Nigel Farage founded Reform UK on the promise that it would be an alternative to the mainstream political establishment. As we’ve reported, this claim has always been dubious, but never more so than following the recent influx of establishment Tories:
Reform UK’s Leader of Durham Council @ReformDurham isn’t a @nadhimzahawi fan it appears…
This isn’t the coup @Nigel_Farage would have you think it is. pic.twitter.com/SMm58dSYq8
— Reform Party UK Exposed
(@reformexposed) January 12, 2026
Now, Farage has further cemented his establishment credentials by announcing a trip to the heart of ‘globalism’:
Right wing ‘populism’ in action https://t.co/hUC6pgTKsS
— NJ (@NoJusticeMTG) January 16, 2026
Globalism
Generally, the term ‘globalist’ is used by the right as a slur to describe politicians who engage in ‘globalisation’ (e.g. by facilitating migration or trade). Conspiracy theorists use the term as a dog whistle for the ‘global Jewish conspiracy’, with the idea being that countries are being forcibly connected by a shadowy cabal of international elites.
While it’s not inevitable that increased global connectivity leads to increased poverty, it is the case that we’ve got poorer in the West at the same time that we’ve outsourced previously well-paying manufacturing jobs to countries like Bangladesh. We’re not poorer because of foreign people, though, we’re poorer because rich people keep finding new ways to siphon profits to themselves.
In other words, there’s plenty of money; what’s changing is where that money is concentrated.
Speaking on the World Economic Forum (WEF) in 2017, the Canary’s James Wright wrote:
The world’s richest of the rich have begun their annual meeting where they discuss how they’ll solve our problems. But nobody seems to be mentioning the elephant in the room. That they are the leaders of a system that exacerbates those problems.
The World Economic Forum (WEF) takes place where the world’s richest may feel most comfortable: high up a snowy mountain in a notorious tax haven. In Davos, Switzerland, grotesque levels of poverty and inequality will be treated like naturally occurring phenomena, rather than problems largely caused by those attending.
As reported by the Financial Times (FT), Farage has previously vowed to “reject the influence” of the WEF, having said the following in 2024:
Reform UK will reject the influence of the World Economic Forum and cancel Britain’s membership of it.
Farage also said this:
The mask has slipped.
Keir Starmer is a full on globalist, hanging out with his mates at the WEF.
— Nigel Farage MP (@Nigel_Farage) January 21, 2023
So what Farage would have you believe is that he’s going to get wined and dined by the WEF, but he isn’t going to make friends or be influenced by them.
Hmm.
This is funny, because the FT reports that Farage is seeking to “forge ties with influential foreign leaders and bolster his international image ahead of the next election”.
Perhaps Farage would dispute that characterisation, and he’s actually flying around the globe to stick it to the ‘globalists’?
Only time will tell.
In the meantime —
We’ve heard this before Farage
For reference, here’s what Nigel said about Robert Jenrick a few months ago:
Jenrick is a fraud. I’ve alway thought so, this quote proves it. pic.twitter.com/pMcuhe88mw
— Nigel Farage MP (@Nigel_Farage) August 18, 2025
He also said the following when Jenrick and Kemi Badenoch were campaigning to be the Conservative Party leader:
Formerly a man that believed in nothing, Robert Jenrick now pitches himself as the great hardliner.
This is almost certainly done for political gain and not out of conviction. He will divide the party.
I doubt that Jenrick will last long if he wins.
— Nigel Farage MP (@Nigel_Farage) September 29, 2024
Jenrick has since defected to Reform, with the party changing its banner to the following:
Farage said that Jenrick is a man of no principles, and he was right to say so.
The problem is that in this instance, the old maxim seems to hold true: ‘It takes one to know one‘.
Featured image via Gage Skidmore (Flickr)
By Willem Moore
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