Out-of-touch parties push voters to Reform

After watching Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut on the floor of the US Senate, I wondered if we are sleepwalking into a nightmare similar to the DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) phenomenon – here in Scotland.

Senator Murphy’s thirty-minute takedown of the takeover of US government by a bunch of Donald Trump’s business cronies was chilling. Elon Musk has been systematically cancelling regulatory action against his own companies, firing tax inspectors and favouring his own business and political associates. A Trump immigration official recently appeared on US prime time TV to confirm that corruption charges against New York's mayor, Eric Adams would be dropped on condition that Adams fully backed the administration's deportation policies in the city.

Reform UK, led by Nigel Farage, would be the second largest party at Holyrood if the poll findings were repeated in next year’s Holyrood election

placeholder image — Reform UK, led by Nigel Farage, would be the second largest party at Holyrood if the poll findings were repeated in next year’s Holyrood election

But echoes of this undemocratic contagion are running like wildfire through UK politics too. What was Nigel Farage’s headline message after Reform (registered as a plc, with Farage as Director!) won control of 10 councils? He’s bringing in auditors to investigate council spending.

And who could argue with that? Just look at Edinburgh council, wasting thousands on Queensferry’s unwanted traffic “tables” (they made speeding worse). Or take their insane £5m plan to rip up the cobbles and sandstone pavements along the town’s medieval High Street, which will close it for two years. A dozen businesses or more fear the collapse of their customer base as visitors turn away from stonecutting noise and roadworks.

When local government is as out of touch and incompetent as this, it’s no surprise that voters are turning to millionaire spivs like Farage and his sidekick Richard Tice in frustration at the utter failure of Labour, SNP, Tories and LibDems to fix our local and national problems. From potholes to winter fuel allowances; from filthy council housing to climate breakdown, discontented voters are moving further into the arms of these grifters, playing on irrational fears over immigration and identity.

Unless the main parties return to policies that deliver opportunity and social justice to all – which won Labour 40 per cent of the vote in 2017 – Nigel Farage will become our next prime minister.

Bruce Whitehead is a journalist and former Labour council candidate