Why on earth are Farage and Reform so popular ?

[Nonamenoblame]

Their ideology is essentially heated up Thatcherism, more deregulation (if that’s possible) and laissez faire light touch for businesses, more cuts to public services because they love an even smaller state, cuts to benefits apart from those for pensioners, no real solution to the immigration issue apart from sinking the small boats.
So why isn’t Farage being challenged ? Everywhere you read that Farage is the next PM in waiting but his policies are a rerun of the last 14 years but worse, they haven’t worked so far, why would they work with a Reform government ? What’s an even worse thought is a Tory/Reform coalition, are we as country daft enough to fall for it ?
And how long would we give a Reform government to turn things around ? 6 months, a year ?

Because this is the usual claptrap spouted at them by those on the left!!

Didn’t stop him saying Farage was the leader he admired the most.

@Clavinova I switch between sky, gb news and itv news and peston.

Gb news does go on about immigration a lot however what I enjoy is the robust debate on there. They get people on with opposing views and alow debates to run.

I completely agree that this is a stupid accusation and that not everyone who is considering Reform is a racist (obviously!). What I don't understand is why some plonkers calling you "racist" would make you want to vote Reform. Is it a protest vote? If so please do remember what happened with Brexit - that was also mostly a protest vote I believe.

Reform supporters - say they became the biggest party and Farage was PM, how would you like to see them / him deal with Russia and the US?

Because the Left have abandoned the working classes and are obsessed with identity politics?

I think international relations are crucial at the moment.

Farage has no experience in politics, has never held any form of political office

He was an MEP (for which he still gets a pension in excess of £50k/year).

While an MEP his voting record was pisspoor. In particular when he was a member of the Fisheries commission where he never voted. However that didn't stop him telling us that it was "unelected bureaucrats" that were the problem. This was obviously before he suddenly saw the light shining out of Elon Musks arse, and decided that maybe unelected bureaucrats are a good thing.

Right now the odious little creep is sliming around telling us we have to do whatever Putin wants. Because he is such a "nationalist".

The only country (and I have to say that very carefully) Nigel Farage is interested in is Nigel Farage.

It seems with real peril crystallising, Reforms answer is to "suck it up, buttercup". Well, if that's what they want. Fine. Myself ? I'm less interested in seeing what Vladimir Putins arse tastes like. If I wanted to know, I'd ask Richard Tice.

There is another thread running about how qualified medical students who trained here are not getting jobs and they are recruiting abroad.

How is this right

New yougov poll this week has Reform increasing in popularity again with 27% of the voting intention share, leading Labour by 2% this time.

https://yougov.co.uk/politics/articles/51638-voting-intention-lab-25-ref-27-con-21-16-17-feb-2025

Back in July, their voting share was 14%, Labour was at 33% and the Conservatives at 24%.

I think Farage and Reform are great at standing on the sidelines, on tv and on social media, and shouting about how rubbish everything is. I don’t really know what they would look like with executive powers though. I cannot imagine them dealing with the day to day tasks. Do the areas with Reform MPs feel like they have done anything constructive?

To be fair, that was Labour's exact strategy while in opposition - and I think we can all agree that it worked pretty successfully. They wouldn't detail any policies because, according to MN supporters, they didn't want to give any of their ideas away.

It’s because there’s no jobs here for them. About 50% of the med students my stepson graduated with have got jobs abroad. Australia has cut the amount of med students they are training because it costs money and they can get U.K. trained staff for the price of a plane ticket and some relocation expenses.

NHS does the same with nurses.

Despite the high demand for medical care, austerity has stripped the NHS of all but the bare essentials.

DH spent almost three weeks in an acute cardiac ward over Xmas and New Year. He was very well looked after by a team that was predominantly Phillippino, Pakistani and Nigerian; only catering was UK staffed . There were no staff shortages, but all the staff were being trained up to NHS levels. The lovely Nigerian doctor was politely excused from the procedure she was botching badly and it was finished by someone else. The quality of medical training is not as good in underdeveloped nations as here; how are staff supposed to read MRI scans when there are no MRI facilities for them to train? But the UK NHS is hiring them.... It is a difficult issue, and I don't pretend to have the solution.

I read today that Farage is praising Judeo-Christian values.

Does he even attend a church??

Why are farage and reform so popular? It’s Brexit all over again - an emotional rather than a rational response. Their voters will include people who cannot face (or cannot understand) facts and consequences. People who don’t read party manifestos or look up voting records. People who cannot strategise or think about the long term interests of the UK. People with little sense of collective responsibility.

I read their manifesto at the last general election and found it an unrealistic, poorly costed wish list. Reform policies will make life materially worse for nearly everyone. People who didn’t vote for them will be resentful and angry at what has been foisted upon them. Think of the ill feeling in the immediate aftermath of Brexit and multiply by one hundred fold.

What about the middle class that has been eroded little by little by high taxes and bills? Who speak for them?

.

Of course but they will say they are fit and young and healthy and do not need the NHS until after 50 years old. It is so ridiculous that most people I know have chosen to leave this shitshow. In the meantime the answer is to raise taxes where people are already suffocated. It is not surprising that some will flock to Reform if they are still here.

Because he can blame others who can’t defend themselves. And he convinces people that being a banker (which he was previously) is a proper job.

He’s a constituency MP for Clacton, let’s see what he does for his constituents.

He was a Brexit voting MEP, rarely attending, often missing key votes and receiving in excess of €8,000 per month.

Thought this would amuse you!

2017 - Nigel Farage is a Christian prophet, a holy man in direct contact with God whose true purpose on this earth is to lead us from the darkness into the light.

This is the view of one Christian group in Pakistan, led by Francis Bashir, an evangelical Christian pastor in Lahore.

Pastor Bashir has been continuously praying for three years now, that Nigel Farage will become Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He states that “Jesus has guided me to pray for UKIP and Mr Farage”, and his belief is that Nigel will end the persecution of Christians in Pakistan, once and for all...

“only God knows when he will be Prime Minister and all we can do is pray”

https://www.vice.com/en/article/the-pakistani-christians-who-worship-nigel-farage/

😂 Though sadly I expect Farage will be even less interested in their plight than Prince Philip was in his worshippers.

We had an election for council this week. The Reform lady won.

It would be interesting to know where if you wouldn’t mind sharing.

That makes 11 council by elections Reform have won since the General Election on 4th July 2024. On the other hand there have been over 190 council by elections in that period.
Yet the media - including the BBC - seem to be assuming that Farage will be the next Prime Minister. I'm old enough to remember when the BBC was a model of restraint. Quite buttoned up even. But lately ...it's like watching Auntie getting blotto and dancing on the kitchen table.

Not sure I'd want a Putin apologist representing me.