Reform is on red alert after the odds of a general election being called before 2029 significantly shortened. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is set to announce plans to introduce digital ID cards in a desperate bid to end rising illegal immigration.
The policy is set to be framed as a way of combating the small boat crisis, but cynics claimed the move is a cover for a more sinister snooping push. The “dystopian” move – first floated when Sir Tony Blair occupied Number 10 – is still being thrashed out but is set to be met with universal anger when it is unveiled at the Labour Party conference, which starts this weekend, as fury erupts over “unacceptable state control” in people’s lives. Experts think the fallout has the potential to topple the Government, coming on the back of a catalogue of recent scandals.
Reform, the pop-up insurgent party led by Nigel Farage, is unequivocally opposed to digital ID cards, with a party source saying: “A conspiracy theorist might suggest that the last few years of deliberate failures over immigration were in order to convince the public it needs digital ID, and thus a vast increase in state control of our lives.
“This proves we’re through the looking glass now. The public can see through this.”
Leader Nigel Farage is set to seize upon the move to reinforce his party’s seismic opinion poll lead, which puts it on course for a 200-seat majority at the general election.
The party source added: “Unlike almost every MP – and certainly those in the Government – Nigel speaks fluent human and he will articulate it in a way no other politician can. This could be the final straw.”
A general election must be held by August 2029 at the latest. But bookies say Labour’s lurch from crisis to crisis could see one held before and make it 10/1 Britain goes to the country in 2027 and 6/4 in 2028.
More than 1,000 people crossed the English Channel in small boats on Friday, Home Office figures show, in the latest humiliation for Sir Keir’s promise to finally end the crisis.
Some 13 boats carrying 1,072 individuals made the crossing – a figure equal to more than 80 people for every boat. The total number of people illegally entering the UK on dinghy crossings now stands at 32,103 so far this year.
Reform is on course to win the most seats at the next election, with bookies Ladbrokes making the party 10/11 to form the next government. Labour is 15/8, the Tories 6/1, and Liberal Democrats 33/1.
Spokesman Cal Gildart: “Labour’s bad week has played into Reform’s hands. The Government won’t be waving the white flag, but the odds suggest that they have got a lot to do to win back support from Nigel Farage.”
Speaking about the digital ID plan one irate Reform voter said: “Where was this in Labour’s manifesto? We’ve protected our border for centuries without it.
“It’s clear the goal is to track, control, and censor the public, putting us under surveillance at all times, spying on those they don’t agree with. If they press ahead with this, I’m not sure they anticipate the fightback.”
