Back then, voters stuck two fingers up at the establishment and backed Farage’s Brexit project instead. There’s nothing to say they won’t do the same again.
“That strategy is wishful thinking and a comfort blanket,” said one ally of Farage of Labour’s new offensive. “The British public would rather vote for something positive than against what they are told is a negative.”
Pressure on the left
Starmer’s focus on Farage can already be seen in moves to tighten immigration, slash foreign aid spending and reduce the welfare budget. But these have been angering his left-leaning base.
Wary of losing votes from progressives too, Starmer has started to shift his tone in recent weeks from a stark “island of strangers” warning about the possible impact of unfettered migration, to telling his MPs he will “fight as Labour” and not try to “out-Reform Reform.”
That, along with hints he could reverse his unpopular cut to winter fuel payments to pensioners and undo a Conservative-era cap on benefits to families with more than two children, has been interpreted as a shift by the PM back towards Labour principles.
Tom Baldwin, a former communications chief to Labour who remains close to the leadership, having written Starmer’s biography, reckons the PM can find a winning way on both flanks — fending off Reform while sticking to Labour values.
“To tell that story with confidence is a far better pace than appearing to dance to Farage’s tune,” Baldwin said.
“There is a reason why the vast majority of people in this country do not want that populist far-right virus here. It’s important this Labour government is seen as the bulwark against that.”
