Amid growing concern within the Labour Party that Reform UK could pose a long-term threat to Labour as well as the Conservatives, Neil Kinnock has warned the party not to ignore the nationalist threat posed by Nigel Farage.
The former Labour leader told the Guardian that Labour wanted to launch an attack on Farage’s party in the final weeks of the election campaign and said right-wing populists could gain power in Britain, as in much of Europe.
Labour has been accused of not fighting Mr Farage because the Reform Party appears to be taking more votes from the Conservatives, but some opinion polls predict it will win more than 12 seats next week and Mr Kinnock said Labour needed to start taking the threat seriously.
“There will be no next time. [targeting Reform] “We have to start now,” he said. “We have to fight this populist nationalism with our words. We have to explain to people what kind of people they are, not just who they are.”
“People like Farage, like all narcissists, love personal attention, so we must focus on explaining who they are, all their contradictions and falsehoods. They plant lies and they harvest them, as they always have.”
Mr Kinnock added that if Labour was too cautious in governing, it would bolster reformists’ arguments that there was little difference between the two main parties. [the populist right] “We must respond with action,” he said. “And that means implementing positive, cumulative change, driven by a strong purpose to serve our communities.”
Mr Farage and his party were recently criticised over a secretly recorded video of two party activists using offensive language whilst campaigning for him in Clacton, Essex. The row threatens to cast a shadow over the Reform Party’s strong election campaign, which had seen its support rise from around 11 per cent in the polls to 16 per cent.
Mr Kinnock compared Mr Farage’s response to the Clacton row – in which he went on the offensive by resorting to ambiguity – to that of Donald Trump.
“It’s straight out of Trump Tower. Farage is an actor. He’s doubling down on the claim that Channel 4 has hired actors,” he said. “It’s what nationalist populists do time and time again. They’re misleading people and Boris Johnson will join them.”
Labour was criticised this week for failing to take on Mr Farage in Clacton after its candidate was told to leave the constituency for “disrupting” Keir Starmer’s campaign. Labour’s local campaign in Clacton said it had been banned from printing leaflets, blocked from using campaign software, had its campaign’s social media access disabled and its posts on X removed.
Asked this week whether activists were allowed to campaign in Clacton, Mr Starmer replied: “The chief of operations will tell people where he most wants us to go and fight, but we have to fight in Clacton, and of course we are.”
On Friday he criticised Mr Farage for creating an atmosphere where racist rhetoric was acceptable and said it was a “leadership test” for him.
After newsletter promotion
Many candidates and pollsters believe the Reform Party could outperform expectations next week and win more than 12 seats. Election Calculation and Find Out Now’s MRP Poll This week The Reform Party is seeking 18 seats, with three candidates predicted to win: Mr Farage, former leader Richard Tice and former Conservative MP Lee Anderson.
Candidates in Labour’s target constituencies also say they are worried that many of the undecided voters they hoped would vote for them are instead gravitating towards the Reform Party. “We have a few more voters who are still undecided than we would like, so we’re getting more worried as the election approaches,” one candidate said. “We’re meeting a lot of people who aren’t Conservative but can’t decide between Labour and Reform.”
A senior Labour leader said the new party was eating into the party’s vote in key constituencies such as Great Yarmouth and Ashfield. “We are only now realising the serious threat of reform,” he said. “It will only be a problem if the race is closer than the polls suggest.”
Rob Ford, professor of politics at the University of Manchester, said Labour needs to be mindful of the Reform Party’s appeal, particularly among voters in “red wall” constituencies. “In the longer term, that’s going to be a problem for Labour,” he said. “Labour is likely to be caught between its left/liberal members and activists and the voters it won in this election, many of whom are hardly left/liberal at all.”
Mr Kinnock warned the party that leaving it to the Conservatives to combat the threat from Mr Farage would be counterproductive. [the Tories] “They will resist Farazism, but they have not shown the courage to fight, so from now on they will have to,” he said.
Senior Labour leaders say they recognise the risks the reforms pose and plan to confront Mr Farage and his policies “from day one” if they take power. “If Labour wins the election they want to make sure Mr Farage stays put,” one source said. “They need to be on the side of voters, tell them how they will address their concerns and demonstrate they will do so.”
