Historian David Starkey has issued a stark warning to Nigel Farage about the direction of Reform UK, cautioning that the party risks following a "catastrophic" path similar to Peronism in Argentina.
Speaking on GB News, Starkey expressed particular concern about Reform combining nationalist rhetoric with leftist economic policies.
"On one hand, you have the vigorous assertion of nationalism, national identity and all the rest of it. And on the other hand, you have leftist policies over taxation benefits and all the rest of it," he said.
The historian warned that this contradictory approach could prove disastrous for the party. "I think it will be catastrophic if they go down the Argentinian route from which it's taken, the extraordinary chainsaw of a mile to begin to rescue Argentina," Starkey stated.
GB NEWS / PARLIAMENT
|David Starkey has warned Farage against following a path seen before in Argentina
Starkey highlighted how Reform is exploiting the freedom of opposition to make contradictory promises.
"You can say, 'yes, we're going to limit immigration to the extent we can now debate, at the same time, we believe old age pensioners should be able to warm their toes comfortably in the winter and people should have as many children as they like on the state', all this stuff," he explained.
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The historian emphasised the unsustainability of such positions, pointing to Britain's precarious financial situation. "One of the point I've been making has been the importance of hard fact. A very hard fact is we're going to go bust," Starkey warned.
He argued that Reform cannot continue playing this political game if they aspire to govern.
GB NEWS
|Starkey spoke to Steven Edginton on GB News
Starkey stressed that Reform must fundamentally change its approach if it hopes to be taken seriously as a potential governing party.
"The great challenge of Reform is producing realistic, serious and costed policies that are viable, sustainable and benefit the national interest. Until then, why should we trust them?" he said.
The historian acknowledged Farage's past success as a political disruptor, noting how he had acted as "some kind of Archimedean lever and fulcrum" in pushing the Conservative Party towards Brexit.
However, Starkey argued that Reform's position has now fundamentally changed. "They are, if we are to believe the opinion polls, more likely than not, either to be the next government or be a dominant element in it. They've got to behave differently. Nigel has got to behave differently," he said.
This tension between rhetoric and reality has already become apparent in Reform's approach to governance. Just yesterday, Linden Kemkaran, the Reform UK leader of Kent County Council, wrote to Home Secretary Yvette Cooper expressing "grave concern" over government proposals to tighten health and care worker visas.
Despite Reform making immigration reduction one of its core objectives, Kemkaran warned that visa restrictions could cause an exodus of overseas workers and "leave providers on a cliff edge".
The council leader noted that approximately 20-25 per cent of Kent's social care workforce comes from overseas. Reform took control of Kent County Council following landslide victories in May's local elections, alongside nine other authorities.
This direct appeal for more migration visas from a Reform-led council starkly illustrates the contradictions Starkey warned about.