[News] Nigel Farage and Reform

[Cordwainer]

Scrapping net zero and HS2 could in part fund the infrastructure costs of the small nuclear energy hubs

Maybe it could. Although RR seem to think that nuclear will assist with net zero of course. Why when they appear so very anti ‘green’ energy are they so hard for small scale nuclear? Plans seem riven with conflicting thinking and clear lack of detail to me.

 

[rogersix]

Nope

as i see it, trump and farage are encouraging the use of fossil fuels at putin's behest. this is why the russians have been influencing our politics for years, we need to resist

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

It’s always amusing when people who vote Reform and voted for Brexit are shocked and butt-hurt when people have the audacity to question their judgment.

You’re voting for things that will make everyone’s life more miserable.

They act like thickos, I’m going to call them thickos.

I don’t apologise if that upsets them.

The common comeback is “well, if you hadn’t written us off as thickos and maybe listened to us, we wouldn’t have had Brexit or Reform”

No. We have Brexit and Reform because thick people vote for stupid things.

One of the standout visions for me, just after the end of Covid, was going into a supermarket and seeing a woman, early 30s, overweight, badly tattooed, mobility scooter, buying dozens of scratch cards.

After I'd done my shop, she was outside, standing next to her mobility scooter, fag in mouth, frantically scratching the scratch cards.

She has money and she has a vote.
A lack of jeopardy drives her to the scratch cards with a fist full of money
A similar lack of jeopardy means she can vote Reform without much thought.

That said, these are the sorts who don't generally vote.
Those who do vote (reform) seem to be more strident and triumphalist. Focused. Certain.
Like the twit I put on ignore today who is delighting being on the winningest side,
an inability to express himself properly, using the King's English, not withstanding.

Sometimes being condescending isn't just the right option, it is the only option
Partly because I don't think Labour will ever win the vote back from such sorts,
certainly not by being nice to them, or even promising to give them what they want.

And what do they actually want?
I'll tell you what they want, what they really really want,
They wanna, (ha) they wanna, (ha) they wanna, (ha) they wanna, (ha)
They wanna really, really, really wanna zigazig ah

 

[BadFish]

There are very rich and very powerful people who have been orchestrating this narrative for a very long time.

No one is 'thick' for falling for it. How could anything else happen if the narrative is the only thing they hear, drip fed along with the assurance that anyone who disagrees is 'polticially correct', ' a snowflake' , 'woke' or whatever nonsense is the current ammo in the culture wars?

On this thread we literally had someone advocating to lose their and everyone else's human rights protection in order to send a bunch of people with nothing but the shirt on their back to a dangerous foreign country rather than help them.

They could offer no further explanation or reasoning around this, because, how could they? I would guess they have no idea how or when they ended up with these kind of views either.

But here we are.

Well here you are, I'm in Australia where we just gave right wing politics a massive bloody nose and said 'yeah, nah mate, thanks but no thanks.

And I know for a fact that British people are not as thick as Aussies.

 

[The Clamp]

It is possible to try and reason (or in some cases not reason) without name calling. Best avoided as it devalues debate and makes a conversation ugly. I don't think I've called someone a thicko since school. Although I may have done.

30 odd % of people in this country are not thickos. Each will have their reasons for voting for Reform. The one reason I do get is the belief the two party system needs a kick. I can' think of any others that I align with.

I mean, you’re correct. Obviously.

I suppose some days I just don’t have the bandwidth to indulge them.

 

[dsr-burnley]

Maybe it could. Although RR seem to think that nuclear will assist with net zero of course. Why when they appear so very anti ‘green’ energy are they so hard for small scale nuclear? Plans seem riven with conflicting thinking and clear lack of detail to me.

I don't think they're anti-green energy as such, but what they are opposed to is the Miliband approach where we can claim to go green by cutting thousands, tens of thousands of jobs from oil, gas, steel industries while importing the oil, gas, steel that we still need from abroad. Miliband's priority isn't saving the planet, it's making the UK's figures look good.

If we are relying on wind and sun for most of our power, we need backup for when the wind doesn't blow and the sun doesn't shine. If it's not to be gas or oil, then what's the short or medium term option apart from nuclear?

 

[BadFish]

Somehow a bunch of rich ****s who are siphoning all the money away from everyone else, storing it off shore and paying f*** all tax. In the UK the same people are using London as a tax haven playground while the rest of the country goes to shit.

