“Core elements of Reform policy include huge tax cuts for business and private healthcare as well as cuts of £150bn to public spending… Reform would only entrench the neoliberal nightmare, giving huge power to the ruling class.”
By Ben Liao
On Tuesday 8th of April, Nigel Farage stood in Scunthorpe and called for British Steel to be taken into public ownership. Remarkably posing alongside Reform figures for a photo op with union literature. Farage has previously referred to himself as the only politician ‘keeping Thatcherism alive’. The very same Thatcher who privatised the steel industry in 1988. While it is an interesting move, it should not come as a surprise.
Reform UK is experiencing explosive growth as a political force. They are first in several polls, have over 220,000 members and will likely win hundreds of seats at upcoming local elections on May 1st. Kemi Badenoch has even suggested Tory-Reform coalitions in local authorities, something that Farage has rejected. If someone told me a year ago that the Tories would be seeking electoral agreements with Reform, I would have laughed.
Reform’s move to back full nationalisation of British Steel is in line with their existing strategy of detaching Labour from its traditional working class heartlands. In fact, they have backed government intervention in some form as far back as in 2019 when called the Brexit Party.
While it may feel odd to hear far right politicians advocating for public ownership, it must be understood within this approach. Don’t forget that Farage has also spoken out against the heinous two-child benefit cap and the cuts to Winter Fuel Payment.
Does this mean that Reform are saviours, standing up for the working classes of Britain? Absolutely not. Core elements of Reform policy include huge tax cuts for business and private healthcare as well as cuts of £150bn to public spending. This is of course alongside a wholesale attack on people of colour and migrants. Reform would only entrench the neoliberal nightmare, giving huge power to the ruling class.
If anyone doubts this, they need only look at Farage’s assault on the National Education Union. His declaration that Reform will ‘go to war’ with the NEU is reminiscent of Thatcher’s battle against the ‘enemy within’. People need only look at the devastation of the very towns Reform claims to be backing to see what a Farage government might unleash.
So why is a hardcore Thatcherite advocating for nationalisation? Would Maggie not be turning in her grave to see her biggest fan undoing her work? While that may be true, Reform has shown willingness to make tactical concessions to build an image of being anti-establishment. This is a move to advance their true agenda, protecting the interests of the ruling class.
Making a big fuss of steel nationalisation is a strategic concession, done at a point when state intervention was fairly inevitable. But for voters in key target areas for the May 1st elections such as Doncaster and County Durham, this will signal that Reform is on their side. Anyone tempted by this offer must remember Reform’s general approach to the state. Backing steel will not shift broader aims. Reform seeks to roll back the state in a major way. This is a smart strategic move but nobody should expect Farage to start calling for much wider interventions.
Politically, this means Reform will likely continue to make inroads into working class areas. Labour’s complete failure to set out an alternative to disaster capitalism is, as many predicted, proving to be a disaster. What people will see is Nigel Farage sticking up for British jobs versus Keir Starmer having to be dragged kicking and screaming to save steel.
The ability of Reform to campaign strongly on nationalisation is a direct consequence of this government’s shocking lack of political leadership. Despite Reform’s deeply right wing economics, they are being allowed to own state intervention. Labour’s lurch to the right has opened a huge space on the left. As mainstream politicians recoil at left wing policies, Reform have selectively moved into these spaces. Farage knows policies such as these are hugely popular and he is using them to cover up his true agenda.
The short and sharp of it is that Labour needs to wake up. If Reform are allowed to selectively outflank Labour on the left, under the false pretence of being anti-establishment, Labour could face permanent realignment in its heartlands. The need to move away from the status quo and towards a society that prioritises workers over bosses is increasingly crucial.
This also means that the trade unions need to take leadership in tackling Reform. While unions are against Reform, resistance from some has been weak to say the least. Internal polling from many indicates worrying levels of support for Reform amongst members. Reform figures posing with union literature seek to cause us to shrink further away from tackling the issue. We need to remember that these are politicians who attack trade unions on a regular basis.
Not being bold in tackling Reform brings up two issues. A strategy of shrinking away from support in the membership will not do the movement any favours. Reform will attack unions. Illusions that they could be soft in any way are a consequence of Labour’s failure to make real change. This has allowed Reform to become the alternative. It has also meant rapidly decreasing class unity. As trade unions struggle with structural decline, we cannot afford for communities to be pitted against each other. This is a crucial issue we need to be bold on. If Reform’s racism is not called out for what it is, it will be normalised, then weaponised.
All this means that the left needs to be increasingly bold in tackling Reform. Mincing words won’t get us anywhere, it certainly hasn’t so far. It means there is a greater need than ever to go on a radically different, socialist path. It means that unions need to be uncompromising in pushing for societal change. As the far right rises, enabled by a right wing Labour government, we cannot afford to shy away. We must work far harder to expose Reform’s true class nature and their racism.
- Ben Liao is a socialist and anti-racist activist. You can follow him on Twitter/X.
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