Reform UK’s views are mainstream and calling them rude names makes Sir Keir Starmer look weak, says Jacob Rees-Mogg

It was in September of 2016 when then US presidential candidate, Hilary Clinton made the fateful error of calling Donald Trump’s base the “basket of deplorables”, claiming half of them were “racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamophobic”.

That was the moment Donald Trump won the election.

Has the Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer made the Clinton error?

Designating legitimate opposition as dangerous or beyond the pale alienates swathes of the population.

The Reform Party is currently leading the polls with some results putting it close to the share of the vote achieved by the Labour Party at the last election.

If Nigel Farage ends up making a deal with the Tories, we could see a Tory-Reform coalition in government at the next election. So in other words, a majority of the electorate could come under Sir Keir Starmer’s definition of dangerously right wing.

We are witnessing the same issue in Germany following its election. The Christian Democrats have ruled out a coalition with the AfD that came in second. But this means going into coalition with the party that has just lost the election.

Dismissing your enemies damages you and it damages democracy, even if your concerns are justified.

Politicians have to respect the electorate. But to rule out a coalition with the AfD in favour of returning the governing party to government risks boosting support for the AfD as voters begin to feel that however they vote, the same faces remain in government just sitting in slightly different seats.

And to claim that Reform, a right-leaning party that holds views shared by millions across the country, is dangerous and beyond the pale, is to hold democracy in contempt too.

It also seems desperate, Reform’s views are mainstream and calling them rude names makes Sir Keir Starmer look weak.