All the while they have managed to persuade vast swathes of the world that they are not the problem. They have persuaded everyone that brown people with f*** all travelling in dinghies, trans people, Muslims, autistic people, Europeans, DEI, renewable energy etc etc are the reason people are struggling.

It's an impressive campaign of propaganda if you think about it. They are smart and have endless resources. It's not just thick people that are getting caught up in it.

 

[The Clamp]

There are very rich and very powerful people who have been orchestrating this narrative for a very long time.

No one is 'thick' for falling for it. How could anything else happen if the narrative is the only thing they hear, drip fed along with the assurance that anyone who disagrees is 'polticially correct', ' a snowflake' , 'woke' or whatever nonsense is the current ammo in the culture wars?

On this thread we literally had someone advocating to lose their and everyone else's human rights protection in order to send a bunch of people with nothing but the shirt on their back to a dangerous foreign country rather than help them.

They could offer no further explanation or reasoning around this, because, how could they? I would guess they have no idea how or when they ended up with these kind of views either.

But here we are.

Well here you are, I'm in Australia where we just gave right wing politics a massive bloody nose and said 'yeah, nah mate, thanks but no thanks.

And I know for a fact that British people are not as thick as Aussies.

I see your point.

It does beg the question; why are some falling for it while others aren’t?

 

[Brian Munich]

Not proven in the application of generating domestic electricity at scale anywhere.

Renewables are proven worldwide, we don't have a decade to play with the climate disaster approaching.

Does someone at Reform have RR shares?

Cards on table: I hate Farage and am very pro-environment, but I work in the nuclear industry and I can tell you that you're wrong about them being unproven, and their civil use is definitely feasible. The main issue is going to be the cost of electricity generated, which is estimated to be about twice as much as renewables. However, whilst we are getting more and more of our energy from wind and solar - currently close to 40% and rising - the back-up option of nuclear power from SMRs rather than oil+gas or importing energy will be required.

The Reform policy of electricity from SMRs instead of solar and wind is bollocks unless you're prepared for your electrivity bill to double, and they'll know that. But it's easy to be in opposition and present simple policies as the solution without any real scrutiny.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

I'd never seen it before but at a very quick glance:
Deport foreign criminals - The current 1yr sentence level is ridiculous when you look at the state of our justice system and the paltry suspended sentences some get.
End Student dependency visas - Do many UK citizens take their whole family with them if they go and study abroad ?, it's just not needed.
Abolish IR35 rules - Took away so much from contractors. I know there will be many on here who disagree but this if you got caught in it you lost all the benefits of being a ltd company but received none of the employee benefits.
Sentencing review - Needs a major overhaul and to keep offenders off the streets.
Will need then to increase detention spaces by 10k - I'd suggest even that is too few

That's 5 and at first glance there look to be others that I'd agree with but would need to see more about them and then there are a lot of disagree with or are just unachievable.

I’m a freelancer/contractor but feel the IR35 is about right. If you’re a genuine freelancer you have nothing to worry about.

 

[BadFish]

I see your point.

It does beg the question; why are some falling for it while others aren’t?

Good question.

Companies like Cambridge Analytica etc have made a lot of money, exercised a lot of power and influenced some big choices by understanding the answer to it.

 

[nevergoagain]

I’m a freelancer/contractor but feel the IR35 is about right. If you’re a genuine freelancer you have nothing to worry about.

I've been out of it for a while now but when it came in literally everyone just bannered all the contractors as inside. I worked specifically on medium term InfoSec project which once complete would end my involvement and the assignment would end. Definitely not a disguised employee, no employee benefits, used my own kit wherever I could noting that data security still had to be observed and with defined outcomes and dates. These roles, at least in the financial and military sectors just blanket changed to inside which wasn't workable for me.

 

[Cordwainer]

I don't think they're anti-green energy as such, but what they are opposed to is the Miliband approach where we can claim to go green by cutting thousands, tens of thousands of jobs from oil, gas, steel industries while importing the oil, gas, steel that we still need from abroad. Miliband's priority isn't saving the planet, it's making the UK's figures look good.

If we are relying on wind and sun for most of our power, we need backup for when the wind doesn't blow and the sun doesn't shine. If it's not to be gas or oil, then what's the short or medium term option apart from nuclear?

