{"id":7059,"date":"2026-06-03T14:36:36","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T14:36:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2026\/06\/03\/does-uks-new-far-right-party-restore-pose-a-threat-to-farages-reform\/"},"modified":"2026-06-03T14:36:36","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T14:36:36","slug":"does-uks-new-far-right-party-restore-pose-a-threat-to-farages-reform","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2026\/06\/03\/does-uks-new-far-right-party-restore-pose-a-threat-to-farages-reform\/","title":{"rendered":"Does UK\u2019s new far-right party, Restore, pose a threat to Farage\u2019s Reform?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p>When Nigel Farage, leader of the far-right, anti-immigration party Reform UK, addressed the nation while bizarrely standing in a field this week, he was a man on a mission.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is time to respond with pure cold rage,\u201d he pronounced.<\/p>\n<section>\n<h2>Recommended Stories <\/h2>\n<p><span>list of 3 items<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span>list 1 of 3<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2026\/5\/6\/follow-the-money-how-far-right-reform-uk-built-a-global-network\">\u2018Supercharged\u2019 donations: How far-right Reform UK built a global network<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 2 of 3<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2026\/5\/8\/uk-elections-early-results-and-takeaways-will-starmer-have-to-resign\">UK elections \u2013 early results and takeaways; will Starmer have to resign?<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 3 of 3<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2026\/5\/8\/leader-of-the-pack-what-next-as-reform-makes-huge-election-gains\">\u2018Leader of the pack\u2019: Reform UK makes huge election gains in blow to Labour<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>Farage was speaking about the fatal stabbing of a white teenage boy, Henry Nowak, in December 2025 by a Sikh man armed with a ceremonial knife. When police arrived at the scene, instead of arresting the attacker, they took his (false) word that Novak had racially abused him and refused to believe the 18-year-old when he told them he had been stabbed.<\/p>\n<p>Footage from the incident \u2013 which Novak\u2019s family have allowed to be released to the public \u2013 shows a devastating scene in which the dying boy is handcuffed, uttering his last words, \u201cI can\u2019t breathe.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Many politicians have since leapt on the opportunity to reap political capital from the tragedy. \u201cI just kept thinking, that\u2019s someone\u2019s boy. That could be my boy,\u201d Kemi Badenoch, leader of the former governing \u2013 now floundering \u2013 Conservative Party, told The Times newspaper on Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p>Farage seized the chance to rally Reform supporters against what he has framed as an appalling example of extreme racism towards a white boy \u2013 even going so far as to liken the tragedy to the killing of George Floyd by a police officer in the US.<\/p>\n<p>But his real message, observers say, was to former supporters who have deserted his party in droves in favour of a new far-right group, Restore Britain, which is arguably even more anti-immigration than Farage himself. Since its launch less than four months ago by disgruntled former Reform member Rupert Lowe, Restore has amassed more than 96,000 members and 13 councillors who have mostly defected from Reform.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"splintering-the-far-right\">Splintering the far right<\/h2>\n<p>As a single parliamentary seat in the north of England prepares for a critical by-election that could ultimately determine the United Kingdom\u2019s next prime minister later this month, the far right is preparing to do its own battle for the constituency.<\/p>\n<p>In Makerfield, Greater Manchester, a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2026\/5\/28\/the-kingmakers-of-makerfield-english-town-braces-for-crucial-by-election\">by-election<\/a> is expected to take place on June 18, following the departure of current Labour MP Josh Simons to make way for Manchester Mayor <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2026\/5\/19\/king-of-the-north-who-is-andy-burnham-a-potential-uk-prime-minister\">Andy Burnham<\/a> to contest the seat. If he is successful, Burnham will re-enter Westminster after an absence of nine years to stand for the leadership of the party against Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who has been badly damaged by disastrous local election results last month. Burnham was last an MP for the constituency of Leigh until May 2017. Since that year, he has served as mayor of Manchester.<\/p>\n<p>Getting back into Parliament won\u2019t be a walk in the park for Burnham. Labour, which has held the seat in Makerfield since 1983, can expect stiff competition from Farage\u2019s increasingly popular <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2026\/5\/8\/leader-of-the-pack-what-next-as-reform-makes-huge-election-gains\">Reform UK<\/a>, which came second in Makerfield in the general election in 2024. Indeed, an opinion poll by Survation last week put Burnham only slightly ahead of Reform UK\u2019s candidate, Robert Kenyon, with 43 percent and 40 percent, respectively.