John,

Think Britain’s right-wing couldn’t get any more ridiculous? Think again…

Yesterday, Ben Habib and Rupert Lowe, both most recently part of the Reform UK machinery, launched new parties of their own. Both with as much faux patriotism and as little policy as each other. And both doing little to establish their own brand recognition away from Reform UK.

Meet ‘Advance UK’ and ‘Restore Britain’.

Deputy Leader of Reform until July 2024, Ben Habib has announced Advance UK with the aim of building “a proud, independent, and prosperous UK” whilst standing for “nation, freedom, democracy, and equality under the law”. Thin on the ground in terms of policy as you would expect, Advance’s new website has a leading mission statement pleading to “help us mend broken Britain”.

Heard that one before…?

Meanwhile, Rupert Lowe, MP for Great Yarmouth, was one of five Reform MPs elected this time last year. However, after allegations of bullying and an ongoing public spat with Nigel Farage, fuelled by Elon Musk, Lowe was suspended from the party in March. With an axe to grind and a far-right support base to tap into - he has launched Restore Britain advocating “low tax, small state, slash immigration, protect British culture, restore Christian principles, carpet-bomb the cancer of wokery, fight lawfare, empower individual enterprise, and plenty more”.

Seemingly even further to the right than Reform and Advance, Restore how outlined its belief in ‘net negative migration’, including the deportation of legal foreign nationals “who cannot speak English”.  Alongside this, deportation of all illegal immigrants, banning of the burqa, and the restoration of the death penalty are the only four policies of the party so far. Despite this lack of detail - it appears to be enough to have earned the support of Elon…

It‘s easy to take one glance at Advance UK and Restore Britain, and dismiss these fledgling parties as a joke. But in a political landscape where Reform UK are on course for a majority at the next general election - can we afford to be so confident in our politics?

Open Britain doesn’t think so.

But this isn’t a call to panic or worry - it’s a reminder to strengthen our democracy, and make it less susceptible to takeover by a gang of fascist chancers, seeking to resolve their petty infighting by outflanking each other on the right.

Here’s how OB are making our democracy more resilient against the ridiculous right:

• We’re fighting back against the far-right, be it Farage or his former friends, using our platform to expose the myths of authoritarian populism.

  
  

• We’re inspiring citizens to use their democratic rights to voice their form their own views on politics, so they can educate themselves and others.

  
  

• We’re pushing for a more representative electoral system, so everyone knows their vote matters, in electing a Parliament that represents the British people.

  
  

• We’re seeking to eliminate dark money from our elections, especially big donations from bad actors, so the likes of Elon Musk can’t feather the nest of Rupert Lowe, or whoever the next fascist in fashion is.

  
  

• We’re combatting disinformation, both in our political institutions, the mainstream press, and social media, and promoting sources of verified and fact-based information to voters.

  
  

We know how difficult it can be to make sense of our politics right now - especially comprehending this constant lurching to the far-right. But it makes fighting back against these groups - and fighting for our democracy - all the more important.

And that’s what Open Britain does, has done, and always will do - with your continued support.

Thank you so much for being part of the push-back!

Best wishes,

James Patrick