A future Reform government is looking more and more likely

Rupert Lowe as Conservative PM

This is sensible. The "Land of the Free" is an interesting one though in terms of abortion because it really isn't and never was, despite Roe v Wade. Though the UK and US share many cultural similarities and it's very sensible to worry about their influence, the blur of Church and State in the US has always been much, much murkier than it is here. We (in the UK) have a much clearer divide between the two, in our legal system and governance. That doesn't mean we can be complacent, there are definite creeping trends of religious extremism threatening to infringe women's legal rights, but the UK and US aren't directly comparable in terms of religious ideology and its place in government and legislation.

My girls and I do not keep period trackers on our phone. We use paper calendars. I worry that the potential exists for data from a tracking app to be used against us at some point, given the number of women in countries with abortion bans who are persecuted not only for abortions but for miscarriages and stillbirths. We're not there yet in the UK, but then I never thought I'd see the overturning of Roe Vs Wade and it proves women are still at risk from extremist ideology infiltrating legislation everywhere - even in the so-called "Land of the Free".

If they have any chance of getting in....best start preparing....

..so I have just under 4 years to get myself steralised

Farage is under far too much influence from(and being financed by) the religious zealots in America and seeing as the Handmaids Tale seems to be getting closer and closer to becoming fact and not fiction I don't want to take my chances 😳

It really isn't...

They have four MPs and can't seem to add anything positive to the councils they won.

Garage gets a disproportionate amount of media coverage but that does not mean that people are not sensible enough to see through his far right propaganda and the fact that he has nothing to offer to the country.

And the lack of free speech if they dissolve echr ...which is freedom of expression ( speech included) what next ?? womens right to vote or own land or money ? Are we going backwards? UK isn't in the to 30 of countries in Europe struggling with unemployment at 4% but NF taken day out to visit USA over free speech and berating UK ..plus getting total clubbing over his inflated head for it. I will find the link with the senate meeting. He is disliked there as here. He stop the NHS and throw granny out of the care home and under the bus - so be prepared to look after your elderly and the young ones and work full time.

Also Farage says it’s easy to stop the boats. He says it’s easy to send people back.

But I don’t think it is that easy at all. For a start , where do they get sent back to if they say they are stateless ? They throw their identities away in the channel on the way here. Where would they go ?

I don’t think Reform can win the election but there’s a chance they could become the second largest party.

They could make Labour lose a majority and potentially have more MPs than the Lib Dem’s.

I think Reform could force a coalition. But four year is a long time away in politics.

Reform are not a viable party. They're donkeys being led by a mule. They're a joke. I'd love nothing better than to vote for a party who'd put the country first, but no such thing exists anymore. We're screwed. If Reform do get in they'll last a matter of weeks before their government collapses. We're going to have to take what's coming.

McMurdock is going to remain an independent.

So Reform has lost a third of its MPs. Doesn't bode well for the future.

James McMurdock will not seek Reform UK return after Covid loan questions | Reform UK | The Guardian share.google/DMNPvfQupk2RS5bcw

Well, a good litmus test will be the elections next May. Let's see how Reform does then.

I absolutely think they will get in. It does not matter how incompetent they are. One thing I have learned in life is that in general, people will dismiss facts that don’t support their world view and believe exactly what they want. No matter how absurd.

Everyone said the same thing about Trump. They laughed and sneered. The guy caused a riot, a death and a bunch of conspiracy theories. He literally told the world he thinks less of women. And yet here we are.

Everyone said Brexit wouldn’t happen.

Reform will be our next government.

I've been worried reform will get in .
I've two disabled sons who need benefits to be able to live independently when I die .
I'm worried sick for their future
But to me the conservatives,labour and reform have little to pick them apart
They are all wanting to reduce benefits .
I can't see much difference between any of them
When it comes to immigration they are all totally out of their depth and none have a workable plan to move forward

I doubt Labour voters are going to suddenly start voting Reform, that's wishful thinking, the two parties couldn't be more different. As no one really wants Reform in power there will be tactical voting to make sure they don't get in.
I'm sure Labour will get some things right by the end of their term.

But where does it end first you charge to use the nhs which 90% of the UK couldn't afford then you start charging for education which again the majority of the UK cant afford. Everyone ends ups losing their homes becoming bankrupt and become more of a burden to the state. People stop having children because they cant afford the hospital bills and we end up in a situation where we are extremely under populated which means services start to get shut down as their not "needed"

The majority of people probably do take more from the NHS than they pay into the system in the same way that most people are net beneficiaries of the welfare state. The problem is though that the system can no longer cope with the demands placed upon it and those who are big contributors are starting to question the validity of a system that they pay an awful lot of money into and then can't access basic healthcare.

An European type funding model would be preferential to the NHS for lots of reasons. The current model is broken.

And that’s all that a large proportion of the voters care about. Not what a shit show they’ll make of running the country day to day, what their policies are but how they’ll stop those immigrants from coming into our country and taking our houses and claiming benefits. And I speak as someone who lives in an area with a large housing waiting list and an outcry that the local hotel is currently being used to accommodate Afghans in the resettlement scheme. As you can imagine, Reform are having a field day, whipping the right kind of people up into a frenzy, Facebook full of ‘let’s take our town back’.

I just hope to god that Labour pull their fingers out and start turning things around in the time they have left.

Just to note that Reform appear to have lost another MP to being unfit for the job since I posted that... I really don't feel that they'll prove a viable governing party.

I think when people see how ridiculous Reform are performing at local government level, they’ll realise they’re a non-starter for national government.

I'll be voting against Labour at the next GE and if the best chance of that is Reform, then so be it.

It would take a monumental shift in Labour policy to deter me, and would have to include booting out the PM and his band of ineffective cronies.

There were mnetters who were voting for Labour just over a year ago because they assumed that they would be kinder and more compassionate to the vulnerable. They acknowledge that this was based on not much more than a vibe and went with their gut.

So, this idea that people will vote for a change without good evidence and only hope to cling to is not exclusive to reform voters.

Yeah, but Nige is going to sort it. No one needs to worry about the details, the how, the why, the where. Just look at the many pictures of Nige with a pint in his local boozer.

(Sarcasm aside, id genuinely like to know how his constitutes rate him as an MP)

Hopefully before the next GE they'll get just enough power to self implode.

Like a PP said, id hold my nose and vote tory if it meant keeping reform out.

The NHS is properly funded but the money is spent poorly. This is the view of a committee the Tories set up to review the funding model.

International evidence shows that a tax-funded, single payer model of paying for healthcare has substantial advantages in terms of universal coverage and overall efficiency. There was no evidence to suggest that alternative systems such as social insurance would deliver a more sustainable health service. Sustainability depends on the level of funding and, crucially, how those funds are used.

The last Labour government transformed the NHS and this one has made a good start. Someone I know is currently undergoing investigations for suspected cancer and there has been no waiting at all.

He's also said he's 'open to anything in terms of the NHS' (Jan 2025).

I think the majority of people will take more out of the nhs then they put in do you have any idea how much childbirth costs, pre natal and anti natal care, vaccines, smears, medications, its highly likely your nhs usage will grow as you get older and this is purely based on a healthy person with healthy children you add into that cancer, surgeries, heart attack,stroke, car accidents, medical conditions. Health care in real terms costs a fortune and we are very very lucky to have the nhs all it takes is an accident, a medical emergency or a diagnosis and you could lose everything and become bankrupt. 1 in 2 people in the UK will get diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime.