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So much for the scare stories about UK debt.
As Simon Wren-Lewis argued this week – and Vox Political amplified in an article only today – the real risk to the economy is not borrowing levels but the rise of right-wing populism.
Nadine Dorries joining Nigel Farage’s Reform UK is a perfect illustration.
Dorries is hardly a political heavyweight.
She is best remembered for her slavish devotion to Boris Johnson and for a string of controversies, including calling people with mental disabilities “window lickers”.
Now she has joined a party that thrives on scapegoating migrants, peddling conspiracy, and offering easy slogans in place of serious policy.
Her excuse for leaving the Conservatives was that the party “killed” her idol Boris Johnson and that only Farage has the “answers”.
This is no great leap. Reform UK is simply the natural home for a politician defined more by loyalty to personalities and stunts than by coherent ideas.
Paul Knaggs at Labour Heartlands put it neatly: this is no political revolution, just a family fallout.
The Conservatives and Reform UK are “kissing cousins”.
Liz Truss, Kwasi Kwarteng, and now Dorries prove the point that the same brand of reckless populism can wear different colours, but it produces the same chaos.
And that is why Wren-Lewis is right: the real fiscal risk isn’t debt – it’s populists like Dorries and Farage gaining ground.
Their economics are a pantomime act.
They promise lower taxes, higher spending, and a stronger economy – all at once – while attacking the very institutions that might keep them in check.
When Truss tried it, the result was higher mortgages and shredded pensions.
If Farage and his cheerleaders get their chance, the damage will be even worse.
So Dorries defecting to Reform UK isn’t surprising.
It’s the logical end-point of a career built on insult, grievance and personality politics.
The danger is not that she has found a new stage – but that the UK’s voters, with Reform now topping the polls, might let these pantomime actors run the whole show.
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Nadine Dorries joins Reform UK – proof the real danger is populism, not debt
Share this post:
So much for the scare stories about UK debt.
As Simon Wren-Lewis argued this week – and Vox Political amplified in an article only today – the real risk to the economy is not borrowing levels but the rise of right-wing populism.
Nadine Dorries joining Nigel Farage’s Reform UK is a perfect illustration.
Dorries is hardly a political heavyweight.
She is best remembered for her slavish devotion to Boris Johnson and for a string of controversies, including calling people with mental disabilities “window lickers”.
Now she has joined a party that thrives on scapegoating migrants, peddling conspiracy, and offering easy slogans in place of serious policy.
Her excuse for leaving the Conservatives was that the party “killed” her idol Boris Johnson and that only Farage has the “answers”.
This is no great leap. Reform UK is simply the natural home for a politician defined more by loyalty to personalities and stunts than by coherent ideas.
Paul Knaggs at Labour Heartlands put it neatly: this is no political revolution, just a family fallout.
The Conservatives and Reform UK are “kissing cousins”.
Liz Truss, Kwasi Kwarteng, and now Dorries prove the point that the same brand of reckless populism can wear different colours, but it produces the same chaos.
And that is why Wren-Lewis is right: the real fiscal risk isn’t debt – it’s populists like Dorries and Farage gaining ground.
Their economics are a pantomime act.
They promise lower taxes, higher spending, and a stronger economy – all at once – while attacking the very institutions that might keep them in check.
When Truss tried it, the result was higher mortgages and shredded pensions.
If Farage and his cheerleaders get their chance, the damage will be even worse.
So Dorries defecting to Reform UK isn’t surprising.
It’s the logical end-point of a career built on insult, grievance and personality politics.
The danger is not that she has found a new stage – but that the UK’s voters, with Reform now topping the polls, might let these pantomime actors run the whole show.
Share this post:
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