I don’t agree with the alleged approach outlined in your first paragraph, but industries that deal with finite resources, inevitably, eventually, face those resources dwindling and associated knock on effects..the rise of alternative technologies and associated industries dealing in sustainable resources will start to take up some of the slack.

For me, I’d like to see the UK be as close to 100% energy self producing as possible, alongside finding the ‘greenest’ possible solutions. Clearly there will be a transition period and cost implications for this. Whilst we lessen our reliance on oil and gas, we should be looking at, solar, wind, hydro, tide etc. alongside nuclear options, rather than a binary one or the other.

 

[rogersix]

If we are relying on wind and sun for most of our power, we need backup for when the wind doesn't blow and the sun doesn't shine. If it's not to be gas or oil, then what's the short or medium term option apart from nuclear?

store the renewable enegy as hydrogen

 

[Cordwainer]

Cards on table: I hate Farage and am very pro-environment, but I work in the nuclear industry and I can tell you that you're wrong about them being unproven, and their civil use is definitely feasible. The main issue is going to be the cost of electricity generated, which is estimated to be about twice as much as renewables. However, whilst we are getting more and more of our energy from wind and solar - currently close to 40% and rising - the back-up option of nuclear power from SMRs rather than oil+gas or importing energy will be required.

The Reform policy of electricity from SMRs instead of solar and wind is bollocks unless you're prepared for your electrivity bill to double, and they'll know that. But it's easy to be in opposition and present simple policies as the solution without any real scrutiny.

Quite..well said..we could all promise the earth when in opposition..different matter when you actually have to start delivering on things people have voted you in on.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

I've been out of it for a while now but when it came in literally everyone just bannered all the contractors as inside. I worked specifically on medium term InfoSec project which once complete would end my involvement and the assignment would end. Definitely not a disguised employee, no employee benefits, used my own kit wherever I could noting that data security still had to be observed and with defined outcomes and dates. These roles, at least in the financial and military sectors just blanket changed to inside which wasn't workable for me.

Could you not demonstrate this to the the HMRC? I recall* there is a check-list which could be used to show the contract was not disguised employment.

* I obviously come under German taxation law these days but still have some income into my UK Ltd as I do some work for a UK company from time to time.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

I've been out of it for a while now but when it came in literally everyone just bannered all the contractors as inside. I worked specifically on medium term InfoSec project which once complete would end my involvement and the assignment would end. Definitely not a disguised employee, no employee benefits, used my own kit wherever I could noting that data security still had to be observed and with defined outcomes and dates. These roles, at least in the financial and military sectors just blanket changed to inside which wasn't workable for me.

Actually, I now recall there was a change to the rules which made the “end business” liable and some companies, quite lazily, would not employ people via UK UK limited companies.

 

[dsr-burnley]

store the renewable enegy as hydrogen

Isn't hydrogen expensive to produce? That's the main reason why it hasn't been used in cars, isn't it?

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

I see your point.

It does beg the question; why are some falling for it while others aren’t?

I have a hypothesis.

My sister in law's sister is a successful professional and is generally good company.
But she has attitudes.
She reads the Daily Mail.
I broached the topic of autism after a dinner 18 months ago.
She immediately accused me of 'playing the mental health card' and shut me down, with a sneery laugh.
Anyone who has read my posts on autism will know I'm not seeking special treatment or benefits,
and find the challenge of navigating my way through life's path interesting and fun, despite it all.
I mentioned this to my sister in law later.
Her response (I paraphrase only slightly) was "My sister is a f***ing ****".

So that's my hypothesis.
Some people are f***ing ****s.

I think this one may have legs.

 

[dsr-burnley]

I don’t agree with the alleged approach outlined in your first paragraph, but industries that deal with finite resources, inevitably, eventually, face those resources dwindling and associated knock on effects..the rise of alternative technologies and associated industries dealing in sustainable resources will start to take up some of the slack.

For me, I’d like to see the UK be as close to 100% energy self producing as possible, alongside finding the ‘greenest’ possible solutions. Clearly there will be a transition period and cost implications for this. Whilst we lessen our reliance on oil and gas, we should be looking at, solar, wind, hydro, tide etc. alongside nuclear options, rather than a binary one or the other.

The problem with a binary approach is the cost. A nuclear power station costs pretty much the same to run whether it's producing electricity or not. Same goes for a wind or a solar power station. It's only gas/oil where it costs significantly less to run if it's dormant waiting until needed.