Labour Must Reclaim the Politics of Home from Reform's Nativist Narrative
In the mid-1980s, a remarkable German television series, Heimat, became appointment viewing in many households. This epic drama, set in a fictional Rhineland village, portrayed a romantic sense of rootedness and love of place across the tumultuous 20th century. As one character noted, in heaven, they speak the local Hunsrück dialect, capturing something beautiful about belonging. Yet, in today's political landscape, such sentiments are being co-opted by nativist forces, posing a critical challenge for Labour.
Reform's Opportunistic Vision of Patriotism
James Orr, a Cambridge professor recently recruited as an intellectual outrider for Nigel Farage, argues that Reform UK is articulating a vision animated by the politics of home. In a Times piece, he claimed that other parties govern Britain as if it were nowhere in particular, merely managing a zone rather than cherishing a place. This rhetoric echoes far-right sentiments across Europe, such as Marion Maréchal's critique of Emmanuel Macron for valuing productivity over cultural heritage.
However, Reform's version of home is inherently exclusionary. Orr celebrated Robert Jenrick's defection to Reform, despite Jenrick's controversial remarks about white faces in Handsworth. The party's candidate in the Gorton and Denton byelection, Matthew Goodwin, has implied that UK-born ethnic minorities might not be truly British. These perspectives gained traction with interventions like billionaire tax exile Jim Ratcliffe lamenting Britain's colonisation, highlighting the need for a robust response beyond moral condemnation.
Labour's Weak Response and the Need for a Deeper Strategy
On sensitive issues, the left often prefers preaching to analysis. For instance, Douglas Alexander's use of poetry on Question Time, while uplifting, fails to address the underlying economic anxieties that Reform exploits. Reform positions itself as a nationalist middle way, combining patriotic resistance with deglobalised capitalism and ethnocentrism, aiming to unite traditional Toryism, middle England, and a disillusioned working class.
The chutzpah is evident: Farage praised Liz Truss's laissez-faire budget, yet Reform's thinktank, the Centre for a Better Britain, was founded with help from commodity traders who thrived during the global finance boom of the 80s and 90s. This opportunism flourishes because mainstream parties have long been complicit with a Davos-style worldview, indifferent to local communities.
Rediscovering Labour's Ethical Roots
Labour's future relevance depends on making enemies in the right places and rediscovering its ethical ambition. The left has a rich tradition of resisting the uprooting power of capital, with ideas of fraternity, solidarity, and mutual dependence. Orr's critique of a bloodless economic order echoes Marx's description of capitalism, where all that is solid melts into air. Utopian socialists like Robert Owen pioneered ethical traditions, such as co-ops and the welfare state, to protect workers from economic forces.
Today, a modern sense of home is threatened by a dysfunctional housing market, hollowed-out town centres, and AI-driven job displacement. Immigration concerns are part of a wider social anxiety that Farage has surfed since UKIP's early days. Keir Starmer's call for true patriotism over Reform's plastic version is weak unless Labour relearns a language of belonging tied to economic justice.
Unless Labour addresses these challenges with a genuine vision, its appeals risk being buried under nativist flags. The party must look to its roots to craft a reply that resonates with voters' deep-seated needs for security and community.
