Machinery of government is not the sexiest of subjects – but it is a useful way of signalling a politician’s priorities. Rishi Sunak used his first reshuffle to rebrand the ‘Department for Energy Security’ and create a new ministry for science. Boris Johnson invented the Department for Levelling Up; Jeremy Corbyn proposed a ‘Minister for Peace.’ Now, Nigel Farage has floated his own changes to the Whitehall machine, with the creation of a new ministry for deportations. At a Dover press conference this morning, the Reform leader declared that:
We will demand a minister for deportations. It will be part of the Home Office but it will be a separate department within it. We will need to recruit new people, as the evidence at the moment suggests those who work in the Home Office would wilfully obstruct policy if we won the next general election.
The eye-catching announcement was the top line from a speech which largely reprised Reform’s greatest hits: leave the ECHR, repeal the Human Rights Act and clamp down on asylum claims. In addition to grabbing headlines, Farage’s pledge to create a new post serves as a riposte to much of the ‘online right’ which claims that the Reform leader has ‘gone soft’ on the subject of migration when compared to his rivals Rupert Lowe and Robert Jenrick.
But the Clacton MP is a more canny politician than many of his critics suggest. As Arron Banks, Reform’s West of England mayoral candidate, told me on SpectatorTV this morning, throughout the local elections campaign Farage has presented himself as a less divisive figure than his public image of old. He has spoken of special education needs; warned of local authorities’ social care costs. Farage knows of the need to tread with care on this subject, to avoid alienating wary floating voters.
A week from polling day, he has decided that now is the time to drive home his message on migration. High voter apathy and a divided electorate means that maximising turnout is key for each party; one pollster suggests that crunch European fixtures for Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United and Chelsea next Thursday will depress voter numbers after 7:00 p.m. In such circumstances, Farage hopes that by talking about migration – the number one issue of concern for his voters – will bring out Reform’s support across the land, to guarantee victory on Friday 2 May.
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