<\/p>\n<p>But that poll also found that Reform\u2019s share has been dented in a small but significant way by newcomer Restore, whose candidate, Rebecca Shepherd, is polling at 7 percent in her party\u2019s first parliamentary contest.<\/p>\n<p>The creation of a new party that splinters the far-right, anti-immigration vote may seem counterintuitive, but Georgios Samaras, assistant professor of public policy at the School for Government and the Policy Institute at King\u2019s College London, told Al Jazeera that it\u2019s not actually all that surprising, as Reform UK is increasingly seen as \u201cmainstreaming\u201d its ideas as it attempts to make itself more palatable to the population at large.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cReform in the eyes of far-right extremists is too soft,\u201d Samaras said. A gap in the market has emerged, and it has been filled by Restore, led by Lowe, MP for Great Yarmouth and a former member of Reform.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey [Restore] know that a percentage of Reform is openly fascist, and they are trying to attract that audience. I don\u2019t know how serious the damage is going to be, but Rupert Lowe seems to be filling a gap that will further demonstrate that the far right has become quite powerful,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn my view, Rupert Lowe and Restore Britain are the expressions of neo-Nazism in this country, and that audience requires a politician to express those ideas. Rupert Lowe is that man,\u201d Samaras said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTheir narratives don\u2019t have to involve Nazi symbolism; they can support Nazi ideas without being openly, symbolically, and stylistically Nazi,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"immigration-immigration-immigration\">Immigration, immigration, immigration<\/h2>\n<p>Lowe is now positioning himself as the only leader willing to take truly decisive action against immigration and he is attracting attention. On Monday this week, tech billionaire and owner of SpaceX, Elon Musk, publicly endorsed him. \u201cOnly Restore Britain can save Britain,\u201d he declared on X.<\/p>\n<p>Musk retweeted a post by Lowe himself, who claimed that had tried to \u201cput me in prison because I backed the mass deportation of Pakistani child rapists and their foreign wives\/relatives who allowed it to happen\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>This is an apparent reference to a grooming gangs scandal, which has been rumbling in the UK for a few years.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI founded Restore Britain to give the British people the democratic option to agree with me. Restore Britain will, without apology, deport every last foreign rapist and all foreign accomplices who knew it was happening, yet failed to act,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNow, Reform are incandescently angry that we are giving the British people that choice. Deploying increasingly desperate smears against our movement,\u201d Lowe added.<\/p>\n<p>As part of Restore Britain\u2019s manifesto, the party has stated that it would implement the \u201cmost ambitious programme of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2026\/5\/21\/net-migration-to-the-uk-falls-by-nearly-50-percent-amid-tighter-policies\">mass deportations<\/a> ever seen in Britain\u201d, which would include deporting legal foreign-born migrants if they claim benefits or are unable to speak English.<\/p>\n<p>The party also adheres to the far-right, \u201cGreat Replacement\u201d conspiracy theory, which claims that \u201cnative\u201d British people will be outnumbered by \u201cnon-native\u201d citizens within a few decades.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNative British births will account for fewer than 50 percent of total births in Britain\u201d by 2030, the party has stated. It has also claimed that, by 2070, \u201cnative Brits will be an absolute minority.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"britain-first\">\u2018Britain first\u2019<\/h2>\n<p>Alongside Restore Britain\u2019s big plans for immigration, the party\u2019s manifesto states it will \u201cput British interests first\u201d, including \u201cending all forms of foreign aid that do nothing to advance Britain\u2019s national interests in the world\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>It adds that the party will end Diversity, Equity and Inclusion directives in the British Armed Forces and \u201cmake Britain safe again\u201d by implementing widespread stop-and-search powers for the police. In terms of economic policy, the party states that it would rebuild the country\u2019s industries and infrastructure and repeal net-zero goals. Like Reform, however, there are scant details about how all this will be paid for.<\/p>\n<p>Nevertheless, Samaras says there is an appetite for it in the UK due to rising socioeconomic deprivation, which the far right has squarely blamed on immigration. Remove the immigrants, they say, and free up all the money they are costing the country.