On sleeping or not sleeping – The Economist:

‘Labour politicians are not supposed to have a high opinion of their Conservative rivals. “Lower than vermin”, was the judgment of Nye Bevan, a post-war Labour minister. But in an interview with The Economiston December 3rd Sir Keir Starmer, the prime minister, admitted something striking should Labour lose power: “If there is a Conservative government, I can sleep at night.” A right-wing populist Reform uk government, however, “is a different proposition”.’

(…)

‘The effects of a Reform government would not only be felt in Britain, warns Sir Keir. “Reform is a party that is pro-Putin or Putin-neutral,” he says. Its former Welsh leader was recently sentenced to ten and a half years in prison for accepting pro-Russian bribes. “Pro-Russian interference in our democracy…is for real,” says the prime minister. Britain leads the coalition of the willing, a gang of 35 countries helping Ukraine stave off Russia. “There is no way on earth that the uk could be part of that configuration with Nigel Farage as prime minister,” says Sir Keir.’

(…)

‘Accepting that the Conservatives are, in effect, allies against Reform may backfire. Some in Reform refer to “the Uniparty”—a grotty consensus between Britain’s mainstream parties, which has led to ruin. Mr Farage would be delighted that Sir Keir sleeps soundly at the thought of their centre-right rivals in office. Many in Labour would be disturbed. But the prime minister knows there is a bigger battle at hand, even if Labour’s squabbling government does not always act like it. Therein lies the paradox of Sir Keir: a man who can articulate the size of the moment, yet still does not quite know how to meet it.’

Read the article here.

The comparisons between Germany and the UK are interesting. The AfD is not Reform, but destroying the status quo is what they want to achieve. Against migration, veiled and not so veiled racism, semi or not semi-pro-Putin, weakening the EU, preparing for a nice war, at least some kind of civil war. That’s what they have in common. The next years are going to be, well, interesting.