Scottish voting coming up soon and I think I am voting reform

[ScroogeMightHaveBeenOnToSomething]

Scottish elections coming up next month. I think I have decided to vote reform.

I guess my reasons are (in no particular order)

1. Policing - I am getting really worried by the lack of law and order. I live in a decent place and there is constant trouble at the bus station at night with buses getting their windows smashed. Police have been seen riding the buses to try and get it under control. However I just don't think our current police force is fit for purpose. The job is too dangerous for what it pays and so it can't attract people. They don't have enough powers to deal with the little scrotes and there is no respect. I mean look at the whole shoplifting chaos and the tik tok riots. The whole thing is start to feel quite dangerous and reform are saying they will have more police with more powers and be more strict with law and order. This is what I want - more jails, more police, tougher sentences, respect brought back
2. Housing. Okay so we all know about the housing situation and it's long been an issue. Tonight I was watching an old episode of 'how to get a council house' and I felt so angry and helpless and outraged. Family of romanians come to UK with no money. Mum and Dad and 5 kids. The dad has no particular skills so has been doing odd jobs at a car wash but currently not working. Both have broken english and missing teeth (in other words I don't think they will find getting work easy). So what does the council decide. Well the man is claiming job seekers allowance which maintains his 'work status' and so because of this and the fact he has 5 kids he gets a 4 bed council house. Presumably paid for then by benefits since neither he or his wife are working. They were both very, very pushy and aggressive and then when they got the house waxing lyrical about 'how generous english people are'. You couldn't make it up. Update on how they were getting on a few months later. Neither parent had started working so them and their 5 children were just in their paid for house living on their benefits with no skills that the UK needed. I mean seriously if you want to see what is wrong with the UK this is a good place to start. British people homeless and this outrage going on. So yes give me reform who can hopefully do a Trump and start rounding the fuckers up. I have no issues with people moving to UK and coming with a plan and money and getting jobs and supporting themselves etc. This family came to the UK with no money, no jobs and literally were outraged when they thought they were not getting their free house. The housing lady said they were getting a house through gritted teeth. I got the impression that it was to shut them up and get rid of them but totally unfair on homeless british people.
3. Benefits/Welfare - well I guess I have touched on that above. I think most of us used to have real sympathy and no issue with real disabled people or genuine out of work people being helped. They were in the minority, it was often short term as it was something they were embarrased about. Now I feel like because there are so 'many of them' I have no empathy at all. Which means the genuine folks are being lumped in with the scroungers and I sort of hate them all now if that makes sense. So another reason for voting reform.

Now I'm no doubt going to get told how terrible I am and that the kids are just having fun throwing bricks at buses, that I'm racist for not wanting unskilled romanians and their 5 children to live life free on our tax pounds. I'll also be a monster for being sick of the benefits issue and woah is me little johnny is going to be out on the streets with his 25 disabilities. Fuck me though. Surely voting for more of this shitshow would be insane.

Will it be better under reform. Yeah probably not but at least it's someone different and it might be better and yes I have read their manifesto.

(By the way one episode of get a council house had a boy with multiple sclerosis and he was getting a council house which of course was right. However you saw him crying and telling his dad he didn't want to live on his own (he was about 20) and it made me think of the posters here who are dead against homes or institutions for their disabled kids. I just thought what a disaster giving this boy a house on his own with careers 4 times a day was going to be (he was in trouble with police alot and was always drunk and getting brought home by them). He was just far too disabled to be living alone even if he was getting a house plus benefits. Sure enough the update was he had been moved into supported accomodation. So for this chap some kind of home was the right place to be and where he wanted to be. I've digressed a bit with this point as it's not really about reform and voting but I just wanted to throw that in there to see why people don't want their kids to go into homes. I mean do they really want to live alone in a council house with benefits. This one definately did not. Anyway might need a seperate thread for that issue or I guess we can discuss both issues here)

Fishing argument is so so old. He was hugely outnumbered on that committee and was always outvoted. His time was better spent elsewhere. Is that old chestnut the best you have?
I am not as well informed on the Iran situation as you are apparently and find it very hard to take any informed view. Geopolitics is horrendously complicated and nuanced and much information is withheld from the public. I don’t know that he can be said to support the war as much as support a NATO ally when requested which is one of members core responsibilities and good sense if you want reciprocity. I believe he agrees with many republican policies although by no means all as do many UK citizens. Personal attacks on his character are really not helpful. You are unaware of his motives as am I but given what he has given up financially and emotionally I believe he loves his country and this is why he returned to politics.

Your welcome 🙄

Ive often thought buildings like student accomodation would be good for unemployed people. Single rooms with communal living areas. In korea it is common to have goshiwons which are blocks of affordable single rooms with communal areas, its totally normal.

Something like that might work here in this over populated situation.

Do we really need to give people on benefits a full size standard apartment? A single room is good enough and more of an incentive to get out to work.

Keep the full apartments - both council and social housing for working single people or disabilities or families.

