The Problem With the ‘Woke Right’ 

‘Foreigners shouldn’t be MPs. He’s only been a British resident since 2003. This makes a mockery of representation. Fuck Reform.’

This was posted on X earlier this month.

Oh dear.

The Reform candidate that this refers to is a Sikh who is a British citizen. Sikhs are proven to be patriots who work hard and integrate. The candidate in my constituency is a British Asian, and I have no problem with that either.

One of the things that is abundantly clear with Nigel Farage’s return to frontline politics as leader of Reform is the need for the Right to unite, and there is now an opportunity for that to happen. The Tories are incapable of governing. I gather the Right of the Tory party are mobilising to take over after the election, but many of them will lose their seats, and deservedly so. They could have done this long ago and put country before party, but they didn’t. Labour will win a majority regardless, so the call to vote Tory to deny a Labour victory is a total red herring. That ship has sailed. However, with policies of high tax, high spend and high borrowing threatening to bankrupt the country, Labour will be unlikely to deliver on their promises. They are also pursuing an energy policy that will increase energy bills, as it has in Germany and Denmark. The cost of living will go through the roof.

That said, there is a chance that a united Right could usurp the ‘Uniparty’ of the Lib/Lab/Cons. Farage’s 5-year plan is the correct approach. It is already encouraging that UKIP have decided to stand their candidates down in key constituency’s so as not to get in the way of Reform. We need a lot more of that. There is now little justification for standing on a right-wing platform and splitting that vote.

However, there are factions on the radical Right who are more interested in putting ideology before unity, dogma before common sense. What Andrew Gold in his ‘heretics’ podcasts describe as the ‘Woke Right’, with all the spurious hankering after purity that characterises the woke Left. One of the consequences of this is the radical Right’s tendency to conflate the LGB with the TQ+, and thereby throw homosexuals under the bus. They have that in common with Islamophilic Labour and the woke Left. The Right needs to be a broad church that respects the views and position of conservative homosexuals. They make the mistake of thinking that we are a threat to the traditional family, when most of us come from these traditions and support them. This is every bit as dogmatic as gender ideology. They thus make the mistake of alienating us, when they need us. We make great allies, but also vociferous enemies. Tommy Robinson and his cohorts, on the back of a patriots’ demo in London, are calling on Farage to accept them back into the fold and for those expelled by Richard Tice to be reinstated. These demos are an important response to the weeks of Pro-Palestinian marches in London, but buyer beware. These patriot demos include some elements that are reactionary and extreme. They include white ethno-nationalists for instance, who call for deportations mainly along ethnic lines, are virulently anti-Semitic, and promote the idea that they are superior to any other cultures. They are also not to be trusted when it comes to attitudes towards homosexuals. Many of them have lost sight of what freedom actually means.

The radical Right need to wind their necks in and convince Reform under Farage that they will moderate their language and not call for knee-jerk, jam today solutions to complex issues like immigration. Falling into the ‘Johnny Foreigner’ trap of coming across as racist is not helpful. They need to stop carping from the sidelines in a way that’s big on negative criticism and analysis of the problems, but light on practical, workable and achievable solutions. They need to leave Utopian nonsense to the Left. Politics is the art of the possible, and that means that you must work within the structures of power. Society is not a Sci-Fi film where you can just create the world you want out of thin air. The public will embrace change that makes sense and demonstrates tangible benefits to us. The radical Right needs to stop being self-indulgent and grow up.

There is no point doing anything about that until Farage wins Clacton and there are hopefully some Reform MP’s in Parliament. They will be the real opposition to Labour and the globalist Blob, because the Tories are likely to be hollowed-out, and while the Lib Dems are likely to win a significant number of seats – they agree with Labour on just about everything. Ed Davey is simply appalling and damaged goods anyway. The Left, with the addition of the SNP and The Greens, is an overcrowded arena. The Overton window has clearly lurched to the Left, so, a huge chasm opens for the Right to exploit and widen.

My partner, who is well-read in British history and very astute on these matters, has been saying for some time that Farage will be Prime Minister by 2029, if not before. The rationale behind that is the ever-widening gap between the needs and perspectives of the public and Westminster. Time is ripe for a charismatic, populist figure to galvanise the public disconnect and show some leadership out of this malaise. The reaction of the Tory commentariat has been predictably dismissive and out of touch, patronising those who have jumped ship and become ‘Faragists’. They simply reinforce the impression that they think they know better than ordinary people and come across as hopeless, hapless elitists and utter hypocrites. It is their failure to deliver on their promises that has created the dire predicament they find themselves in; one which they don’t even have the wherewithal to acknowledge. They have thus become the best recruitment agents Reform could wish to have. Our best approach to this lends itself to the old maxim that if your enemy is making a mistake, don’t interrupt him.

The upshot for the radical Right of not getting on board with Reform and Farage will be to simply marginalise themselves, and be excluded from the big conversations about the future of Britain. There is a clear role for them in keeping Reform and Farage on their toes, and true to their words and actions. But this must be done in good faith. There is much talk in these circles, for instance leading platforms like ‘The Lotus Eaters’, about the politics of ‘containment’ and the suspicion that Farage is nothing more than an establishment stooge who is wheeled out to present a faux radical alternative. There may be some truth in this, (it remains to be seen), but I think this better describes the Right of the Tory party, who we wasted years supporting. In other words, this view lacks an overall perspective and wrong-headedness about the current predicament. The pill that needs to be swallowed is that Reform under Farage is the only rightist game in town that is feasible and can garner popular support. Farage is a much better politician than any of his rivals. He holds court superbly before the Press pack, answers questions directly, and doesn’t prevaricate. He doesn’t put up with any nonsense and mistruths, his rebuttals are immediate and clear. He talks like a real person – someone who the public can relate to, and not like a condescending and elitist robot.

So, let us embrace this opportunity. The reservations we might have about Farage and his large ego, and any qualms we have about him as a political operator and opportunist should be put into perspective. The bad faith actors which make up the opposition to him (and us) will attack him on this front, so let’s be clear whose side we’re on. Let’s hold onto the bigger picture. So far, their response to him has been risible and predictable. Long may that continue. He, and we have nothing to lose. The mainstream political situation is about to get a lot worse, and maybe when that reality hits home for more people they will realise just how badly governed we are by the current establishment, and do something decisive about it.

‘If there is hope, it lies with the Proles’. George Orwell.

Gary McGhee is a semi-retired screenwriter, loving the outdoor life with his partner in the Norfolk countryside. Gary was ‘red-pilled’ before it became fashionable, and believes in liberty, freedom, modernism, and defying herd-mentalities.

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