[News] Nigel Farage and Reform

[Eeyore]

someone who is perceived as overly sensitive, easily offended, or focused on political correctness.

'Woke is an adjective that originally comes from African-American English, meaning being aware of and attentive to social injustices, particularly related to race and discrimination'

Hope that helps.

You see, my concern is that Reform supporters keep repeating the mantras of Farage et al, like a child who repeats religious terms and phrases they have been indoctrinated with but don't really understand. A bit like we see with Trump's most ardent supporters.

Never have I ever wished the Conservatives would find proper leadership more than now.

 

[BadFish]

Yes the first week in April, thanks to the Triple Lock. If you get yours monthly, you won't have seen it yet, but I chose to receive mine monthly when I started getting it.

I neither live in the UK or have retired yet.

But it's interesting that this information has not been included in the reporting of this issue.

 

[the larks]

I wonder when the wheels will fall of the councils that the knuckle daggers will control. And yes I know I'm name calling but I gave no respect for any reform voters or " politicians "

 

[Eeyore]

Three highly animated characters, who all exist for entertainment purposes and shouldn't be taken too seriously:
View attachment 201020

One of whom has a sensible and pragmatic view of life and that would widely appeal to voters.

Unfortunately, dogs cannot run for parliament.

 

[BadFish]

'Woke is an adjective that originally comes from African-American English, meaning being aware of and attentive to social injustices, particularly related to race and discrimination'

Hope that helps.

You see, my concern is that Reform supporters keep repeating the mantras of Farage et al, like a child who repeats religious terms and phrases they have been indoctrinated with but don't really understand. A bit like we see with Trump's most ardent supporters.

Never have I ever wished the Conservatives would find proper leadership more than now.

Apparently, it was first coined in a Lead Belly rewrite for a blues song

The blues guitarist who invented the phrase "woke"

The phrase "woke" has been a bit of a contentious issue, but blues legend Lead Belly actually started it years before the modern age.

faroutmagazine.co.uk

 

[Thunder Bolt]

I neither live in the UK or have retired yet.

But it's interesting that this information has not been included in the reporting of this issue.

Oops sorry for aging you.

The state pension always goes up every April.

 

[dsr-burnley]

It has been made to look so by the media, although I can see why. It hasn't been stopped, but given to the most needy.
The WFA was worth £3.37 a week. My state pension rise at the beginning of April was £7.20 a week.
A more friendly media would reflect this, but apart from the Mirror and Guardian, the press have made a meal of it.

Last year's winter fuel allowance was £500. So in cash terms you're worse off.

How much of your pension increase would cover inflation, and how much would offset some of the loss of winter fuel allowance?

 

[BadFish]

Oops sorry for aging you.

The state pension always goes up every April.

Ah. so it didn't go up any more than normal?

 

[AK74]

Unfortunately, dogs cannot run for parliament.

But Farage's dog whistle politics cannot be ignored.

 

[hart's shirt]

Labour has had the opportunity to face up to Farage and Reform, but they continue to fail to bring the reversal of Brexit.

They had a massive majority at the last election. It's time to use some of that political capital to change Britain's fortunes for the better.

Admit the country made a mistake. Turn around. Reverse the direction now. Short-term embarrassment is nothing to long-term national economic pain.

And it's one thing moving from being unelectable to pick up confirmed centrist voters like me. It's another thing selling out your principles.

Amesbury should've resigned immediately - any moral high ground was lost with the trial, sentencing and prison. How many votes went in that time?

The freebies that Starmer, Reeves et al have received moves them further away from working class support. Need some new glasses? Should've gone to Specsavers. Want to go? Buy a ticket like everyone else. Simply have to go in hospitality because of security issues? Pay for that then.

And then there's the nauseating lickspittle fawning over Trump and the 'special relationship'. There's no point in claiming the soft power of royalty if there's no actual power to wield there. Public honours can and have been rescinded, e.g. Blunt (spying), Saville/Hall/Harris (child sex offences), Goodwin (near-collapse of RBS). Leaders of countries (Mussolini, Ceaucescu, Mugabe) had their honorary knighthoods stripped. For any number of reasons that threaten democracy, economic stability and the security of the Western world, a second state visit should be withdrawn.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

Last year's winter fuel allowance was £500. So in cash terms you're worse off.

