The Reform Thread

[badgerx16]

3 minutes ago, sadoldgit said:

For those worried about what happened at last week’s polls, this is worth reading. For those still popping champagne corks, don’t bother.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/may/05/reform-minorities-labour-british-public-keir-starmer

Democracy is a bitch;

1) if enough Labour and Tory voters turned out in the local elections and supported their candidates then Reform would not have such a good result. As with the Brexit vote, anybody who didn't vote has no business moaning about the result.

2) People are allowed to vote for whoever they want. If Labour and the Conservatives remain complacent then "Populism" will appeal. Farage taps into something buried deep in the psyche of an island nation, and successive Governments failing, in the public perception, to address immigration, especially after we "got control of our borders", gives Farage an open goal.

[badgerx16]

3 minutes ago, sadoldgit said:

Sadly the people who need to watch this won’t.

The people you reference know what they voted for, and are happy to have done so.

[Weston Super Saint]

7 hours ago, sadoldgit said:

I’m glad you don’t live here either, although I think they would welcome you in Dover.

 

 

6 hours ago, Weston Super Saint said:

Why?

Are you not going to answer this or is it that you can't?

[Gloucester Saint]

1 hour ago, badgerx16 said:

Democracy is a bitch;

1) if enough Labour and Tory voters turned out in the local elections and supported their candidates then Reform would not have such a good result. As with the Brexit vote, anybody who didn't vote has no business moaning about the result.

2) People are allowed to vote for whoever they want. If Labour and the Conservatives remain complacent then "Populism" will appeal. Farage taps into something buried deep in the psyche of an island nation, and successive Governments failing, in the public perception, to address immigration, especially after we "got control of our borders", gives Farage an open goal.

Lib Dem voters turned out more, not the maximum result we could’ve had but impressive enough.

There is clearly lots of apathy towards both the main parties. What’s ironic is that the glorious past Reform refer that they want to go back to had the lowest gap between the wealthiest and poorest and highest rates of direct taxation on the very wealthy (ditto America and the pre-1960s era the GOP harps on about). Social surveys showed the British public at their happiest in the 1970s especially in Reform’s key voting groups today.

Funny I’m not hearing anything about that from them or their billionaire, shady, tax-avoiding partners. 

[Gloucester Saint]

1 hour ago, badgerx16 said:

The people you reference know what they voted for, and are happy to have done so.

They are, but those places want the 1970s economic inequality (as well as social attitudes) back. What Farage, Tice and the Candy Brothers want is more like the stark 1980s gulf in income inequalities and living standards which Reform’s new voting areas were very much on the wrong end of. They blamed the Tories but they’ve turned to something far more economically extreme with the red meat of anti-immigration thrown in.

[sadoldgit]

It starts.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/reform-ukraine-flags-farage-b2745470.html#

[sadoldgit]

18 hours ago, badgerx16 said:

The people you reference know what they voted for, and are happy to have done so.

I was thinking more about the people who voted Reform that wouldn’t normally go that far. I agree that there are those who are very happy with their choices.

[badgerx16]

9 minutes ago, sadoldgit said:

I was thinking more about the people who voted Reform that wouldn’t normally go that far. I agree that there are those who are very happy with their choices.

Nobody that voted for Reform was forced to.

[tdmickey3]

37 minutes ago, badgerx16 said:

Nobody that voted for Reform was forced to.

True, they probably did because they like the colour of the rosette or stupidly believe that councils can stop the boats

[badgerx16]

34 minutes ago, tdmickey3 said:

True, they probably did because they like the colour of the rosette or stupidly believe that councils can stop the boats

Beauty fades, dumb is forever.

 

( Judge Judith Sheindlin )

[sadoldgit]

2 hours ago, badgerx16 said:

Nobody that voted for Reform was forced to.

No one is saying that they did. My point is, again, that I wonder if all of the people who voted for them knew what, exactly, they were voting for (apart from stopping the boats, which they can’t do anyway).

As for the banning flags from council buildings other than the Union flag and the flag of St. George. I get that they are against diversity and want to be seen as against “woke”, but surely taking down the Ukrainian flags sends the wrong message? Unless Farage doesn’t want to upset Putin of course.

Edited 46 minutes ago by sadoldgit
Added text

[badgerx16]

22 minutes ago, sadoldgit said:

No one is saying that they did. My point is, again, that I wonder if all of the people who voted for them knew what, exactly, they were voting for (apart from stopping the boats, which they can’t do anyway).

As for the banning flags from council buildings other than the Union flag and the flag of St. George. I get that they are against diversity and want to be seen as against “woke”, but surely taking down the Ukrainian flags sends the wrong message? Unless Farage doesn’t want to upset Putin of course.

How many people voting for any party "know exactly what they are voting for" ? How many voted Labour at the GE because they wanted to cut the winter fuel allowance ?

As for the flags, the new regime at Lancashire County wanted to stop flying the county flag as it wasn't the Union flag or the cross of St George. Dickheads !!

Edited 26 minutes ago by badgerx16