Britain needs Nigel Farage's shock therapy, and Reform UK can beat the Establishment if it prepares to reform the machinery of law, government and culture, argues political commentator Jonathan Saxty.
Cummings warning and Establishment attacks
Just a few months ago, Boris Johnson's old right-hand man – Dominic Cummings – warned Nigel Farage that Whitehall will break the law to prevent Reform winning power. Speaking on The Spectator's podcast, Cummings said: "They'll leak medical records, they'll leak tax records. They'll bug his phone and leak that. They'll do anything that they need to".
According to Saxty, the last few months have shown exactly this. Reports of alleged schoolboy antics didn't work, so the Establishment went for Farage and co's financial records. Now sting operations. Saxty says whatever Reform may or may not have done, the Establishment parties should not be seen as paragons of propriety.
Professionalisation and reform of the civil service
Saxty argues the Establishment wants the two main parties to win elections and keeps their skeletons locked away, while Reform will upset the apple cart, so every piece of mud the elites can throw at Reform they will.
To fight this, Reform needs to be purer than pure, with ongoing professionalisation – which has been a focus for some time – being key. Beyond that, Reform needs to prepare to reform the rotten Establishment itself.
Saxty points to Hungary and Poland, where conservative parties lost but the countries did not become open borders hellscapes, because the civil service, judiciary and media establishments there are not in favour of open borders. He cites Japan, Korea, Singapore and Taiwan as similar examples.
Wedge strategy and counterattack
If Reform doesn't clean up the UK civil service, it doesn't matter how big its Commons majority, no major changes will ever take effect. Reform must reform the machinery of law, government and culture.
Saxty says Nigel Farage knows this and should be grateful the Establishment showed their cards this early, and should take it as a compliment about how much of a threat the party is seen to a disgraced woke consensus.
Going into the next election, Reform may look to a wedge strategy – bringing one or two contentious social issues into the campaign and aligning its position with the dissenting wings of the Conservatives and Labour. The Tories remain fundamentally split between One Nation wets and those playing catch up with Reform on immigration, the ECHR and net zero, and are also split on economic policies such as tax, welfare and state ownership.
Meanwhile, a huge number of those wavering between Labour and Reform want nothing more to do with the EU, are sniffy about trans rights or the Gaza obsession, and desperately want lower immigration and proper policing. This puts them at loggerheads with Labour elites even though many Labour MPs represent millions of constituents who feel this way.
Reform should also counterattack the Establishment witch hunt, reminding voters of the disaster of the Tory years and the lunacy of today's Labour government, while making sure they too unearth those scandals being carefully concealed about Labour and the Tories. Saxty questions whether all the evidence has been seen about Andy Burnham and that £1bn housing investment fund for luxury skyscrapers, and about the Tories and the Child Maintenance Authority.
In the end, Britain needs shock therapy, not to be euthanised by stealth.
