Reform UK City of Durham Branch Meeting: Alan Mendoza on Brexit, Security and Britain’s Future

On 27 Jan 2026, Reform UK supporters gathered in Durham for the Reform UK Durham public meeting that mixed local chat with big national questions. The message running through the night was simple: Britain can’t drift any longer ahead of the upcoming General election. From energy bills and border control to foreign policy and defence, members wanted straight answers, not another round of “we’ll look into it”.

Guest speaker Dr Alan Mendoza, recently appointed by Nigel Farage as Reform UK’s policy adviser on global affairs and foreign policy, delivered a speech to set out a clear view of where the country has gone wrong, and what a tougher, more confident approach could look like.

A lively Durham welcome, and a reminder that local politics matters

The meeting in North East England opened with a Happy New Year greeting and a warm welcome to supporters and activists who had travelled in from other branches. There was also a nod to university students who had come along despite the threat of protesters in an often hostile campus culture and the need for security presence. Despite these challenges, the event remained civil. The chair’s message to students was blunt: next time, bring more of you.

A small moment of comedy followed, as the room wrestled with music playing when it shouldn’t, and then silence when it was meant to be on. It was a friendly reminder that these meetings aren’t staged set pieces, they’re local people giving up an evening to talk about the direction of the country.

Thanks were given to Dave and the club committee for hosting. The chair also made a practical pitch for joining the venue as a member, even for those who live outside the city, because the annual fee was described as low and the bar discounts quickly offset it.

Alongside the national themes, Durham’s wider frustrations sat in the background. Many locals feel the North East has been left to cope with ageing infrastructure, stretched National health service and GP access, cost of living pressures, town centres under pressure, and young people leaving to find work elsewhere. Reform UK’s local message, echoed through the Durham event, is that progress starts with basics: reward hard work, support small businesses, protect heritage, cut waste, and make communities safer.

Why Reform brought in Dr Alan Mendoza

Dr Alan Mendoza was introduced as someone new to Reform UK’s front line, but not new to politics or public policy. He was described as having joined the party only months earlier, after Nigel Farage appointed him as Reform’s adviser on global affairs and foreign policy. He advises Reform UK’s core leadership, including Nigel Farage and Richard Tice, and supports figures like Lee Anderson.

His academic background was highlighted, alongside a career that has sat close to international affairs for years. Members were told he is the Executive Director of the Henry Jackson Society, a London-based think tank with a presence in the US, and that he co-founded it around 20 years ago. The introduction stressed the scale of that growth, from early beginnings to a more established organisation known for research, media work, and events.

One point the chair wanted to underline was Mendoza’s support for Ukraine’s independence, presented as a direct rebuttal to claims that Reform UK is soft on Vladimir Putin. That theme came up later in the Q&A, as members pressed on what “strength” should mean in practice, and how Britain avoids empty gestures that it can’t back up.

What also came through is why speakers like Mendoza matter to local members. Many people in the room weren’t looking for slogans. They wanted to know if Reform UK candidates can build a serious governing operation for the political campaign, with policy depth and people who can handle pressure at the top of government.

Brexit, Europe, and the case for sovereignty with realism

Mendoza’s view on Brexit, building on the 2016 referendum and the Brexit Party legacy, was clear: the problem wasn’t the idea of leaving, it was the lack of a plan from those who implemented it. In his telling, the UK’s leadership allowed itself to be pushed around in negotiations, and Britain ended up with outcomes that left many Conservative Party voters asking what they actually won.

He also argued that the current government appears keen to move the UK closer to the EU again without asking for a fresh mandate at the General election. His criticism was that this kind of shift should be open and explicit, not done quietly, especially given how it disappoints Conservative Party voters.

Reform’s stated approach, as described in the room, was not to pick fights with Europe for the sake of it. Trade and good relations matter. However, Mendoza said the UK should not accept arrangements that chip away at sovereignty, a principle central to right-wing politics, or lock Britain into rules it can’t control.

The thread running through the foreign policy case was that Britain should start with its own interests, then build alliances that actually serve those interests.

A key practical point followed: if a future Reform government tries to renegotiate treaties, European institutions could respond with pressure tactics. Mendoza’s answer was to prepare now, by building relationships with friendlier voices across Europe through a political campaign strategy, including those who may be in government in the future. He pointed to political change in countries like France as an example of why Britain should be ready to act when the mood shifts.

He widened the lens further by arguing Britain should be willing to leave international bodies that no longer make sense for us. As examples, he criticised the UN Human Rights Council and questioned why the UK funds agencies he claimed are wasteful or compromised. Whether or not people agreed with each specific target, the underlying point was consistent: Britain should stop paying into systems that don’t help British security or prosperity.

Mendoza also urged Britain to use power it already has, including its UN Security Council veto, which he said hasn’t been used for decades. His argument was not that Britain should chase conflict, but that it shouldn’t act like a country that has forgotten its own weight.

