Reform ‘waging war on what Britain is’, says Peter Oborne

Reform is ‘not really a political party’

According to Oborne, Nigel Farage’s party, which is sponsored by mainstream media “is waging war on what Britain is”.

In a JOE exclusive interview, Oborne blamed Reform for “attacking the judges, attacking the police, the two-tier system”, further adding that they “insult the parliament”.

“This is an attempt to get rid of liberal democracy. It really upsets me that the British media should support and give a free ride really, to this”, he added, following the Reform conference.

“There’s been a series of donations scandals”, Oborne said.

“Crypto finance is a major tool of organised crime. And then there have been further revelations about Mr Farage’s assistant and his criminal connections. Now we have the latest stuff about some sort of revelation about the regulatory laziness of reform. There’s a parliamentary investigation going on”, Oborne told JOE.

‘Burnham’s premiership would be finished if he was in Farage’s place’

Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s leadership would end, Oborne said, if he was in Farage’s place, as he added that the standard for far-right political figures seems to differ.

“It’s a scandal. I promise you, if these series of revelations had hit Burnham, his premiership would be finished”, Oborne told JOE.

“The same was applied to the Tory leadership of Kemi Badenoch and it would apply to Polanski. You have a separate set of rules, it’s a very interesting thing this, for leaders of far-right parties”, he added.

US President Donald Trump, whom Oborne referred to as a “racist” and “convicted felon”, is a mentor of Farage, Oborne said.

Donald Trump and Nigel Farage during a campaign rally in Mississippi in August 2016. Credit: Getty Images

“The same applies of course in the United States, where you have President Trump who is a great sort of mentor of Farage, and he’s a convicted felon, he is an open racist, he’s a systematic lawbreaker”, Oborne added.

“For some reason, this is not something which can damage Trump, which would be deeply damaging if it applies to his opponents. The oligarch-owned media has created an environment where the cheeky chappy on the far-right has a special set of rules applied to him, whether that’s Trump or the man who worships him, Farage.”

‘Reform is a business organisation’, Oborne says

Oborne argues that rather than a political party, Reform UK functions as a business organisation and it is the wealthy that sponsor it, adding that British democracy is under serious threat.

“And this is something that is very serious and it poses a lethal threat to British democracy. We have to understand what Reform is. It’s not really a political party, it’s a business organisation, sponsored by the super rich.”

“They don’t have the interest of Britain at heart. They want to create division and hatred in our country”, Oborne told JOE.

Further, Oborne said that he has one critique for Prime Minister Andy Burnham.

“One criticism I do have of Burnham, and Starmer did exactly the same thing at the same stage of his premiership. Starmer had promised to clean up foreign donations”, Oborne added.

You can watch the full JOE interview with Peter Oborne here.