Farage's 'leftwing' pose is flimsy – but so are Labour's own governing fantasies | Samuel Earle

The country’s most talented opportunist says Reform is the ‘party of the workers’. He’s claiming territory Starmer thought he could abandonIn a much-publicised press conference last week in London, Nigel Farage invited Keir Starmer to a one-to-one debate at “a working man’s club” anywhere “in the red wall”. The suggested location was more noteworthy than the debate-me machismo. Its message was clear: having trampled over the Tories in the recent local elections, Reform UK is coming for Labour and nowhere is safe. “Let’s go to one of the former mining communities, let’s go somewhere that Labour has held the seat pretty much consistently since 1918,” Farage said, and then let’s “test” whether Labour or Reform is the real “party of the workers”. If Starmer felt brave enough, they could even “enjoy a few beers with the lads” – a nod to what has always been Farage’s favourite interpretation of what “standing with workers” entails.Farage’s speech made waves for, among other things, calling for the two-child benefit cap to be overhauled and for Starmer’s restrictions to the winter fuel allowance to be reversed. For the Thatcherite fanboy and former City trader, these were unusual positions, and the Westminster lobby lapped up the controversy – suggesting that, for parts of the Tory press, deviations from austerity will only be permissible when delivered with Farageist chutzpah. “How Farage’s fiery speech signals a seismic shift in UK politics – and the end for Starmer,” the Daily Express declared. “Nigel leans left and hits the bullseye,” Tim Stanley cooed in the Daily Telegraph. The Sun wondered whether they should now call Farage “Red Nigel”.Samuel Earle is the author of Tory Nation: How One Party Took Over Continue reading...

Comments

Opinions

How to make AI work for SMEs in Scotland

The Herald

'You're a danger to your children': Shocking comment a doctor made to SARAH VINE after the trials of motherhood and marriage left her balding, struggling to shift the baby weight and full of self-hatred

about 15 hours ago

Dailymail

James Haskell admits what REALLY caused his marriage with Chloe Madeley to break down after 'dark and painful' final year - and reveals the truth about new romance rumours: RICHARD EDEN

about 15 hours ago

Trump’s art of the steel deal, Don’s sensible national-park cuts and other commentary

Newyork Post

CHRISTOPHER STEVENS reviews Dover 24/7: Britain's Busiest Port - From spies to three million bananas, it's all in a day's work

about 16 hours ago

Dailymail

Keir Starmer is a soft and unimaginative man who cannot comprehend the true evil that Britain is facing. I fear for our future: STEPHEN GLOVER

about 16 hours ago

RICHARD LITTLEJOHN: White working class children have been betrayed - and I know who is to blame

Dailymail

PSG are no fairy story but a step towards the death of football - it's time to call out their owners' sportswashing and the brutality it hides: OLIVER HOLT

about 23 hours ago

Jade Thirlwall’s ‘f*** you JK Rowling’ chant stems from cult-like trans belief… without women like JK she’d be nothing

The Sun

PETER VAN ONSELEN: All of the hints Zoe Daniel could have escaped a humiliating loss to Tim Wilson were in her five minute concession video

1 day ago

Dailymail

What other things Jim Chalmers could tax as Aussies face big slugs - on top of booze, tobacco, property... (the list goes on!): PETER VAN ONSELEN

1 day ago

Newyork Post

Campaign Finance Board’s voter-guide fiasco errors are no laughing matter

1 day ago

Newyork Post

Michelle Obama couldn’t be more wrong about women Trump voters

1 day ago

Comments

Similar News

Nigel Farage told me exact moment he decided to run for PM – now he’s marching to No 10 but EVERYTHING’S about to change

MAIL ON SUNDAY COMMENT: Labour fears Farage far more than it cares about the white working class

Clueless Labour’s class war against Farage won’t stop him… Reform voters care about policies not what school he went to

Brian Taylor: The fundamental battle which unites Donald Trump and Nigel Farage

Nigel Farage’s conversion to leftist economics is pure political snake oil

Will Nigel Farage go the same way as Liz Truss?

Farage goes all in on Bitcoin

Prime Minister Farage? He’s serious about that – it’s time the country was too | Gaby Hinsliff

I can tell Keir Starmer is running scared from Nigel Farage – the signs he is VERY worried are so obvious

The rubbish the wine bar fakes like Farage talk about the working class makes me sick

STEPHEN GLOVER: I once believed Farage would take up Mrs T's mantle. Now, as he jettisons her core beliefs, he's looking less like the saviour this country needs

Nicola Jennings on Farage’s new Reform offer – cartoon

Nigel Farage’s booze offensive

Nigel Farage is right, Britain MUST have more kids – we can’t keep relying on sky high immigration

The Guardian view on Farage’s cynical pitch: Labour must be bolder to see off the threat | Editorial

Labour admit Nigel Farage is running the country. Furious insiders tell DAN HODGES Reform is 'killing them', they're copying his every move... and that it'll spell end of Starmer

Nigel Farage’s political personality disorder

Sir Keir Starmer is making a mistake if he plans to characterise his battle against Farage as some sort of moral crusade

Farage lives rent-free in Starmer’s head

Sarah Akinterinwa on the rivalry between Keir Starmer and Nigel Farage – cartoon

Opinions

How to make AI work for SMEs in Scotland

Want to reduce the campervan menace? Why not enforce the legislation?

