Who's Afraid of the Farageist Wolf?

The Prime Minister's moral cowardice in taking on the politics of Nigel Farage is setting his own Government up for a historic defeat

“Who's afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?

Big Bad Wolf, Big Bad Wolf?

Who's afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?”

“I’ll punch him in the nose!

I'll tie him in a knot!

I'll kick him in the shin!

We'll put him on the spot.”

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What is Keir Starmer so afraid of? That’s the question I keep coming back to as he struggles to demonstrate any real opposition to the rise of Nigel Farage and Reform.

To date his response has been painfully timid at best.

Throughout the summer the Reform leader has dominated the political agenda with a series of increasingly extreme policies on migration and asylum.

These policies are both unworkable and immoral.

Yet at no point has the Prime Minister taken a simple strong stand against any of them.

Asked repeatedly this week to condemn the Reform leader’s bonkers and deeply unpopular plan to do an asylum deal with the Taliban, Starmer refused, with his spokesman telling reporters that “we’re not going to take anything off the table”.

But if the Prime Minister isn’t even willing to condemn Reform for wanting to send money to a tyrannical terrorist regime best known for stoning women and gay people, then what on Earth would he be?

The answer, it appears, is very little.