Nigel Farage is to kick off a major rally in London just days after Reform UK announced its candidate for the 2028 Mayoral Election. Mr Farage will address thousands of supporters at the Excel Center in Central London at 6pm today, January 9. Among those in attendance is “vigilante mum” Laila Cunningham, who was announced as the party’s candidate for the Mayoral race.
A former Conservative Councillor in Westminster, she is expected to centre her campaign around crime and housing affordability. Organisers say 2,500 attendees are expected in the pack-out venue. Mr Farage, Mrs Cunningham and others are expected to speak.
Reform UK rally LIVE: Farage vows to ‘fight tooth and nail to stop Keir undoing Brexit’
Nigel Farage has once again placed Brexit at the centre of Reform UK’s political message, warning that his party will oppose any attempt to move Britain significantly closer to the European Union.
The language surrounding the latest Reform rally is deliberately combative. Farage has repeatedly portrayed closer UK-EU relations as a potential threat to the principles behind Britain’s departure from the bloc, while supporters of closer cooperation argue that practical agreements with Europe can improve trade, security and economic relations without reversing Brexit.
The dispute is particularly significant because Britain’s relationship with the EU has continued to evolve since the 2016 referendum and the UK’s formal departure from the bloc.
Farage’s position is clear: Brexit should not merely remain a historical event. In his view, its political promises should continue to shape Britain’s future.
Farage puts Brexit back at the centre
Farage has spent much of his political career campaigning against closer European integration. Reform UK has now made defending what it describes as the original Brexit mandate a central part of its wider political programme.
In a June 2026 statement, Farage argued that Reform was the party capable of delivering what he described as the promises of Brexit. He criticised successive governments for pursuing closer relationships with the EU and warned against arrangements that could, in his view, reduce Britain’s ability to make independent decisions.
That message has particular importance because the political landscape has changed substantially since the 2016 referendum.
The Labour government under Keir Starmer pursued a closer relationship with the EU while maintaining stated limits on the UK’s relationship with the bloc. Starmer rejected returning to the EU, the single market and the customs union, while seeking agreements designed to reduce practical barriers between Britain and its largest trading partner.
By 2026, however, Starmer was no longer prime minister. Andy Burnham had become prime minister, creating a new political environment in which Reform has continued to argue that the direction of travel toward Brussels needs to be challenged.
Farage’s criticism therefore increasingly extends beyond Starmer himself.
What does “undoing Brexit” actually mean?
One of the central questions in the debate is the definition of Brexit itself.
Leaving the EU involved much more than ending Britain’s membership. It changed the country’s relationship with the single market, customs union, free movement arrangements and European institutions.
Consequently, closer cooperation with the EU does not automatically mean Britain is rejoining the European Union.
This distinction is crucial.
For example, Britain can negotiate agreements on trade, food standards, energy, research or youth mobility while remaining outside the EU. Such agreements can nonetheless require Britain to follow particular rules or make financial contributions.
That is where the political disagreement becomes sharper.
Reform argues that accepting too many European rules could weaken the practical independence that Brexit was intended to establish. Supporters of closer UK-EU relations argue that regulatory alignment can reduce costs and barriers for British businesses without restoring EU membership.
Neither position changes the legal fact that Britain remains outside the European Union.
Trade is at the heart of the argument
The economic dimension is one of the most important parts of the Brexit debate.
The EU remains Britain’s largest nearby trading bloc, and British companies continue to operate within supply chains that cross the Channel.
In 2026, discussions about closer economic arrangements have included issues such as agricultural trade, energy cooperation and regulatory alignment.
There have also been reports that British officials considered the possibility of a single market arrangement covering goods. Reuters reported in May that Britain had floated the idea as part of discussions with Brussels, although the proposal did not progress after EU scepticism.
For Reform, developments of this kind can be presented as evidence that Brexit could gradually be weakened without a formal decision to rejoin the EU.
For advocates of closer economic cooperation, the same discussions can be interpreted differently: Britain is simply attempting to remove unnecessary barriers while remaining an independent country.
The difference is therefore partly about terminology and partly about political priorities.
Why Farage sees this as a defining battle
Farage has long argued that the referendum represented a democratic instruction that governments should respect.
His June statement described Brexit as a major political turning point and accused the traditional parties of failing to implement what he considered its full implications.
