Kemi’s one chance at recovery? Trussonomics

You may have noticed that for some while the BBC News people have stopped referring to Reform UK as ‘far right’ or ‘hard right’. That’s not because Nigel Farage has tacked to the left a little on such policies as nationalisation; one characteristic of the left is that if they consider you ‘far right’, they will not commend anything you say, even if they fervently agree with it. You will never gain their favour, even if you join Greta Thunberg on her stupid and narcissistic boat expedition to Gaza and then pronounce your solidarity with all trans folk. This is one of the mistakes often made by people who are right of centre and have said or done something that has aroused the fury of the left-wing mob. Apologising will not make things better for you; it will simply be used to convict.

Nor is it that the BBC reporters and producers no longer think that Reform is far right or hard right – they still do and they still hate the party. It’s just that it is very difficult to use those descriptions when a third of the public is seemingly intent on voting for them. The left accepts that ‘hard right’ and ‘far right’ are not meant as descriptions per se; they are deployed solely as insults. But while it might be possible to fling those insults at a party which has perhaps 15 per cent electoral support, it is very difficult to do so when the figure is more than double that.