'Labour is suffering from Nigel Farage derangement syndrome,' says Jacob Rees Mogg

And it wasn’t just the Prime Minister. The Home Secretary, the Foreign Secretary, the Health Secretary and the Lord High Chancellor all took aim at the Reform leader.

Racist. Plastic patriots. Snake oil salesman. Labour is terrified of Reform and with good reason.

Then the Deputy Prime Minister said this: “I will leave it for the public to come to their own judgments about someone who once flirted with Hitler Youth when he was younger. That is for the public as well.”

He accused Nigel Farage of “flirting with the Hitler Youth” an organisation that ended 20 years before Farage was even born.

Moments later, the Lord High Chancellor said: “He has denied it, and so I accept that he has denied it. I would like to clarify that position, because in the end the Prime Minister was keen for us to focus on the policies, not the individual.”

The full exchange is extraordinary. David Lammy first said he wouldn’t indulge in personal attacks, then accused Farage of belonging to a group that didn’t even exist when he was born.

Desperate stuff. And this is where Sir Keir Starmer risks real trouble, because he could be remembered as the leader who enabled a Farage landslide.

It would be the biggest humiliation in Labour’s history to lose an election to Reform but that’s what current opinion polls suggest may happen.

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Immigration is now unquestionably the public’s main concern — something Nigel Farage has understood for many years.

Responding to Labour’s attacks this afternoon, Farage said they extend far beyond him, to millions of voters who are rightly concerned about immigration: “Do you think we should control our borders? Then you are, by the definition of the Prime Minister and his Cabinet, a racist.”

Farage added: “Now, I don’t normally worry about abuse being thrown at me.

"I’ve kind of got used to it over the years. But to accuse countless millions of being racist is a very, very low blow.”

This is Labour’s mistake.

By accusing Farage of being racist, they are effectively accusing his voters of being racist too many of whom were once Labour supporters.

So why is Labour attacking Reform and Farage so openly? Because it sees Reform as the real opposition.

Despite having only five MPs, Reform dominates the polls and leads the debate on key issues. But Labour needs to be careful with this tactic.

As Lady Thatcher once said: “I always cheer up immensely if an attack is particularly wounding, because I think if they attack one personally, it means they haven’t a single political argument left.”

Personal attacks may feel effective, but they don’t work. They make the attacker look small, begrudging and mean-spirited.

They drive voters towards the person being attacked, as the Brexit vote and Donald Trump’s victories have already shown.

Labour is scared of Reform and scared of Nigel Farage.

But if it wants to overcome the threat Reform poses, it must abandon the tactic of smears and instead listen to voters’ concerns.

That means controlling immigration, stopping the boats, scrapping extreme Net Zero policies and improving living standards.

If Labour wants to win, it needs to focus on these things — not personal attacks. Otherwise, it risks handing Nigel Farage victory on a plate.