Prime Minister Farage? It's no longer a joke - it's a nightmare

If Nigel Farage has a secret weapon, it is his seeming refusal to take things seriously.

- Gaby Hinsliff

His habit of repairing to the pub at any opportunity though in private, he's said to barely drink now - and the cheerfully unabashed amateurishness of his operation have long made other politicians look stuffy by comparison. But the chaos is also, as it was for Boris Johnson, a means of defence.

Since he makes no pretence of professionalism, it's less expected of him, enabling him to slip past standards applied to others. Rival parties often avoid attacking him, for fear of reminding voters he exists. Even now Reform UK has opened a substantial poll lead over Labour, treating this outfit as a potential party of government still feels faintly ridiculous. Prime Minister Farage? Are you serious? But he is. And it's time the country was too.

The Farage who parked his tanks on Labour's lawn last week, promising to scrap the two-child limit on some benefits and restore pensioners' winter fuel payment, was familiar in many ways yet somehow sharper round the edges. His critique of a prime minister lacking "any great feeling, meaning or passion for the job" was targeted on Labour supporters increasingly confused about what Keir Starmer stands for. No wonder Starmer was stung into responding, denouncing his wildly unfunded promises of free money as "Liz Truss all over again". But they won't really mind that at Reform HQ: to be attacked directly helps entrench the idea that their tiny motley crew, not the Tories, is the opposition now.