Labour’s broad church has united in an attempt to keep Nigel Farage far away from Downing Street by fighting his party on the NHS and Ukraine while silently mimicking them on migration.
Labour finally came out to concede last month that the threat of Reform was real after insiders sat back to watch the social media feud between Nigel Farage and Kemi Badendoch play out. The Tory leader was left embarrassed by Farage after she wrongfully accused his membership numbers of being “fake”. This threw her party out of the once comfortable second spot in the polls and made Labour discretely worried.
It forced Sir Keir’s party to realise they were facing a once in a generation conundrum. A political party that was invented a mere seven years ago wasn’t just running for parliament but they wanted to take over the parliament, which Labour holds with a gobsmacking majority.
But, this was not a surprise to some Labour backbenchers who have faced difficulty batting off Reform in their constituencies. In December, a group of northern MPs came together to form a “red wall caucus” to combat the local threat of Reform by committing to lower immigration. Around the same time, others “had words” with Labour campaign organisers in their regions to seek advice to steer clear of Nigel Farage’s party altogether.
For this reason, many Labour figures want the prime minister to go further in tackling illegal migration. And, Sir Keir is listening alongside his chief of staff Morgan McSweeney.
His government has unprecedently started to release Hollywood competing videos showing the deportation of illegal immigrants. They paint a rough and stark picture of people being forcibly escorted from the back of vans onto planes by a tightly packed group of officials.
The handy release came with a comment from Blairite home secretary Yvette Cooper, explaining that this was part of her boss’s “plans for change,” which he discussed during the election campaign. “To rebuild public confidence in the immigration system, we need to show the rules are respected and enforced,” she said.
Although angering a few (now) outsiders, local Labour teams think the videos mark a remarkable turn in their party’s approach to communicating the migration system as a whole. It is an unseeable contrast to Labour a few years prior under Jeremy Corbyn. However regional strands know that local and national factors need to be at work to combat Farage due to the first past the post electoral system.
Yorkshire’s regional party was one of the first to start releasing (and paying for) a series of adverts adopting Reform-style branding and messaging on immigration to play Farage “at his own game”. They called one social media group “UK Migration Updates” and another “Protect Britain’s Communities” and have been producing graphics on illegal immigration and anti-social behaviour.
Despite Reform UK’s best wishes to fight the next election over immigration, which is still four years away, Labour believes the future of the NHS is on the line. Just weeks ago, Nigel Farage suggested the UK should follow in the footsteps of France, “where you pay into effectively an insurance scheme.”
Starmer’s loyal team, who want him to serve a second term, have acknowledged that the NHS is seen as Britain’s “second religion” and they are adamant seats can be won over it. The issue is already being addressed by an MP elected in last year’s intake and the thinktank Labour Together.
In July, the Guardian named Mike Tapp, the MP for Dover and Deal, as one of “five fresh Labour MPs to watch,” highlighting his military background and experience with the National Crime Agency. Instead of using his time to focus on defence, surprisingly, he has chosen to command Labour’s attack on Nigel Farage’s party. As one Labour activist said: “If you see a negative story about Reform, you are also expecting to see Tapp mentioned hamming down on the party”. In recent weeks, Tapp has been quoted in the Mail, the Mirror, and the Independent talking about scandals such as Richard Tice lying on his CV and Nigel Farage making nearly £30,000 from the video message app Cameo over Christmas.
He also recognises that print journalism isn’t the only way he can address the rise of Reform. Earlier this month, he went on a podcast hosted by social media personality Peter McCormack days after Reform MP Rupert Lowe was featured in an episode. He took aim at politicians “who wrapped themselves in the flag” but then “disregarded British values”.
Tapp isn’t the only backbencher to use the NHS to have one up on Nigel Farage. A group of 89 MPs, in constituencies where Refrom placed second in the election to Labour, have set up an informal parliamentary group to “shout more loudly” about Farage’s views on the NHS amongst other policies. A small delegation even travelled to Germany to learn more about the rise of the far-right Alternative für Deutschland party (AfD).
Outside of the Commons, Labour Together has been working with Labour HQ and No 10 to construct a long term strategy to utilise Reform’s unpopular views to their advantage. The former frontbencher, Jonathan Ashworth, who operates the left-wing thinktank has said “voters will be repulsed by his plans for US-style health insurance” and he is one of many urging Keir Starmer to bring it up more.
Others close to the prime minister have already confirmed that the NHS will be brought up in May’s local election. One source said: “The public cares deeply about the NHS, and the principle of it being free at the point of use is non negotiable for almost everyone. It represents British values. That’s why it’s important that we highlight the danger of Nigel Farage’s consistent position on moving to a fee paying model.”
On an international front, the Russia-Ukraine war is set to make the anti-Refrom machine work overtime, especially with Farage being a Trump “mega fan” therefore making it difficult for him to distance himself from any comment the American leader makes.
This was evident last week when Reform’s deputy, Richard Tice, appeared on TalkTV and was left red-faced after right-wing presenter Julia Hartley-Brewer brutally rebuked him. When he defended Donald Trump’s talks with Vladimir Putin about ending the war by ceding Ukrainian land to Russia, she fired back: “Tell your big mate Donald Trump to tell his big mate Vladimir Putin to stop killing people- then we can solve [the war] like that”. She added: “You know what you don’t do in a negotiation? Give the other side everything that they want. That is literally what they have done. I thought Reform cared about national borders.”
The interview went viral with millions of people viewing it. A source inside Blue Labour, which aims to maintain culturally conservative values in the Labour party, said: “Just imagine if the whole electorate watched that. They would see Reform for who they truly are. Fake patriots that wrongfully claim to represent the ordinary Brit”. According to YouGov polling from last year, eight in ten voters say they want Ukraine to win (81 per cent), compared to just 3 per cent for Russia.
Nigel Farage has turned politics upside down and Labour, along with other parties, are now only trying to catch up. During last year’s election campaign, Keir Starmer repeatedly said his party would not take “any vote for granted” and that he had to “personally” work for every vote. In contrast, Reform has already declared its victory.
Despite their current poll lead, which no one in Labour is neglecting, the party’s machine believes one six week campaign could change everything, as Farage is now seen as a viable threat to their majority. With Reform UK surging and populism on the rise, does Keir Starmer have the firepower to fight back and keep Labour in control? His party certainly thinks so.
Related: Keir Starmer says UK faces ‘generational challenge on national security’