Oh God, What Now? Withstanding the Farage Barrage – Can we Reform-proof the UK?
Feb 20, 2026
James Ball, political editor of The New World and author of The Other Pandemic, tackles whether Reform UK could pull off a Project 2025-style overhaul of Britain’s institutions. He unpacks constitutional weak spots, immigration plans, threats to the BBC and how norm-busting could play out in practice. Short, sharp, and alarming takes on the balance between political ambition and institutional resistance.
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Weak UK Constitutional Firewalls
- The UK has far fewer constitutional safeguards against a determined majority government than the US does.
- If Nigel Farage commanded a comfortable Commons majority he could push through sweeping changes with limited judicial check.
Norm-Breaking Precedents Matter
- Small infractions and norm-breaking under prior governments offer a pattern showing how power can be exercised despite legal limits.
- These precedents make radical future acts easier to normalise and execute.
Ideas Pipeline From US To UK Populism
- Reform's ideas draw explicitly from Project-style US playbooks and allied UK think tanks aiming to weaken judiciary and civil service authority.
- That intellectual pipeline makes their agenda easier to enact quickly if they seize power.
