immigration and asylum system in the UK, public communication strategies such as this only make the situation worse.' READ MORE: Meanwhile on Thursday, the Tories unveiled their own plan to see off rising support for Reform UK. Kemi Badenoch said that people who have moved to the UK should have to wait at least 15 years before they become eligible for British citizenship. Arguing that citizenship should only go to people who have shown 'a real commitment' to Britain, Badenoch urged the UK Government to make it harder for immigrants to secure permanent residency or a British passport.
