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Dear John,

‘If you can’t beat them, join them.’

Ironically, that used to be the mantra of smaller right-wing parties rivalling the Conservatives. But the old juggernaut of British politics - once skilled at unifying and absorbing its adversaries - is now the one falling in line.

Take Tory “rising star” Katie Lam MP, who just publicly demanded the deportation of legally settled families. Her proposal, which she claims would make the UK more “culturally coherent,” marks another sharp turn toward the racist dog-whistle politics of Reform UK, whose platform includes scrapping Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR).

It’s the next chapter of the Conservatives’ slide towards Reform’s far-right identity politics. Much like Robert Jenrick’s complaint about the lack of “white faces” in Birmingham, Lam’s underlying message is that people of different skin colours or ethnicities can’t share a community or a nation. It’s an extreme stance, putting her and her allies closer to Enoch Powell - or even Carl Schmitt - than to David Cameron or Theresa May.

The reality of this kind of policy, whether it comes from Reform or the Tories, is that loads of people who live and work happily in this country would be forcibly removed, including many parents and grandparents of British citizens. It would require the state to amass tremendous power, and to dismantle existing legal protections that safeguard citizens and non-citizens alike.

And all of this, for what? It’s a desperate game the Conservatives are playing, tethering their tattered flag to Reform’s mast in the hope of catching the same political headwind. It’s a strategy with no real payoff - unless, of course, they now count being Reform’s junior partner as success.

If relevance is what they’re chasing, they might start by asking why so much of the country despises and distrusts them. As it happens, Boris Johnson - Katie Lam’s former boss - is testifying at the COVID-19 inquiry just as all this unfolds. Rather than more scapegoating, what the public is looking for are politicians with genuine ideas and a shred of integrity.

But who are we kidding? In Britain’s broken political arena today, lazy politicians are happy to parrot the racists with the megaphone and join the race to the bottom.

Until we get the proper democratic reset that Britain needs, we can expect more of the same.

All the best,

Matt

Matt Gallagher

Communications Officer

Open Britain
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