For a while earlier this year, it looked as though Reform UK might have tacked leftwards, in order to continue picking up votes in Labour’s red wall in the North. However, recent speeches by Farage and Reform deputy leader Richard Tice suggest that Reform UK  is returning to Thatcherism.

Farage tacks left

On 8 April it was reported that Reform UK leader Nigel Farage and his deputy Richard Tice had visited Scunthorpe steelworks that day. Farage was reported to have claimed that there were “three days to save British Steel” by taking it “into public ownership.”

Later that same month, it was reported that Farage had emphasised that he wanted a “sensible relationship” with both unions and firm supervisors. Then, when asked about what was then the ongoing container employees’ strike in Birmingham, Farage “prevented stricture of Unite, the union entailed, concentrating his fire on the Labour- run council”.

Then in July, it was noted that Nigel Farage had said that Reform would nationalise half of the water industry. Farage was also said to have claimed that “Britain is ‘completely incapable of coping’ with water sector demands”.

Reform returns to Thatcherism

This leftward shift from Reform seems to have been nothing more than a tactical ploy to gain more votes in traditional Labour areas, such as County Durham. It certainly worked in the local elections, when Reform took control.

Instead of continuing with policies that would help working people Farage has returned to his true Thatcherite roots. 

In a speech on the economy made in the heart of the  City of London, Farage complained that the right had failed to exploit Brexit, by not being aggressive enough in deregulating markets, in a way very reminiscent of Thatcher. Farage is said to have commented: “We have not taken advantage of the opportunities to deregulate and become more competitive. The harsh truth is that regulations and regulators, in many areas, are worse than they were back in 2016.”

Farage also rowed back on any idea that he was in favour of nationalising key industries like water, to protect them and their consumers, stating that he only favoured “short-term, partial nationalisation” for “certain failing industries”. In other words, as a last resort rather than a matter of principle.

Richard Tice at Bloomberg

Then on 5 November, Reform deputy leader Richard Rice joined in the return of Reform to Thatcherite policies.

It has been noted that, “during his appearance, Tice, who splits his time between the UK and Dubai, invoked the deregulatory ‘Big Bang’ as a model for today, extolled fiscal conservatism (‘basic housekeeping’) and spoke of the appeal of a ‘flatter tax system’. Thatcher may not have been mentioned by name but she was the spectral presence throughout. On multiple fronts, Reform is moving closer towards her true spirit”.

Council tax set to rise in Durham

It should come as no surprise then, that in early November, it was reported  that up to two million households across the country, would find their council tax bills increasing, as “as many as eight of the 13 local councils run by Nigel Farage’s party have hinted at plans to raise council tax by next year. In at least six of these councils, making up around 4.8 million people, bills could rise by the maximum of 5 per cent”.

And according to the Times, “council tax bills are expected to increase by at least £59 per year in Durham, Kent, Warwickshire, Worcestershire, Leicestershire and Lincolnshire.”

It was also noted that “these increases come despite Reform pledging to bring down council tax ahead of last year’s local elections”.

Reform shows its true colours

So now we are really beginning to see whose side Reform UK is really on.  And it isn’t the working people of a region like the North East.  It is surely no coincidence that recent set-piece speeches on the economy by the leader and deputy leader of Reform took place in the City of London and Bloomberg. This was of course, because these are the people whose side Reform is on.

Meanwhile they are going back on their council tax pledges and some of the poorest people in County Durham are going to suffer as a result.

Nobody should be in any doubt that voting for Reform is effectively voting for ‘Thatcherism on steroids’.