The five pillars of 'Faragism': Why Reform is an alien force in Scottish politics

PA

Launching their manifesto in Scotland last week for the May elections the Reform party provided some insights into how they would govern or influence Scotland. On polling day it is the people’s choice, but it is difficult to escape the suspicion that Farage’s creation is an alien force in Scottish politics, dark, divisive and despairing and revealing some unpalatable truths about his ideas, and what kind of nation he wants Scotland to be.

For accuracy, this manifesto for Scotland was made in Washington DC, stealing Donald Trump’s clothes, including the mass deportation of immigrants based on, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE),” the Department of Government Efficiency (D.O.G.E) the brainchild of Elon Musk, now abandoned, the obsession with immigration and their mutual respect for Vladimir Putin. President Trump and Farage have said extraordinarily little recently about Gaza or Ukraine. Why? Both remain deeply agitated critics of the European Union.

The reference to another Referendum at his press conference was deeply cynical. Farage’s only interest would be to remove Scotland from the Union to accelerate the success of English nationalism and his populist anti-immigrant agenda. In the theatre of Scottish politics the Reform Leader seems ill at ease. Humanity and humility are understandably absent. His apparent disinterest is obvious. Robert Burns might have described Farage and Reform as, “such a parcel of rogues in the nation,” reflecting the kind of unease he experiences when paying the odd visit to Westminster or his Clacton constituency.

Prominent of course on his rap sheet is the fact that Farage late of UKIP, late of the Brexit Party and now Reform was key to the insanity of removing the UK from the EU, completely ignoring the fact that Scotland decided by 62 per cent to 38 per cent to remain. Farage’s lies would have made George Orwell turn in his grave

It is worth probing the five pillars of “Faragism” to obtain an insight into the political bedrock that underpins his limited political interests

Populism and authoritarianism, a personality not a party, importing English nationalism, contempt for the “common man” and a deep hatred of foreigners. Populism is the politics of division where fear, hate and anger are used to create an atmosphere of scapegoating, someone to blame where resentment, grudge and grievance become the tools of politics. Base instincts are exploited to divide, relying on deep seated anxieties to distract and demonise certain people, groups, ways of life, religions, or ideas.

Fear of foreigners, someone to blame and stirring discontent are the weapons of populists. Reform, like Farage’s previous creations, is a personality, not a party, a cult not a creed, and his signature issue is xenophobia, a barely concealed racism being served up to Scots. Farage doesn’t understand Scotland or its politics but modelled on Trump he seeks to impose on Scotland his political showmanship, no nonsense leadership and the portrayal of others as elites who have no understanding of the struggles of “ordinary” people.

When the public mood is low and people are anxious about their lives, Farage deploys the past as a political weapon of some significance. The use of nostalgia, delusion, sentiment, the lure of greatness that once was ours, when we ruled the waves and Empire flourished. Capturing this powerful thought, Ian Jack writing in the Guardian in 2017 said, “With its attic full of national icons, England can’t move on” and “I can see the loft is bigger -much , much bigger than I thought-Scots are being invited to share the loft!” If the present is intolerable and the future is too difficult to deal with, let’s memorialise the past. The ideal way to move forward is to embrace a past, real or imaginary. For Farage this is Brexit 2.0 deceitful and dangerous but alongside lies, provides a powerful politics of the mind, helpings of English nationalism and successful conversion to the power of yesterday.

Contempt and mockery of the common man-and woman- is a pillar of Farage’s politics. Who are these people such as, Reform Campaign Chair Thomas Kerr who vows to” deport foreign scum bags” and calls for “a people’s army to rip apart the Holyrood cosy consensus” and said, “Scotland’s largest city is lawless under the SNP.” Is he seeking to bring voters down to his crude level or is he assuming this is the daily discourse of Scots that he wants to tap into or is he holding Scots in contempt as he seeks to mock them.

But the fifth pillar is Farge’s unmistakeable signature issue, the hatred of foreigners, people of colour, immigrants, and increasingly those who were not born here, who are then linked falsely to higher rates of crime, and the abuse of women and girls. Farage and Reform are dangerous and excessively animated about this issue, but the mask is falling off, as real intentions emerge and Scotland’s needs are ignored. This is racism, nativism and xenophobia, where Reform has no empathy with Scotland’s needs.

We need to waken up to the prospect of an immigration obsessed Trump sycophant waging a war against those who are in our nation illegally but also against all migrants and foreigners. Reform’s mass deportation plans will have a serious impact on Scotland. The case is simple. Scotland needs more legal inward migration, not less. Our population is forecast to decline alongside our birth rate. The 2022 census confirms that half a million people living in Scotland were born outside the UK with 141,000 people originally from Poland, India and Pakistan, and nearly 397,000 people being non British nationals. In the year to mid-2024, 68,000 people moved out of Scotland but more than 124,000 arrived!

A vote for Reform on the 7th of May will be a vote against Scotland’s interests, and its reputation for internationalism, tolerance, humanity and interdependence. A vote should always be worth more than a protest.