Nigel Farage to relaunch the Brexit Party to Reform UK as an anti-lockdown party.
The Brexit Party has applied to the Electoral Commission to change its name to Reform UK, in an attempt to rebrand as an anti-lockdown party.
Nigel Farage announced his plan to rebrand the party on Sunday, saying: “As promised, we continue to keep a very close eye on the Government’s trade negotiations with the EU, to ensure a proper Brexit. Further reform in many other areas is also vital for our nation’s future.”
Mr Farage has expressed his dismay regarding the Government’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, saying a second lockdown would “result in more life-years lost than it hopes to save” and argued that “building immunity” would be more effective.
He added that he is committed to political reform, including a move to Proportional Representation, abolishing the House of Lords and shaking up the BBC.
Boris Johnson has recently threatened House of Lords reform, after peerages for Conservative Party donors were blocked in July 2020.
Richard Tice, the Chairman of the Brexit Party, stated: “The need for major reform in the UK is clearer now than ever. A new approach is essential so that government works for the people, not for itself.”
Tice has said a new strategy was needed for tackling the coronavirus, so that “we learn to live with it, not hide in fear of it”.
https://twitter.com/TiceRichard/status/1323169842699083785
Mr Farage and Mr Tice said the UK should follow the Great Barrington Declaration, which calls for “focused protection” for the elderly and other groups particularly vulnerable to Covid-19, while others continue to live relatively normally.
The news may be cause for alarm for Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the Conservative Party, as Nigel Farage has successfully influenced national debates and public opinion before in his career.
The PM told MPs there was “no alternative” but to introduce a national lockdown, which is due to begin on Thursday in an attempt to prevent the NHS from being overwhelmed.
The Labour Party leader, Sir Keir Starmer, supports a second lockdown, but has criticised the Government’s “inaction”, saying it should have been implemented much sooner and that the imminent lockdown will now be “harder, longer and more damaging than it needed to be”.
MPs will vote on the plans in the Commons on Wednesday.