How much of your pension increase would cover inflation, and how much would offset some of the loss of winter fuel allowance?

The fuel allowance 23/24 was a one off from the Treasury and wasn't going to be repeated.

The Triple Lock ensures the rise is in line with inflation.

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

Well worth saying as the world seems to be embracing extremism.

There was never any doubt who Hitler was, he wrote mein kampf a long time before he got near power. But too many people chose to ignore what was clear and obvious.
I’m no fan of Farage but I think your analysis is more relevant to Putin, Corbyn and Trump.

I struggle with Hitler as an analogy for anything.
I also find the 'remember history' warnings interesting but inappropriate.
It is easy to forget that in the 30s there was no reliable source of information.
Eric Blair satirised how easy it is to fool the 'proles' with disinformation in 1948.
We now have a massive information bank that ranges from well curated verifiable repositories to fake news.
We individuals have access and the power to explore information and make informed decisions.

Of course this means that some people will simply cherry-pick information that maps to their prejudices,
and stay stuck in their preferred echo chambers
But we live in a world of increasingly rapid change.
People are smarter than they may seem.
By that I mean that eventually self interest will step in.
Flirting with extremism is not impactful when it informs only keyboard warriordom.

So if Reform became the government and failed to deliver, they would soon be voted out.
Not that I think Reform will ever win a general election.
These council elections are always going to be one-offs, with protest votes abounding.
I didn't vote yesterday (I could have, with a it of effort). Can't drive presently so...

But whatabout all the irreversible Nazi changes a Reform government would bring in?
If their economic policies fail they could simply blame foreigners,
and enact a final solution.
Frankly I don't see it. Farage is not an idealogue. And he is no orator.
He's just a grifter.
I doubt that he really wants to form a government. If I were him I wouldn't.
But there is a mass of money to be made going through the motions of opposition.

There may be lessons to be learned from History but I am more inclined to look for lessons from the present.
Good old prejudices will never be removed by argument.
Only when the policies that are informed by prejudice are seen to fail will their appeal wane.

Stop the Boats, however remains a persuasive trope.
Labour probably need to prioritize this.
I appreciate they have set up a long game solution, but the numbers are going up,
and that leaves them vulnerable.
If I were obsessed with The Boats I would vote for Nigel because he sounds like the only man willing to act.
(The subjunctive is doing a lot of heavy lifting here....)

 

[Kit Napper]

I’m not totally clued up on Lib Dem’s these days but why don’t them and the Green Party join up both are liberal, what’s the reason they don’t?

A merger is unlikely but a pact (not to compete in the same constituencies) at the next election is feasible and could be devastating for Labour.

 

[Deportivo Seagull]

Spot on in my view. They’ve been punished and will continue to be by older voters. I said this at the time and was slapped down, but old people have long memories and their first actions when in government were very strange then, and are very strange now.

WFA cut was a big, big tactical error.

WFA should not be for all. Why should a pensioner holidaying in Spain twice a year qualify for the winter fuel allowance. It’s for those in need NOT just because you are a pensioner. A couple of the guys on my naval FB pages absolutely melting down as they hadn’t got a their WFA, the fact they are on 22 years pension and one has a ‘small place in Spain’ doesn’t seem to register. Right needy fuckers. Right idea, shit implementation. Reform’s ‘you’ve lost your WFA because of migrants ‘ might have had an effect …

 

[Cordwainer]

Days and days of halitosis man gurning for all and a la post Brexit, people airing their ‘interesting’ views. Joy.

 

[Deportivo Seagull]

A merger is unlikely but a pact (not to compete in the same constituencies) at the next election is feasible and could be devastating for Labour.

The greens and Lib Dem’s would not allow a Tory/reform government. It’s not in the country’s interest or theirs.

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

Labour has had the opportunity to face up to Farage and Reform, but they continue to fail to bring the reversal of Brexit.

They had a massive majority at the last election. It's time to use some of that political capital to change Britain's fortunes for the better.

Admit the country made a mistake. Turn around. Reverse the direction now. Short-term embarrassment is nothing to long-term national economic pain.

And it's one thing moving from being unelectable to pick up confirmed centrist voters like me. It's another thing selling out your principles.

Amesbury should've resigned immediately - any moral high ground was lost with the trial, sentencing and prison. How many votes went in that time?

The freebies that Starmer, Reeves et al have received moves them further away from working class support. Need some new glasses? Should've gone to Specsavers. Want to go? Buy a ticket like everyone else. Simply have to go in hospitality because of security issues? Pay for that then.

And then there's the nauseating lickspittle fawning over Trump and the 'special relationship'. There's no point in claiming the soft power of royalty if there's no actual power to wield there. Public honours can and have been rescinded, e.g. Blunt (spying), Saville/Hall/Harris (child sex offences), Goodwin (near-collapse of RBS). Leaders of countries (Mussolini, Ceaucescu, Mugabe) had their honorary knighthoods stripped. For any number of reasons that threaten democracy, economic stability and the security of the Western world, a second state visit should be withdrawn.

I am a massive remainer, but I think it is far too soon to enact a rejoin process.
The main reason for this is that it is not unequivocally clear in the minds of voters that all the UK's ails are due to Brexit.
This leaves Labour open to being accused of betraying the will of the people by seeking to rejoin.
And the process itself would take a few years. Let's be incredibly optimistic and say 2 years.
After that, do you really think everything would suddenly improve?
Would the things that are driving folk to Reform suddenly vanish?
Would the NHS 'crisis' end?
Would the boats 'stop'?
(Would brown people vanish?)
I suspect the impact would be small, so Labour (the party of the Great Betrayal) would be finished.
For the record, I am a Labour party member, and think we must rejoin the EU, and the sooner the better.

 

[Bodian]

Wait the state pension went up? Was that for everyone?

I admit to not having read widely on this, but it is the first time I have seen I mentioned

4.1% or £9.05 if you are on the full state pension.

 

[WATFORD zero]

WFA should not be for all. Why should a pensioner holidaying in Spain twice a year qualify for the winter fuel allowance. It’s for those in need NOT just because you are a pensioner. A couple of the guys on my naval FB pages absolutely melting down as they hadn’t got a their WFA, the fact they are on 22 years pension and one has a ‘small place in Spain’ doesn’t seem to register. Right needy fuckers. Right idea, shit implementation. Reform’s ‘you’ve lost your WFA because of migrants ‘ might have had an effect …

I've told it before but my 91 year old mother lives on her own in a council property and gets the basic state pension. Her WFA was cut because she doesn't receive benefits. Her view 'well I don't need it and I think there are plenty of families with young kids desperate for help from the Government'.

I am aware some people think the cut off was too low, but that isn't the view of my Mother who is literally just above the cut off. She's also very pleased with her recent pension increase and doesn't understand why she hasn't heard anything about it on the news or in the press

 

[WATFORD zero]

I am a massive remainer, but I think it is far too soon to enact a rejoin process.
The main reason for this is that it is not unequivocally clear in the minds of voters that all the UK's ails are due to Brexit.
This leaves Labour open to being accused of betraying the will of the people by seeking to rejoin.
And the process itself would take a few years. Let's be incredibly optimistic and say 2 years.
After that, do you really think everything would suddenly improve?
Would the things that are driving folk to Reform suddenly vanish?
Would the NHS 'crisis' end?
Would the boats 'stop'?
(Would brown people vanish?)
I suspect the impact would be small, so Labour (the party of the Great Betrayal) would be finished.
For the record, I am a Labour party member, and think we must rejoin the EU, and the sooner the better.

Never mind the labour party H, I think that Half a trillion pounds taken out of the economy in the 5 years since we left is enough. It needs to be done now for the sake of the country. 65% v 35% of those with a view this time last year, and those figures are only going in one direction