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think that a lot of Brits who are willing to vote for Reform or Restore, in this case, have no understanding of how migration works and they have no understanding of the costs of migration, so it\u2019s very easy to demonise migrants, scapegoat migrants,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow many people actually receive benefits who are legally resident foreign nationals? How many of them cannot speak English, and how many of them refuse to work? These are Restore Britain\u2019s claims. The percentage is tiny. It\u2019s incredibly tiny, but people don\u2019t know that. So, their appetite derives from vibes and political claims from two dangerous entities that are trying to politicise migration,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"a-cycle-that-cannot-be-broken\">A cycle that \u2018cannot be broken\u2019<\/h2>\n<p>A new era of multi-party politics and a growing appetite for hardline, anti-immigration and Islamophobic views are driving the rise of the far right in the UK, experts say.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere is a market out there for some pretty extreme issue-stances on migration and multiculturalism \u2013 one that Reform UK might find difficult to cater to if it also wants to attract more moderate (albeit anti-immigration and sometimes Islamophobic) voters,\u201d Tim Bale, professor of politics at Queen Mary University of London, told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n<p>Moreover, Samaras added, the way Muslims in the UK are currently being scapegoated is \u201cunprecedented in European standards\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>According to Tell MAMA, which measures anti-Muslim attacks across England, 6,313 cases of anti-Muslim hate were recorded in 2024, the highest number recorded since the founding of the project in 2011\/2012. It amounted to a rise of 165 percent of verified cases reported since 2022.<\/p>\n<p>In reality, this rise in public anger towards immigrants and Muslims is taking place alongside a drop in immigration, Samaras pointed out.<\/p>\n<p>The Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported last week that net migration fell to 171,000 in the \u206012 months to the end of December from 331,000 a year earlier, continuing a sharp decline from 2026.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s a cycle that cannot be broken unless politicians stop talking about other people\u2019s religions and focus on the economy. The idea of Islamic terrorism in this country, there is an obsession of the British population with Islam \u2026 its xenophobia and Islamophobia that have emerged during times of socioeconomic deprivation,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>Ultimately, it may take the far right to defeat the far right in the UK.<\/p>\n<p>The rift between the leaders of Reform UK and Restore Britain has been brewing ever since Lowe, when still a member of Farage\u2019s Reform UK, had the party whip suspended due to bullying and harassment complaints last year \u2013 claims that Lowe denied.<\/p>\n<p>On Sunday, Farage told The Telegraph newspaper that Musk was seeking to split the right wing in British politics and was \u201csupporting a party that\u2019s one man with a social media account\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cQuite what he\u2019s trying to achieve, I have no idea,\u201d he said, adding that Burnham would be \u201cdelighted\u201d by Musk\u2019s efforts.<\/p>\n<p>But experts like Bale say Restore shouldn\u2019t be dismissed so easily, that, with anger and frustration towards the government over immigration riding high among the public, a party like Restore Britain \u201cmight have a future\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt least as a party that could pick up a few seats here or there wherever those voters are concentrated,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMore importantly, it could \u2013 as it might do in Makerfield \u2013 snatch a few votes that might otherwise go to Reform, making it more difficult for Farage\u2019s outfit to form a government after the next election, even if it emerges, as looks possible right now, as the largest party in parliament.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When Nigel Farage, leader of the far-right, anti-immigration party Reform UK, addressed the nation while bizarrely standing in a field this week, he was a man on a mission. \u201cIt is time to respond with pure cold rage,\u201d he pronounced. Recommended Stories list of 3 items list 1 of 3\u2018Supercharged\u2019 donations: How far-right Reform UK &#8230; <a title=\"Does UK\u2019s new far-right party, Restore, pose a threat to Farage\u2019s Reform?\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2026\/06\/03\/does-uks-new-far-right-party-restore-pose-a-threat-to-farages-reform\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Does UK\u2019s new far-right party, Restore, pose a threat to Farage\u2019s Reform?\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7060,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7059","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7059","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7059"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7059\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7060"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7059"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7059"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7059"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}