That argument gives Reform a clear political identity.
The party can position itself as the defender of Brexit at a time when the Conservatives, Labour and other parties have different approaches to Britain’s relationship with Europe.
However, Brexit itself is no longer a simple question of Leave versus Remain.
The political debate has moved toward practical questions: How much regulatory alignment should Britain accept? Should the UK contribute financially to European programmes? How closely should it cooperate on energy and security? Should young Britons have greater opportunities to live and study in Europe? And how should Britain reduce trade barriers while retaining control over immigration policy?
Those questions have no single answer.
Reform’s wider political programme
The rally is also taking place against the background of Reform UK’s broader preparations for government.
At its September 2026 conference, Farage announced a programme for the party’s first 100 days in office, including a proposed national emergency declaration, action on small-boat crossings, changes to energy policy and reforms affecting public services.
The party has also signed an agreement with France’s National Rally concerning irregular migration across the English Channel. The proposal includes a mechanism under which asylum seekers arriving in Britain could potentially be returned to France if both parties were in government.
These policies show that Reform’s political message is much broader than Brexit.
Nevertheless, Brexit remains one of the issues most closely associated with Farage personally.
Political pressure around Reform
The rally also comes at a complicated moment for Reform itself.
The party has faced scrutiny over its finances and allegations concerning political donations. British police have widened a criminal investigation into allegations involving electoral funding. Reform has denied wrongdoing and said it would cooperate with the investigation.
Separately, businessman Ben Delo announced a planned £36 million donation to Reform, describing his intention as helping the party prepare for government. Reuters reported that the donation would amount to £1 million a month before the next national election.
Those developments provide an important backdrop to Farage’s political messaging.
The party wants to demonstrate that it is preparing for government rather than simply campaigning as a protest movement. At the same time, its leadership remains under scrutiny over organisational and financial questions.
Farage’s decision to emphasise Brexit can therefore also be understood as part of an effort to reinforce one of Reform’s clearest political identities.
The Labour response
The Labour side of the argument is based on a different interpretation of Britain’s relationship with Europe.
The case for closer cooperation does not necessarily involve reversing Brexit. Instead, it focuses on reducing practical obstacles created by Britain’s departure.
Food and agricultural arrangements, energy cooperation, research, security and youth mobility are examples of areas where closer relationships can potentially provide benefits without restoring EU membership.
Critics, however, argue that every additional agreement involving European rules or institutions raises questions about how much regulatory independence Britain is willing to trade for easier access.
This is precisely the political space Reform intends to occupy.
Farage’s message is essentially that Britain must not gradually move back toward European structures without voters being given a direct political choice.
A battle over Britain’s future direction
The phrase “undoing Brexit” therefore covers a much larger debate than whether Britain should formally rejoin the EU.
It concerns the balance between sovereignty and economic integration.
One side places greater emphasis on independent rule-making, immigration control and freedom from European institutions. Another places greater emphasis on reducing trade barriers, strengthening cooperation and maintaining close economic relationships with Britain’s nearest major market.
Reform UK has made its preference unmistakable.
Farage wants his party to be seen as a political barrier against any substantial reversal of Brexit-related changes. His “fight tooth and nail” rhetoric reflects the importance he attaches to the issue.
But Britain’s relationship with Europe will ultimately be determined through specific policies and agreements rather than slogans.
The important questions will be practical ones: what rules Britain accepts, what market access it receives, what financial commitments it makes, what institutions have oversight and what benefits British citizens and businesses receive in return.
Brexit remains unfinished political business
A decade after the referendum, Brexit continues to shape British politics.
For Reform UK, the argument is that leaving the EU was only meaningful if Britain maintained the ability to set its own direction. For supporters of closer European cooperation, the argument is that independence and cooperation can coexist, and that Britain can remain outside the EU while rebuilding practical relationships with its neighbours.
Farage’s rally demonstrates that the Brexit argument is far from settled.
Whether voters ultimately agree with Reform’s interpretation is a political question for them. What is clear is that the party intends to make Britain’s relationship with Europe one of the defining issues of its campaign for national power.
The next stage of the debate will therefore be less about whether Brexit happened—it did—and more about what Brexit should mean for Britain’s future relationship with the European Union.