Skip to main content
Reform UK: Patriotism as a false flag
Farage's party is a political machine deeply tied to the interests of US big business, writes PHIL KATZ in the first of a series of features on this growing force in British politics
FAKE LABEL: Reform UK leader Nigel Farage speaks at the party's annual conference at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham on September 20 2024

FARAGE’S Reform UK is often portrayed as a patriotic, anti-immigrant party focused on controlling borders and “taking back” Britain. But a closer look at the party’s connections and financial dealings reveals something quite different.

With the demise of the empire, Britain’s capitalist class divided between those who saw their future in the EU, others that wanted to throw in their lot with US imperialism to divide up the world and those locked into local communities in the small business, farming and fishing sectors.

Reform UK represents those tied to the US, but its base is very much in the small business sector.

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
More from this author
Daily Worker May 9 1945
WWII / 8 May 2025
8 May 2025

PHIL KATZ looks at how the Daily Worker, the Morning Star's forerunner, covered the breathless last days of World War II 80 years ago

A mural depicting the Battle of Cable Street
VE Day 2025 / 8 May 2025
8 May 2025

PHIL KATZ describes the unity of the home front and the war front in a People’s War

AMONG COMRADES: Roger Sutton (third from right) in Paris cat
Features / 18 January 2025
18 January 2025
From anti-apartheid work to uniting migrant workers, Sutton showed us how to build worker power, keeping socialism’s flame burning bright, and leaving London’s mighty May Day parade as his legacy, writes Phil Katz
Similar stories
Elon Musk speaks at a campaign rally for Donald Trump in New
Editorial: / 4 December 2024
4 December 2024
NIGEL’S BARMY ARMY: The
Reform UK leader addresses
Clacton
Features / 14 August 2024
14 August 2024
NICK WRIGHT dissects the contradictory views of Reform UK voters, finding significant opportunities for the left to challenge far-right narratives by addressing its voters’ legitimate economic concerns
GAINING GROUND: Reform UK MPs Nigel Farage (left) and Lee An
Features / 1 August 2024
1 August 2024
In the first of two pieces, NICK WRIGHT examines the rise of Reform UK and its parallels with France’s National Rally, warning of the dangers that lie ahead for a left without convincing answers to rising anti-immigration sentiment