So, Restore has morphed from being a political movement into a national political party. I like and admire Rupert Lowe, but, as I have observed several times since the announcement, this can do nothing except take votes from Reform, which is the only party of patriotism, freedom and common sense which has a hope in Hades of becoming the next government.
To be sure, Restore will garner some votes, but there is no indication whatever that it is a party with the sort of mass support currently enjoyed by Reform and even if it siphons off only a small number of crosses on ballot papers, that small number may be enough to spoil Reform’s chances in a tight marginal.
Fortunately, I think most people will realise that and cast their vote accordingly. This is why people hesitated to vote for the Brexit Party in 2019: the fear was that it might have put Jeremy Corbyn in power.
Few will want to see the old Parties continue to make a mess of the country, and the only way to make sure they don’t is to vote for their main challenger, not a splinter party.
Readers of this page will know how strongly I have resisted the so-called Unite the Right campaign, which aims at some sort of pact between the Tories and Farage.
I have resisted it and still do resist it because the Tories are not Right and recent polling shows that a pact would damage, not enhance, Reform’s prospects.
However, believing that Reform should go it alone does not mean that the Right should not coalesce around it. Splintering off is a recipe for nothing other than another Tory or Labour government.
I have weighed up Rupert Lowe's manifesto. This is my honest verdict on his plan for Britain - Ann Widdecombe
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I read Rupert’s manifesto for want of a better word, with which he launched his new Party. I agreed with a lot of it, but it is all already Reform Policy, e.g., detention and deportation for illegal migrants and denying asylum automatically to those arriving on small boats (they have, after all, come from a perfectly safe country called France).
But then the promises grow wilder, such as deporting every illegal migrant within 24 hours. Ok, to where? Their own country of origin? Well, you need to establish what that is, and the country concerned needs to acknowledge the passenger as a national.
Yes, of course it can be done, and Reform will do it, but promising to achieve it for every asylum seeker in 24 hours is disingenuous.
Oh, but then it gets wilder still. Restore would “abolish the entire asylum system”. Eh? No latter-day Nureyevs? No help for those who genuinely put their lives on the line for us in the war in Afghanistan?
Not even with the Taliban at their heels? As Cicero said, abuse does not abrogate the lawful use thereof, but Restore apparently thinks it does.
The short answer is that this really is far-right stuff. Reform is mainstream Right, and I can hope only that Restore lacks votes as much as it does reality and common sense.
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