This migrant problem is going to let Reform in isn’t it?

I'd say that describes Trump more than Starmer. Trump genuinely thought he could proclaim that Putin needed to play ball (in between belittling Zelenskyy) and he'd win the Nobel peace prize.

It's not that simple. Try and play peacemaker and it doesn't work. Throw your weight around and before you know it you have submarines in Russian waters.

Don't forget that Corbyn was called a terrorist sympathiser for trying to mediate with the IRA. He was also called a Antisemite but that seems to have been a ploy to get him out of governance. I'm not condoning Antisemitism BTW. It digists me. I don't think the new Left wing party will solve things either. For a start, the left tend to want to abandon Trident and that's not a great idea right now (if ever)

Starmer is out of his depth for sure, but I also think that most of the political leaders are atm.

The world is fucked. Japan is also experiencing a right wing swing due to immigration, low wages, high inflation and an ageing population. What's the answer?

I've been politically homeless for a long time, BTW. I'm not and never have been a Labour voter, nor Conservative. The 'new' parties don't represent me either. I'm a Centrist and no parties fit the bill for me.

He loves the world stage, the domestic one not so much

Agree with this - however, I don't necessarily think this will result in Reform getting into government. Nigel Farage is a problem. The irony of him leading a party for the working class is not lost on many people. Remember the disaster that was Boris Johnson and Nigel Farage is similar in many respects.

Sounds good

Well growing the economy rather than imposing an increase on employers’ NI and lowering the threshold would be a start. Perhaps demanding some sort of productivity increase in exchange for above inflation pay rises might be also worthwhile. As would having any sort of coherent and efficacious policy on dealing with illegal immigrants. And perhaps not clobbering small businesses with a 20% inheritance tax too might help to encourage investment.

That's not though is it? Labour aren't doing a fantastic job but hardly an awful job.

Which questions do you think they should have an answer for? Stopping boats? Growing the economy? Free money for all?

Yea absolute joke supporting working classes

🎯

@strawberrybubblegum agree with every word. The bigotry and racism accusation is way overdone and no longer has much effect.

It was interesting that in the case of the asylum seekers being housed in a town centre hotel in Diss, Norfolk that the residents had accepted it when it was primarily filled with mothers and children. It was only when it was announced that they would be moved elsewhere in favour of a different cohort of primarily young men that anger erupted. Again it goes back to the concept of fairness.

That's a really interesting article. I won’t vote Reform, but it's changed how I understand it..

The article describes 25 years of working class anger at undercut wages, pressure on resources like housing and the NHS, and a sense of unfairness. Anger at the reducing quality of life they are experiencing. Not bigotry about race or culture: it's shouted about so much, but in reality isn't there at any significant level.

It makes me think of how the Labour party started: through working class anger at the unfair imbalance of power between employers and employees, and a desire to bring in a Welfare state and access to education in order to improve working class lives.

It's the same driving forces behind Reform now.

Those original Labour aims have been achieved, but Labour are stuck in the past fighting shadows of the same monsters. They're not willing to hear the current sources of unfairness, or switch to fight those new challenges.

Labour will limp along a while longer as the party of the left-leaning urban elite, but they're finished as the party of the working class.

Same I don’t think it’s the split on the right as much for the next GE, but a potential one on the left.

@MaturingCheeseball I would have agreed with you up until about 6 months ago but I think the Tories are absolutely done for and Reform are increasingly mopping up their vote. Interestingly a poll out this week showed that Jeremy Corbyn polled better with Reform voters on almost every single metric than Keir Starmer. It’s amazing how disliked Starmer is, across the spectrum.

The split vote will allow Labour in again. In my constituency Con + Reform far exceeded vote of third place winner.

It remains uncertain what Labour (or the new Corbyn party) will do about the Muslim (actually Islamist) candidates in some areas. They are as it stands bound to be thrashed in quite a few cities. I think this will be some kind of flash point in politics in the UK where you have a significant portion of the electorate with a markedly different world and domestic view from what has gone before, whether that be left or right.

I don't think people do want Farage as PM but would vote for the devil himself to get rid of Starmer and this Labour government. People can't stand 4 more years of this.

Yes polling for Reform is high, the pp is in a bubble.

If Labour keep going as they are on the crossings they’ll likely be out.

Starmer is a globalist and a human rights lawayer, he has no interest in stopping this.

But Reform still haven't got any answers, none at all, same as the Cons & despite v poor polling, no one wants Farage as PM.

You're living in a bubble.

Reform are polling 34%.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/08/02/why-white-working-class-rage-is-surging-in-britain/

Labour have zero intention of stopping the boats, so the polls are only going in one direction.

Posters will go on about the media if Labour lose the next GE, that’s fine, when the media excuse comes up Labour are not doing well.

Labour are too timid eg took a year to ban Ninja swords..... too many "consultations" look at the 3 year one into social care?

Labour also face a very negative media, BBC kept highlighting yesterday a poor business confidence report by the Institute of Directors, which is Tory a lobby group... totally ignored the Lloyds one which had business confidence at a 10 year high!!

How about some balance?

But Reform still haven't got any answers, none at all, same as the Cons & despite v poor polling, no one wants Farage as PM.

Labour are doing a god awful job. They have no policies and no answers, and are largely just tinkering around the edges and out of their depth.

Labour aren't doing a particularly bad job when you consider the complexity of what they were given and the continued external turbulence.

Farage does not have any easy answers. I wish people would see this!!

As long as we appear to do sfa the migrants will flock to the Uk -it might have been just 300 going to Rwanda but it would probably have stemmed the flow -word would have got out. They’d stay in France.

Where would Aussie supporters send x channel migrants?

Nauru? PND ?

How would the UK turn back boats, to where? tow them back to Iran? Afghanistan?

Two simple questions which pp's cannot answer...

25000 arrived by boat in 2012/13, numbers actually went up, after mandatory deportations started, it was when Australia started turnback/take back that numbers plummeted.

Those who have studied the subject say it appears the Turnback policy was the more effective policy

Which is obvious, 25k arrive, 400 sent to Nauru, a very small %.

But thats besides the point, i've never disputed Australia hasn't stopped irregular migration.

My argument is that we haven't an off shore Island nor can we turnback either... so we need a country that can many 1000s of people, permanently.

About as attractive as the U.K. so hard to say. Maybe more than us. Now incredibly low numbers.

For some reason some posters work hard not to have the same when it’s the only system to have worked. Bizarre.