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Tories could outflank Reform from the Right if they make one key change

2025-07-10 00:00:00.0 每日快报-政治原网页

OPINION

Reform UK Leader Nigel Farage (Image: Getty)

Amid leadership murmurings in the Conservative Party, Robert Jenrick - he of viral video fame - is being widely discussed as a replacement for under-fire Kemi Badenoch. Whether his seemingly Damascene conversion to immigration hawk is genuine or not, the New Statesman felt fit to recently profile Jenrick given his rising star in the party.

Indeed, Reform UK chief Nigel Farage was quoted for the piece. Farage questioned Jenrick's authenticity and inability to escape guilt by association with the previous Tory government. That said, Farage credited Jenrick "for some good videos, for trying hard". Perhaps surprisingly, Farage said Jenrick will “almost certainly” end up to the right of the Reform leader on migration.

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Farage said: “I suspect he will probably go further – that’s just my instinct for someone who wants to make noise.” Perhaps even more surprising for his backers, Farage said of himself: “I haven’t fought the change itself, provided it comes with integration". For Farage's enemies this will be seen as a cynical ploy to win over the centre ground. My sense however is the Reform boss would agree with my late grandfather Tony that, at its heart, immigration is a numbers issue.

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In the end, this battle for hearts and minds on immigration comes down to effectiveness, meeting labour market needs while guarding against mass immigration without integration, with all the latter's attendant socioeconomic costs. The obvious solution is the time-limited work permit, something which works well in developed Asian countries like Singapore, and which meets economic needs without acting as a fast track to permanent settlement unless it is deemed in the country's economic and societal interest.

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Earlier this year, Farage himself said migrant workers should only be employed on a "time-specific work permit", at least in the context of care home workers. This would come with "no entitlement to health care or social benefits" while guarding against chain migration. So far, and by contrast, I haven't heard Jenrick talk about time-limited permits.

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Ultimately, we need to hear concrete policies on how to end mass immigration, and so far only Farage has discussed these. Big talk is what we had from the Conservatives in the past and it will take a lot more than chest-thumping talk on bringing the numbers down before the public start believing the Tories have changed.