The significant interest by Americans in British politics is appreciated, as is the reciprocal interest from the British. However, this cross-pond engagement comes with a difficulty: the assumption that the political motivations and issues facing the two nations are the same.
Difference on migration
There is some crossover, particularly in the fact that both nations have recently faced an influx of illegal migrants. Yet, the scale is vastly different. The UK has fewer than two million illegal migrants present in its territory, compared to the 11 million plus present in the USA.
Furthermore, on migration, the general argument isn’t confined to merely removing illegal migrants. The Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement has largely confined its demands to removing illegal migrants while improving vetting on other visa types for American security.
In the UK, many leading figures on the New Right have pushed aside traditional moderate British Conservatism. They may speak of removing illegal migrants through mass deportation, but their plans do not end there. They wish to abolish the indefinite right to remain—the British equivalent of a green card or Legal Permanent Resident status. They often talk about the need to reverse the change brought by migration by drastically reducing new arrivals to the UK and contemplating ways of removing the status of legal migrants. This proposed removal of status is not based on security risk but solely with the aim of reducing the foreign-born population of the UK.
Economic Differences
On economics, the policy of the British New Right is plainly at odds with America’s free-market approach to domestic politics, especially that found in MAGA circles. If you look at the policy of Reform UK, for example, they want to nationalize the British Steel plant in Scunthorpe. A MAGA conservative would not consider such an option.
The economic leftism of Britain’s New Right is something that is obvious to everyone but America, which assumes that if they agree on migration, they must agree on everything else. The differences, however, do not end with Reform UK.
The “Anti-Woke” Trap
The ability to simply say “I hate woke” and receive unconditional love from American conservatives, regardless of anything else they do, is obvious. Consider the Tommy Robinson “Unite the Kingdom” rally, which oddly saw Elon Musk speak out on behalf of a known criminal. The fact that Tommy Robinson spoke out on the grooming gangs does not forgive his long rap sheet of violent assault and other crimes from long before he entered politics. He can claim to be a Christian all he wants, but his history of violence and drug abuse is well-known.
Of course, dear Elon may not have known this before publicly backing him in a London square. Elon is a clever person, but British fringe personalities are taking advantage of him simply by saying, “I hate Woke too.” Not everyone who hates “woke” is a good person. ISIS, for instance, certainly hates “woke” ideology with its acceptance of transgender people, etc. That doesn’t mean American conservatives should be friends with them.
The fact is, Tommy Robinson, despite his anti-woke stance, has no common beliefs with American conservatives. The new party he associated with, Advance UK, is likely nothing like the American Republican Party.
What many members of the British New Right do—much to my annoyance—is scream about how they hate “Woke.” This can grant them free attention from Americans, who, through X and other platforms, suddenly give them traction they couldn’t achieve on their own, even without sharing common values or policy views with American conservatives.
The European right isn’t always aligned with America’s. Yet, it often gets the full backing of American conservatives in terms of media attention, activist support, and sometimes even monetary support. I beg American conservatives to be aware and check more than a mere statement of “I hate woke.” Our people are different and sometimes have agendas that are at odds with their own. American conservatives need to better vet their friends
