To reckon that Reform will win the next election, and to be utterly terrified about it? 😪

I don’t have any issues accessing a GP, and never had. I can ring at any time tomorrow, I will get traiged by a Dr, and if I need to I’ll come in and see them, or they might perscribe meds, or suggest something else.

I have a well managed GP surgery, who employ a great practice manager, and have processes that aren’t out of the ark.

In First Past the Post you vote for the candidate individually, not the party. Which means MPs retain their seat even if they cross the floor or have the whip removed. It was a system set up before we had the diversity of parties we currently do. Many voters also think it terms of who they want as PM and vote accordingly, even though that isn't technically who they are voting for. Ideally we'd have electoral reform into a system that is easier/ clearer to follow and good political education/ media that reports accurately. But... That's been something people have been trying to sort for a few decades.

All the Tory defections should trigger by elections in their constituencies, they were not voted in as Reform candidates so how can they just switch to Reform and keep their seats? It's not what their constituents voted for.

I agree there are issues with current access to NHS. And NHS backlogs. But Reform would privatise the NHS and reduce access.

I think a number of other parties have better approaches to NHS reform than selling it off.

I'm not sure. I think they are all hoping to be on a front bench. And will be loyal until they are JB power. But I cannot see that playing out in anything but a negative way. The way Reform is structured is also unconventional - more like a shell corporation than a political party.

Reform do meet the criteria to be considered fascist. They certainly celebrate and push authoritarian agendas.

I've never been a Corbyn voter or supporter.

There comes a point where getting squeamish and not calling a spade a space becomes massively problematic. Worth looking at the fallacy of being tolerant of intolerance.

One of the issues regularly flagged with parts of the left and the Labour party in the past has been the competitiveness over who is the most left wing person on the left. I'm not and have never been a part of that. I hover between slightly left or slightly left of centre depending on policy.

You don’t really think these defecting Tories are going to risk letting Farage near an actual election. One of them, let’s put our money on Jenrick’s ego, will challenge him for the leadership pretty soon.

I think you’ll find that the biggest threat the Farmers, by far, are supermarkets, and thier collective buying power. The European markets are much more difficult to get into, so they are at the mercy of the big buyers.

It’s not inheritance tax that’s the problem, it’s people expecting cheap food (but much easier to point at Government Policy, than to spend more on a higher welfare chicken)

The Chagos island situation came about under the last government, and we are required to abide by the court judgments.

The current government all over Europe are ignoring or pandering to mass immigration policies, people have had enough and want change.

a) The biggest cause of immigration in western Europe in the last three years has been Ukraine

b) the biggest single cause of immigration to the UK in the last three years has been HongKongers

c) Boat people take that route because all the sensible and legal routes have been removed

d) Ageing populations in the whole of Europe mean we either hire immigrants or accespt shrinking economies

e) No policy anywhere has persuaded women to have more children once birth rates drop below 2.5 - most of Europe 35 years ago, most of Asia 10 years ago

No, it really is not. They are certainly authoritarian and are emulating paths to political victory used by fascist parties of times gone by.

In the same way the current US administration's use of ICE to intimidate states who do not tend to vote in support of the current administration emulates tactics used by Hitler and the Nazis in the early 1930s.

Not everyone who votes for Reform is a right wing bigot fascist sympathiser. But everyone who is a right wing bigot fascist sympathiser does vote for Reform.

The issue is that there is no unifying alternative at the moment, which leads to split votes across the board.

What this realistically.means come the next general election - it is too far away to tell. But the Scottish and Welsh parliamentary elections will be considered a litmus test for overall popularity of Reform and of other parties.

I doubt it she’s beating the male leaders atm

ive got health issues for which I need the nhs - I expect we won’t have the ready access to gp’s (however rubbish it currently is) that we do now.

Ready access to GPs? I wish we were that lucky.

Yes they can be. Try no NHS, lower taxes so no money for anything except his billionaire pals and ICE agents on the streets. Our local Reform guy is a really nasty character. He’s known locally for really verbally attacking women if they disagree with him on social media. I pointed out that he was wrong about something and he obviously searched me up and basically doxed me online to try to shame me.

I'll be surprised if Kemi lasts until the next election.
The Tories seem to drop a woman into the top role when the shit is hitting the fan, let her take the hit then swap her out for a nice public schoolboy when the storm has passed and any real power is in sight. Truss and May were both fall guys.

You have ready access to your GP?! How lucky you are. If I want an appointment to see my GP, I have to enter a phone queue of 50 people at 8 in the morning. We can only have same day appointments, and once they’re filled, it’s rinse and repeat for the following day. No wonder people use A&E as a walk in GP service. And no NHS dentists either. I have one fortunately, but there’s a 2 year waiting list for new NHS patients to register. I can’t believe that people are so used to the rubbish service we receive that they’re actually thankful for it.

1. It's about time Farmers paid the same taxes as everyone else. I think shedding tears for farmers that are millionaires or have bought farms as a tax dodge is laughable
2. You aren't bothered about the ' Chargos' Islands are you? You are against the giving them back because Trump and Farage have said it's a bad thing
3. The security services approved the Chinese embassy after Starmer asked for a report into it. It is good for diplomatic relations and the economy to to develop better connections with China.

I don’t think the current Labour Party is right wing at all, absolutely a majority of them are very left wing. Which is why Starmer can’t get rational policies over the finishing line. I bet if Corbyn had the same support from the public as Nigel has for reform, there’d be loads of Starmer’s back bench MPs defecting.

I think Farage has his sights set on a Tory Refom coalition.

@mumofoneAloneandwell what do you mean re tightening belt for reform ?

Our belts are already very tight here.

Labour Reform coalition?

You might be right from an outsider’s perspective. I highly doubt that they’ll deploy ICE agents. The current government all over Europe are ignoring or pandering to mass immigration policies, people have had enough and want change. If the current government cared they’d could start taking action, similarly in Ireland, hospitality industry is hugely impacted by hotel accommodation shut down to the public, alongside most other services, you’re taking your life into your hands in a&e over crowded rooms these days.

I think no it's a bit of a joke to say Reform would be a security risk when it's Starmer who is attacking farmers and putting our food security at risk, trying desperately to give away the Chargos Islands and rent them back costing billions and allowing a mega Chinese embassy to open in London far larger than necessary for purpose.

That still goes on, as well as calling them right wing bots.