[News] Nigel Farage and Reform

[Berty23]

IR35 - Don't know, I only know it would have cost me a fortune to go inside IR35 and also lost HMRC a bundle. 20% VAT, 25% Corp Tax, 8.75% dividend tax far outweighed the PAYE and Employers NI.

Any sentence that you wouldn't class as a minor offence. Prime example this week 21yr old Ethiopian Tariku Hadgu guilty of punching 2 female police officers and sentenced to 16 weeks, suspended for 1 year.

I'd happily pay more income tax if it was going to fund the right things.

What sentence do you think someone should get for punching two police officers? (Gender is irrelevant).

Given that police officer who assaulted someone in custody who was in handcuffs was also given a suspended sentence and I don’t think has been fired but put on limited duties (I think it was Essex somewhere) it seems harsh to think someone should get longer for attacking two coppers.

Wouldn’t it be a bit two tier if crimes were treated differently?

 

[drew]

No, they are mainly midland except for Durham. Northern starts at South Yorkshire.

Really, I thought the north started at Surrey boundary! (That's the one with both east and west Sussex, not the one with greater london!)

 

[Zeberdi]

Dropping into this thread just to say that I hope all those Trump-loving Farage supporters that voted Reform yesterday are happy that the UK is heading in the same direction as German and the US.

 

[TomandJerry]

Reform's policy on net zero (they want to get rid of it and drill more gas and oil in the North Sea) seems to assume an almost imbecilic understanding of the UK energy industry and UK energy consumption from their voters.

As I see it, the security and prosperity of the UK has been held to ransom by the affect of Russia's illegal war on gas supplies across Europe. The long term solution (for anyone who is not a reform supporter) is very clearly not to drill for more gas or even oil as they will eventually run out. Rather, we should be investing in nuclear (as Blair pointed out) and renewables for the future as we gradually ween ourselves off fossil fuels before they run out.

"The UK's North Sea contains proven reserves of 1,654 TWh of gas. This means that if the UK's gas consumption rate remains the same as in 2023, these reserves would be depleted in less than eight years. Even if all probable and possible reserves are extracted, the North Sea gas would still be used up in about 14.2 years". Google

However, Reform always resorts to short term populist policies. It's like a parent giving a child sweets and MacDonalds everyday to pacify them rather than worry about their medium to long term health. Reform only appeal to people like this. They rely on a lack of critical thinking and a world that respects opinion more than fact. Unfortunately, I imagine that perhaps half our population are of this ilk.

Is this a short term policy?

"It has pledged to freeze all non-essential immigration if it wins power at the next general election.

Those with what the party calls “essential skills” - such as healthcare workers - would be allowed into the country"

 

[Hugo Rune]

Perspective

View attachment 201104

Indeed. They now have around 4% of councillors in the UK and could well be in a position to overtake the Greens' 5% total over the coming years.

 

[TomandJerry]

Gives a better understanding

 

[nevergoagain]

What sentence do you think someone should get for punching two police officers? (Gender is irrelevant).

I'd expect it to be in years. What do you think it should be ?, Do you agree with any of the policies in the manifesto ?, if so which ones ?

 

[n1 gull]

They rely on a lack of critical thinking and a world that respects opinion more than fact. Unfortunately, I imagine that perhaps half our population are of this ilk.

It's this kind of sweeping statement that some might find slightly patronising

 

[Hugo Rune]

Is this a short term policy?

"It has pledged to freeze all non-essential immigration if it wins power at the next general election.

Those with what the party calls “essential skills” - such as healthcare workers - would be allowed into the country"

Does their policy address the long term challenges of the UK's aging population?

https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/the-uks-changing-population/#:~:text=An%20ageing%20population,up%2019%25%20of%20the%20population.

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

Is this a short term policy?

"It has pledged to freeze all non-essential immigration if it wins power at the next general election.

Those with what the party calls “essential skills” - such as healthcare workers - would be allowed into the country"

Is it you who class 'healthcare workers' as essential or Nigel?

What is a healthcare worker? A consultant neurosurgeon, or a hospital cleaner?

What other workers are 'such as' healthcare workers are essential?
Plumbers? Fruit pickers?

What about the massive staff shortages we already have in the NHS due, for example, to
how hard it is to get here as a nurse or junior doctor from outside the EU
And now, thanks to Brexit, from inside the EU.

And how will this Stop The Boats?

The fact is Nigel hasn't a clue and is just making shit up.

What the country expects, and what Reform supporters expect is
nonessential workers are the brown ones.

 

[Hugo Rune]

It's this kind of sweeping statement that some might find slightly patronising.

On reflection, I would hope it's a lot less than half our population. Perhaps I'm just being overly pessimistic and should realise that Reform now only have 4% of the UK's councillors and control 3% of councils in England.

 

[TomandJerry]

Does their policy address the long term challenges of the UK's aging population?

https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/the-uks-changing-population/#:~:text=An%20ageing%20population,up%2019%25%20of%20the%20population.

"Reform has unveiled a series of family-friendly tax-and-spend policies designed to encourage marriage and having children.

They include a 25 per cent marriage tax allowance, which would mean no income tax was charged on the first £25,000 of income for either spouse.

The party also wants to “frontload” the benefits system for children aged one to four so that more parents can choose to stay at home."

 

[wellquickwoody]

No, they are mainly midland except for Durham. Northern starts at South Yorkshire.

Crawley is the accepted border.

 

[peterward]

I meet a bloke when I do my daily exercising in a local park who votes Reform. He has a severely autistic son. I
The only thing they are offering is a promise that they will make sure that certain groups in society will suffer more than they do. These groups will usually be vulnerable, unable to fight for themselves and constantly demonised. It's a great trick if they can pull it off as they don't need to improve anyone's lives except the multi-millionaires who fund them as long as they can distract the rest of us with performative cruelty.

I couldnt agree more. It the oldest trick in the book, divide and conquer.

And the divide bit comes from tapping into peoples upsets, then utilising prejudices and exploiting them.

That all the degradation in society and drop in living standards is (look over that way) down to all those bloody immigrants.

When the actual truth (dont look over that way) is the snake oil populists like Farage and his ilk play the tax system, look after their hedge fund buddies, buy up all the assets from the middle classes, which keeps the majority either in stagnation or poor.

Phantom bogey man politics that lets a capitalist self serving elitist, masquerade as a defender of the poor, by using ingrained prejudices to blame others for the problems con men like him have caused.

And i'm no socialist.

 

[A1X]

I meet a bloke when I do my daily exercising in a local park who votes Reform. He has a severely autistic son. I
The only thing they are offering is a promise that they will make sure that certain groups in society will suffer more than they do. These groups will usually be vulnerable, unable to fight for themselves and constantly demonised. It's a great trick if they can pull it off as they don't need to improve anyone's lives except the multi-millionaires who fund them as long as they can distract the rest of us with performative cruelty.

Time to get this one out again;

 

[TomandJerry]

Is it you who class 'healthcare workers' as essential or Nigel?

What is a healthcare worker? A consultant neurosurgeon, or a hospital cleaner?

What other workers are 'such as' healthcare workers are essential?
Plumbers? Fruit pickers?

What about the massive staff shortages we already have in the NHS due, for example, to
how hard it is to get here as a nurse or junior doctor from outside the EU
And now, thanks to Brexit, from inside the EU.

And how will this Stop The Boats?

The fact is Nigel hasn't a clue and is just making shit up.

What the country expects, and what Reform supporters expect is
nonessential workers are the brown ones.

I can only assume once Reform has pulled the UK out of the ECHR then stopping the boats would become easier?

 

[GrizzlingGammon]

Crawley is the accepted border.

The South Downs is the natural boundary separating us liberal luvies from the northern, blue-arsed, barbarians the other side.

 

[WATFORD zero]

I can only assume once Reform has pulled the UK out of the ECHR then stopping the boats would become easier?

Like you assumed Brexit would and that went well. Still, onwards and downwards

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

It's this kind of sweeping statement that some might find slightly patronising

Sadly it is true, though.

I can only assume once Reform has pulled the UK out of the ECHR then stopping the boats would become easier?

How?

 

[WATFORD zero]

The South Downs is the natural boundary separating us liberal luvies from the northern, blue-arsed, barbarians the other side.

Old Shoreham Road