Security at home: radical Islam, border control, and one law for everyone

In the charged atmosphere of a political rally in Durham, a Labour Party stronghold where these national issues resonate deeply with the local base, some of the toughest questions of the night focused on radical Islam, integration, and public order. Mendoza spoke from the perspective of someone who has studied the issue for years, while also stressing that Islam is not one single worldview. He drew a line between peaceful, law-abiding Muslims and extremist movements that aim to replace British law and culture with something else.

His core argument was that Britain must act firmly against radicals, because they threaten the wider public and also intimidate moderate Muslim communities. As an example of institutional weakness, he discussed a controversy involving policing and football fans, and claimed that fear of violent extremists led to decisions that later became hard to defend.

From there, the discussion moved to policy responses. Mendoza said Reform would take early action against groups it sees as tied to extremist organising, naming the Muslim Brotherhood as one that should be banned. He also criticised the reluctance of governments to even name “radical Islam” when responding to attacks, saying that vague language avoids the real problem.

Border control also came under heavy fire. Mendoza described small boats arriving across the Channel as intolerable at today’s scale and attacked the UK’s approach of paying France while failing to stop these small boats from departing in the first place. He referenced Australia’s past tactics as proof that tougher deterrence can work against illegal immigration, and he argued Britain must stop looking like an easy target for illegal immigration, including by removing incentives that make such illegal immigration worthwhile.

Importantly, he didn’t limit the migration debate to illegal routes. He pointed to the scale of legal migration as a driver of rapid change, and argued that headline “net” figures hide large population churn. He also questioned the economic logic of importing low-paid labour while the state then supports dependants, saying it would be better to raise wages and reduce the pull of subsidised low-skilled work.

On integration and Sharia law, Mendoza argued for a single standard: one country, one legal system. He said that highly segregated areas make cohesion harder and create space for extremists to dominate local life. He cited research suggesting that communities mix more successfully when segregation is lower, and used the contrast between different parts of the country to make the point.

A small but striking example came up too, about guide dogs and religious rules around dogs. The point made in the room was that parallel rules can harm vulnerable people, including Muslims themselves, when religious pressure overrides practical support.

Power and prosperity: energy security, defence, and rebuilding trust in politics

The meeting didn’t stay on security alone. Energy costs driven by net zero policies, economic growth, and national strength were constant themes, tying cost of living pressures to bigger choices in Westminster.

Mendoza agreed with the view that high energy prices from net zero policies damage everything, family budgets, business survival, and the ability to re-build industry. His preference was for a “British energy” approach, using domestic oil and gas more decisively, expanding nuclear, tax cuts to boost economic recovery, and ending what he described as irrational choices such as importing biomass fuel while restricting local supply. Nuclear was presented as a serious route to stable, cleaner power, especially if Britain restores its own capability rather than handing strategic control to foreign players.

Farming and rural life also got a strong defence. Members spoke about pressure on land for wind and solar, and the fear that food production will be squeezed out. Mendoza framed this as both a cultural issue and a security issue, because a country that can’t feed itself is exposed in a crisis.

On defence and foreign policy, he argued Britain must re-build industrial capacity and military strength, including better border control. He pointed to undersea cables as a real vulnerability for an island nation, and said naval power still matters for protecting trade and infrastructure. He also revisited earlier work opposing the involvement of Huawei in critical UK networks, warning against dependency on systems tied to hostile states.

The political part of the night ended with a clear organising message. Members discussed how Reform grows from the ground up, not from Westminster manoeuvres, especially in key Red Wall seats across North East England where Reform UK candidates are preparing for the general election and the wider political campaign. If you want to take part beyond simply voting, this local guide on the steps to stand as a Reform UK candidate in Durham sets out how ordinary people can move from supporter to representative, with tax cuts as a core part of Reform UK candidates’ platform ahead of the general election in strategic Red Wall seats in North East England.

The chair closed by praising Mendoza’s talk and thanking those who made the visit happen, calling it one of the strongest branch speakers they’ve hosted.

Conclusion

This Durham event, the Reform UK Durham meeting held as a lively political rally and public meeting, captured a mood that’s spreading well beyond County Durham: people want a country that runs on common sense, protects its borders, controls costs, and speaks plainly about threats. Supporters and activists cheered speeches from Reform UK leaders Nigel Farage, Richard Tice, and Lee Anderson, whose words embodied the party’s wider vision of restoring Britain’s power and prosperity, rewarding effort, and putting citizens first, and that tone ran through the whole evening.

If you’re ready to stop waiting for “the next promise”, Join Reform UK, help build the local ground game for the political campaign ahead of the general election, boost voter turn out, and when general election day comes, Vote Reform UK. It’s a chance to back a politics that says what it means, and means what it says, and to push for the kind of national renewal many summed up in four words: Make Britain Great Again, just like at this powerful political rally led by Nigel Farage and Richard Tice.