Zia Yusuf’s mad idea of building migrant detention centres exclusively in areas that vote Green works a treat
I
t’s a classic from the Donald Trump playbook: everything’s been going a bit tits up, so you create a distraction. Get everyone looking in the wrong direction. Last week was the worst in months for Reform. First the party was pegged back in the opinion polls, then the Guardian revealed Nigel Farage had been given a £5m handout by Christopher Harborne, a Thai-based crypto dealer. A donation that Nige had never thought to declare.
Not the best look for a party leader who claims to be a man of the people. I mean why don’t we all get by on multimillion-pound handouts from our friends. The best you can say is that at least Nige wasn’t trying to defraud the state by claiming universal credit. Since then, Reform has been on the back foot. Sending out countless press releases trying to explain the situation away. Ones that often contradicted each other.
Nige had had no thought of becoming an MP when he was gifted the money. All he had wanted was a secure retirement, so there was no need to declare the dosh. It had been a total coincidence that he had chosen to stand for parliament just a short while later. The money wasn’t just for his personal spending. It was for his security so he could resume his political career. Though obviously not nearly enough. In the two years since Nige has been MP for Clacton he has done very few constituency surgeries. Largely because he says he doesn’t feel safe.