Edinburgh must not kill off the golden goose that makes its fortune

Police are now forced into releasing suspects' ethnicities to prevent trouble on our streets - how sad is that?

'Edinburgh must remain a lived-in city not ruined by the tourism its beauty attracts'

How mock sincerity was too easily overcome

When AI kills off the ScotRail lady, you know we’re all in trouble

Keir Starmer's desperate Churchill act won't fool anyone

Scottish hydropower boom hopes fade amid threats to bumper projects

Out of touch Holyrood has created the conditions for rise of the great Reform con

The Herald cartoon on Farage's visit to Scotland

Common sense but true: Don’t let people who hate America move here

Hamas terror has a hateful new home in America

NADINE DORRIES: The inexplicable thing that happens to me every time the anniversary of a loved one's death draws near

'You're a danger to your children': Shocking comment a doctor made to SARAH VINE after the trials of motherhood and marriage left her balding, struggling to shift the baby weight and full of self-hatred

James Haskell admits what REALLY caused his marriage with Chloe Madeley to break down after 'dark and painful' final year - and reveals the truth about new romance rumours: RICHARD EDEN

Trump’s art of the steel deal, Don’s sensible national-park cuts and other commentary

Drones: the newest twist in warfare — as Ukraine’s hit on Russia just showed

An anti-Israel maniac’s attack on Boulder: Letters to the Editor — June 3, 2025

We can learn a lot from our presidents — even the ones you don’t like

Face facts, Team Trump: Iran doesn’t want a nuke deal

CHRISTOPHER STEVENS reviews Dover 24/7: Britain's Busiest Port - From spies to three million bananas, it's all in a day's work

Keir Starmer is a soft and unimaginative man who cannot comprehend the true evil that Britain is facing. I fear for our future: STEPHEN GLOVER

RICHARD LITTLEJOHN: White working class children have been betrayed - and I know who is to blame

White House asks Congress to make DOGE spending cuts permanent

Fertility rates are rising; let's hope marriage rates also rise

Life-Changing Therapy Approved in Europe Is On Hold by the FDA

Don't let Iran cross the nuclear threshold

Stop subsidizing Big Green

Alberta is the answer to American energy dominance

America must lead in AI, with eyes wide open

Vastly different Philippines, Vietnam face common enemy: China

Trump's 'beautiful bill' delivers ugly fiscal reality for America's $36 trillion debt crisis

NY politicians cravenly aim to deny me the justice I’m owed for my son’s murder

Will Jersey EV drivers suffer for Phil Murphy’s slap at Elon Musk?

Sir Keir says the nation is on a war footing as of now but it cannot take decades before we are ready to fight one

Tuberville for Alabama governor

Targeting Jews in America

Israel-hating elites stoked the flames that led to the Boulder firebombing

QUENTIN LETTS: The Lib Dems are no longer against nukes - as long as they're fuelled by lentil gas, perhaps!

Gen Z can may hate Tinder’s height filter but swerving short blokes & giant-arsed women is what singles do in real life

Shameful pic of French cops watching migrants sail to Britain proves we’ve got to take action to stop small boats

A preventable terrorist attack

Colorado attack shows why ICE can’t just focus on ‘criminals’

Letter to the editor: Offer insurance discounts for staying fit, healthy

Letters to the editor: Fully inspect Chinese imports

PSG are no fairy story but a step towards the death of football - it's time to call out their owners' sportswashing and the brutality it hides: OLIVER HOLT

Jade Thirlwall’s ‘f*** you JK Rowling’ chant stems from cult-like trans belief… without women like JK she’d be nothing

Letters to the Editor: GOP megabill isn't so beautiful when it comes to our warming planet

Energy can make or break the 2026 Holyrood elections

The BBC is failing in its obligations to Scotland. Holyrood take note

Reform voters aren't stupid or racist - but they have been let down, says STUC chief

A hate crime on Arran? No, just a sign of where we are now

Ladies, would you carry this tarty Waitrose bag?

Labour's 'sunlight of hope' is now the darkness of despair

North Sea row appears to be reaching boiling point

PETER VAN ONSELEN: All of the hints Zoe Daniel could have escaped a humiliating loss to Tim Wilson were in her five minute concession video