Dear Editor
THOSE who invented the concept of the left-right continuum, the French revolutionaries of 1789, had a phrase, pas d’ennemis à gauche, meaning no enemies to the left. As the révolution proceeded it became more radical, and each group of radicals that achieved power got swept aside by one more extreme. Power was central, but policy was influenced by the Jacobin clubs, by pamphleteers and by those who could mobilise mobs, who were all further left, with demands and programmes that those who controlled the Assembly neither favoured nor could ignore.
The key to success, and often survival, was not to make enemies of these groups. Even the deftest of operators, like Desmoulins, fell from this tightrope by showing his hand too soon.
I think the dynamic between Parliamentarians, Presbyterians, Independents, and various Independent-aligned radical groups after the English Civil War did not play out altogether dissimilarly.
The Brexiteers and the Farageists in 2016 were separated by a similar boundary. Farage said stop immigration, the Conservative Brexiteers for the most part said: ‘Many aren’t ready for that; better to say, “Take Back Control”.’
Some thought that slogan meant stop immigration, which is what people wanted, even if some were too embarrassed to say it, but it was in fact a phrase with intentional ambiguity.
In the hands of Johnson, Gove, and Patel (who’d have guessed?) it turned out to mean fewer Poles and Bulgarians but many more Indians and Pakistanis. Not what anyone had voted for, so these players are all gone. I don’t believe anyone thinks Badenoch will control the new and future growth point, which is African immigration.
So an opportunity appears for Reform. Now these people flunked it once through lack of zeal. On referendum night they said ‘we’ve lost’ and the next day they laid down their arms, as if the job was done, rather than just beginning.
Time after time the street rose up, and said ‘you didn’t listen’ and Farage, who has a preternatural ability to hear the voice of the people when it becomes loud enough, took over Reform.
The question how in a two-party system one can break through and replace one of the other parties is a difficult one. There was always bound to be one group of advisers urging Reform to remain fairly silent on immigration, focusing narrowly on illegal immigrants and crime, so as to pick up, it was argued, the seven or eight per cent of votes that might be put off by – smelling salts please – uncompromising policy, and which would make the difference between 25-28 per cent and being blocked and 32-36 per cent and being in power.
Perhaps there are those also who urge: ‘Keep a low profile on this issue now, so as to present a smaller target, and speak out nearer the election.’
But becoming the Brexiteer Conservatives in 2026 dress is not the winning strategy they think it is, if it leaves room for a Brexit 2026 substitute – such as Restore – to occupy the abandoned ground.
And besides ‘you cannot fatten a pig on market day’ especially when you do not know when market day will be.
I don’t like the language of left and right here, but to preach by analogy, the history of all insurgent movements shows that the guiding principle that will lead to success should be in this case ‘no enemies to the right’.
I would say: ‘Don’t bother attacking Tommy Robinson. It’s a waste of energy and sends the wrong message. Don’t attack anyone. Just be authentically yourselves.’
Two of the smartest people on the Reform part of the spectrum, Douglas Carswell (despite his earlier falling out with Farage) and Daniel (now Lord) Hannan seem to have repositioned themselves as thinkers much further to the right than they used to be. Neither engages in personalities, which strengthens them, and both have a strong core message that resonates with those beyond the Reform spectrum.
Andrew Bell
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