Here's why lockdown is Nigel Farage’s new target

All of this will strike many as pure opportunism. But while Farage is clearly preying on a perceived weak spot for Boris Johnson – who is increasingly having to face down restive backbenchers over the restrictions – it looks like he has been planning a “Reform” party for a long, long time. And to find out why we need to look to Canada. Back in late-1980s Canada, a radical-right outfit called the Reform party waged war on the traditional centre-right party, the Progressive Conservatives. The goal was to derail the socially liberal direction of the Conservatives, and push sweeping tax cuts, tougher law-and-order policies and more direct democracy through referendums, as well as opposing multiculturalism. Sound familiar? The party’s argument was framed around the need for reform of institutions such as Canada’s senate, much like Farage and Tice’s calls for the House of Lords.