Local Elections

So, we've had the local elections and Reform has made a good show of it.

The good news, if you can call it that, is that most of the damage will be contained to the very areas that voted Reform out of some misplaced, frothing rage against reality. 

We’ve reached the point where calling out racism no longer works. Not because it’s too inflammatory – but because it’s now worn as a badge of pride by people who think decency is “woke”. The country has always been racist, but it was hidden - a hatred that dare not speak its name. Farage and his ilk haven’t just dog-whistled; they’ve flung open the gates and handed out megaphones. And what do we hear? "Get rid of the boat people." That’s it. Not “fix the economy”, not “sort out the NHS” – just a single-minded obsession with scapegoats. Everything else can burn as long as someone foreign is being blamed for it.

The answers I receive from those I target with the questions I composed back in February prove that they aren't concerned with anything other than Brexit purity and immigration, the former being a consequence of the latter. They simply don't care about questions on selling off the NHS, turning the State Pension into a feeding trough for Reform's backers, the glaring holes in Reform's budget or tax cuts for the wealthy. They're laser-focussed on immigrants.

We are being hollowed out. Not by immigration, but by wilful economic sabotage dressed up as patriotism. Labour shortages? Inflation? Falling living standards? All of that has a name – Brexit. But say that out loud and you’ll get shouted down by someone in a Union Jack waistcoat who couldn’t tell you the difference between a trade deal and a fish quota.

Let’s be clear: the people cheering on Farage aren’t fighting for Britain. They’re fighting against reality. They’d happily torch the entire economy if it meant keeping out a few desperate families crossing the Channel on a dinghy. Their critical faculties have been hi-jacked by Farage. And while they’re distracted, the very people bankrolling this farce – hedge fund spivs, billionaire tax dodgers, deregulation fanatics – will be laughing their way to the Cayman Islands.

These are not the rebels they pretend to be. They’re not freedom fighters. They’re cannon fodder. Latter day Luddites smashing the machinery of modern Britain because they think it speaks a foreign language.

So how do you reach them?

You start by making it personal. The reason you can’t see a GP? Not "the boats" – it’s because the government bled the NHS dry and told the EU staff to bugger off. Your rising food bill? Not immigrants – Brexit. The potholes, the school cuts, the vanishing police stations? That’s what happens when you elect people who think the market will solve everything – as long as it doesn’t have to pay tax.

"But pothoples aren't down to Brexit," you might say, and you'd be correct to a point – that one’s on years of council underfunding, Covid-era delays, and a climate now intent on freeze-thawing every B-road into rubble. But Brexit hasn’t helped. It’s driven up the cost of imported materials, stripped away skilled road crews, and left repair teams stretched thinner than a government excuse. So no, Brexit didn’t cause the potholes – it just made it harder, slower, and more expensive to fix them.>;

And if they still insist on “saying what everyone’s thinking”? Then say this: “You’ve been conned. Lied to. Over and over again. And while you’ve been raging at refugees, they’ve been selling your water, hiking your bills, and gutting your services. They don’t care what colour your passport is – only whether they can flog it.”

We need a new story. One that isn’t about fear or nostalgia. One that says Britain can be better – fairer, smarter, more open. One where decency isn’t sneered at, and being welcoming isn’t a weakness but a strength.

Because this path – the one paved with scapegoats and bile – doesn’t end in pride or prosperity. It ends in ruin. And no number of flags will cover up the stench. Farage has been spectacularly wrong about everything, except the gullibility of people.