Britain for Sale? A Political Class That Has Lost Its Way

By Jason Patchett, Branch Chair Reform North Norfolk

Britain’s national interest is being undermined — not by one party alone, but by a political class increasingly detached from sovereignty, security, and the livelihoods of its own people.

Labour has been quick to oppose Donald Trump’s comments on Greenland, loudly invoking the principle of self-determination. Yet that same principle is ignored when it comes to the Chagossians, whose clear and repeated wish to determine their own future has been brushed aside. Selective morality on sovereignty is no morality at all.

More alarming still is Labour’s reported willingness to sign off on a new Chinese embassy, despite serious warnings from MI5 and widespread public concern. Ignoring security advice while granting greater access to an overseas adversary raises unavoidable questions about judgement — and loyalty.

At the same time, Ed Miliband’s aggressive pursuit of Net Zero risks accelerating the destruction of British industry. Manufacturing, energy security, and skilled jobs are being sacrificed to targets that other major economies simply do not follow. The result is higher energy costs, de-industrialisation, and increased dependence on foreign supply chains — the very opposite of national resilience.

But Labour is not alone. Conservative Party governments oversaw the sell-off of Britain’s fisheries under the EU’s Common Fisheries Policy, hollowed out coastal communities, and then failed to reclaim meaningful control after Brexit. They also accepted damaging arrangements in Northern Ireland that weaken the Union and continue to pursue Net Zero policies that harm British competitiveness.

So we are left with a grim picture:

British sovereign territory given away
British industry run down
British fisheries sold off
British security concerns ignored

Meanwhile, foreign powers are accommodated and domestic voices sidelined.

This is not statesmanship — it is national decline by consent. When sovereignty is traded away and adversaries welcomed in, it is entirely reasonable to ask: whose interests are really being served?

Britain deserves leadership that puts the country first — not ideology, not global approval, and not short-term political convenience. What we are seeing now is a failure of loyalty to the nation itself — and the consequences will be disastrous if left unchallenged.