Last week, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage reaffirmed his solidarity with the Iranian monarchist diaspora by lending his full support to the imperial war waged against their country. Indeed, he was so eager to directly participate in what U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth recently described as “death and destruction from the sky all day long” that he felt he had to urge British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to “change his mind on the use of our military bases and back the Americans in this vital fight against Iran.”
Perhaps Farage’s wisdom was that he had anticipated U.S. President Donald Trump’s later dissatisfaction with Starmer, that he was “no Churchill.” With this gentle reminder, “patriotic” Britons are asked to serve the empire as usual.
What has come to be known as the “far-right” in Europe takes many forms. Some of its representatives are not worthy of lengthy discussion, like the de facto leader of the Dutch “far-right,” Geert Wilders, whose entire career has been built on the undue influence of external actors.
His connections to the pro-Israel activist and philanthropist Nina Rosenwald, dubbed by Max Blumenthal as “the sugar mama of anti-Muslim hate,” help explain why he was positioned as the leader of the especially “Islamophobic” strand of the “far-right” in Europe.
This particular movement has its representative in Britain in the person of Tommy Robinson, who has been groomed by the same external actors.
Naturally, those who are willing to defend Israel to the end lean toward these “Islamophobic” figures. Last year, YouGov conducted a survey in which British voters were asked to identify as either “pro-Israel,” “anti-Israel” or “neither;” their responses were then compared against their party affiliations. The data showed that it was only Reform UK whose voters were more “pro-Israel” than “anti-Israel,” though only by a small margin of 1%.
With the even “further-right” lawmaker Rupert Lowe now having formally established his political party Restore Britain, which is strongly backed by the wealthiest individual in the world, Elon Musk, Farage’s faction risks losing a number of supporters for its blind obedience to the demands of a world empire currently executing the orders of another. This is presumably why Farage had to make a U-turn in the end, coming out against any British involvement in the ongoing war.
In any case, the British “far-right” has emerged as a safe haven for those who rejoice in “death and destruction from the sky all day long.” And unless the recent surge of the Green Party in the polls leads to a dramatic change in voting intentions before the next general election, Farage will likely be in charge of the government in a few years. Reform UK has the additional benefit of not having been subjected to cynical historical comparisons like those Germany’s “far-right” Alternative for Germany (AfD) has faced.
In fact, the AfD’s position on the war against Iran is especially instructive in this context. Its spokesperson, Tino Chrupalla, warned that, “Trump started off as a peace president – he will end up as a president of war.” The attitude was clearly the complete opposite of the German government’s official policy.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has been the most supportive European leader of the war against Iran, just as the AfD has been its most vocal opponent compared to its “far-right” counterparts in other European countries. And this is perhaps why the AfD is the least likely among them to be allowed to form a government.
Of course, this is not to suggest that the AfD’s position is based on purely moral considerations. Nonetheless, it is worth noting that its voters have a rather distinct outlook that may signal genuine disobedience. At around the same time, YouGov conducted another survey in Germany in which participants were asked about their party affiliations and whether they thought Israel had committed genocide in Gaza. Even among AfD voters, 56% responded in the affirmative, while a mere 24% rejected the premise.
Perhaps it was this that was construed as a signal that the AfD could never be a safe haven for those who rejoice in “death and destruction from the sky all day long.” Surely, the “firewall against the far-right” in Germany owes its effectiveness at least in part to this.