When council housing first came out you had to be employed to get a council tenancy.

I think that would alleviate a lot of pressure on housing as they could also fit more people into one footprint of land.

Goshiwons are also used by working people who are looking for lower living costs and a minimalist lifestyle. So the council could build these and offer some for private rent too so theres a mix of demographic.

Theres steict rules about noise in goshiwons too, you basically have to be silent and use headphones for any media at all. Its all very quiet and civil. So might teach some manners and decency to some of society too. Like if you cant be a good civil neighbour in your single room then you wont be entitled to move on to a 1 bed apartment for instance.

I don’t know that he can be said to support the war as much as support a NATO ally when requested which is one of members core responsibilities and good sense if you want reciprocity

I don't think what you have said about NATO is quite correct @BeAmberZebra NATO members have no obligation to assist a member who decides to attack another country. If Iran had attacked the US first, then NATO would be obliged to provide assistance if the US asked.

Christ, are you really that thick. As if the country's not got enough problems without adding the stupidity of Reform into the equation.

NATO is a defensive alliance

The PP should look it up and maybe read up on the only time Article 5 was activated.

Thank you. As I said I am not well informed on a lot of geopolitics and thought the requirement unlimited. What is the definition of attack? Is it solely military or wider. In any case supporting the most important and rich member can’t be a bad decision can it? Also I think the requirement to use our airbases and provide other requested support is also quite a complex issue. This is all governed by treaties agreements etc none of which I have read in detail and looking at online arguments UKs responsibility seems widely disputed and argued by a variety of what looks like well informed people. That’s why I am not sure saying NF supports a war is the correct interpretation of the position.

Another welll reasoned carefully set out argument. Calling people thick will definitely stop them voting Reform. Try some actual (not invented) facts and/or information (accurate not from trolls on the internet) not tropes and insults

See my response. I think it might be a bit more complicated but I’m unlike you not an expert in geopolitics.

I am not an expert either but I do check things before I post and make claims.

Something that going by your posts, you encourage other posters to do.

We need a bit of Reform so people can see how bad it will be and how little they will do to fix things. And then hopefully the country can go in a different/better direction.

Poor Scotland but I'd rather it happened there than anywhere near me.

Kent Council, Reform's flagship, is doing just that.

I really don’t think the core vote for Reform is people on benefits. I know they toyed with the idea of abolishing the two child cap but only for two working British citizens. Their core vote at around 30% is a wide variety of people many of who don’t support all their policies or even half. They just feel they might possibly do them the least amount of harm when compared to all the other parties. I personally feel they will make the lives of my children and grandchildren a little bit better.

unless she inherited it.

You mean one of the many Reform councils who raised council tax considerably less than most labour councils

"She obviously did hence she owns her home and has retired early."

No it means she got money from somewhere ( not necessarily earned) and she is not contributing nothing now.

She’s not or she is?

Speaking as someone who is half-furriner* (Dad was a displaced person) I found it hilarious that the bloke who stood for Reform in our recent council by-election is the descendent of someone who might be termed "an economic migrant"...but I guess that some people are using the Melania Trump argument: "Not our family - look at those nasty immigrants over there!"

*I'd better correct that. We've been looking into the genealogy of the Scottish side of the family and it seems that the great-granny born in Kirkcaldy had a great-grandfather who was a pastry cook and had what was possibly a Latvian surname.

Then there's the photie we found of a lady in Victorian clothing. She is the spitting image of my granny from Lumphinnans, but has a darker complexion than anyone else in the family. One of the younger members of the family did a DNA test which showed a smidgeon of Polynesian.

"She’s not or she is?"

She's not - obviously.

I fail to understand why anyone gets up in the morning and thinks...
'I'm a bit pissed off with the current political landscape. I know how to resolve it - I'll open an account on Mumsnet and tell everyone there how marvellous Reform would be.'

You said she’s not contributing nothing?

Reform is and has clearly stated so. They are also keeping the triple lock which might be affordable if they also row back on the number of people who get NI credits which should really only be for stay at home mums to be honest. Also could cut back foreign aid, green financial suicidal policIes, funding illegal migrants and benefit dependent legal migrants, absurd numbers on sickness benefits, NGOs global institutions, quangos, MPs expenses and dodgy charities. They could also look at NHS and defence procurement and row back on all the EU reset nonsense. I could also include all the young uns not in work education or training but I feel as a society we have massively let them down already but don’t know the solution there.

That’s the way to persuade people not to vote Reform. Call around 30% of the population uneducated, bigoted xenophobic and hateful. That’ll do the trick.

Yes you do because people on benefits are not animals . Ffs 🤦🏻‍♀️ some of the comment here . Are you even human

@XDownwiththissortofthingX
I used to have neighbours who were fairly recent immigrants from Chechnya. A young Muslim couple with young children. The woman chose to vote for Brexit on the grounds that now that their family were in the UK and doing ok for themselves, it would only go against their interests to let more immigrants in. Just because someone has benefited from being able to immigrate doesn't make them selfless people.