If you voted Reform, I would love to know why?

[AplineDaisies]

I am not here to judge so would just like to hear from Reform voters for their reasoning.

The Greens are loony!

Got it. I think more discovery and detail is needed on options before the public votes.

And dangerous

There are a lot of intellectual and ageist snobs on this thread.

Just because you went to university, does not mean you are better or wiser than someone who didn’t.

Just because you live a town/city with an above average IQ does not mean your beliefs are more valid than those who live elsewhere, or that you’re a better person because of it.

Just because you are under 60 does not mean you know more than ‘old’ people, or that your needs are more valid.

Just because you moved away from your hometown, does not mean you are more capable of voting on political issues.

Just because you travel, doesn’t mean you are smarter than those who don’t.

Maybe these people want to go back to the old days and only give landowners the right to vote? As long as they’re under 60 and pass an IQ test first. And live in a different area to the one they grew up in, of course.

I still vote for them over the Tories yes, that’s not to say I’m not disappointed. I thought the rowing back on benefit changes particularly winter fuel was ridiculous

I wasn’t able to vote due to no elections in our area but I would vote for reform when the time comes. I think a lot of hard working people are just sick of what’s happened to our country.

If you worked in welfare it would be obvious that we cannot sustain what’s going on. Immigration is a big issue but that’s not the only reason I would vote for them.

Labour are supposed to be for the working people but things have just got worse and worse. People are at the point of being unable to afford to work and benefits in some circumstances pay more. The amount of people claiming PIP now is higher than ever.

How is it fair that someone on benefits doesn’t pay tax after a certain amount like we do? The poorer people now are the ones working full time in a minimum wage or just above minimum wage job. If someone was working full time and renting they would still have to pay their rent plus pay tax. Whereas someone claiming would get their rent paid, no tax, and it opens them up to other perks.

This has always been a bone of contention but I think 15 years ago the working person had a much better standard of life.

There may be some people voting reform due to hatred and division but I think most people just want to stop a sinking ship.

I have also never felt more unsafe when I’m out and about, and that’s not because of what I read, it’s what I experience.

There are an high amount of foreigners who are in our prisons. Not forgetting the amount of crime going on in general. People are walking in shops and taking things because they know they can. The kids today carrying knives and stabbing other kids.

We should be investing in healthcare and police and encouraging a working nation. Before saving others they need to save their own. People are sinking and just utterly fed up.

Reform may not be the answer and it does seem like whoever gets into power never follows through on their promise. But I think people are that desperate now, they are voting for drastic measures.

@eyeballer We have a very unequal society but why will Reform change that? Nigel Farage the investment banker who went to Dulwich College and is a millionaire is surely an elite?

Whether or not Reform will change that remains to be seen.

But voting Reform is the first step towards abolishing a system in which the people at the top are untouchable and can sweep everything under the rug by pretending they don't understand questions.

If we vote Reform in and you turn out to be right, and Farage doesn't change anything for working class men, and if he doesn't create secure borders for the UK, then we simply vote him out.

But he becomes Prime Minister in the first place, then that in itself will have been an important step towards abolishing the Tory-Labour uniparty.

I think ultimately what the country needs is a socially traditional party that supports working class men while attacking liberal, middle class elites. Something akin to the SDP, but unfortunately, the SDP are a long way away from getting real traction and support.

It does. We see 2 parties vying with each other but seemingly not achieving anything. Immigration, NHS, public services, col are all issues that have needed attention. But nothing appears to be done. But I see CEOs of companies pocketing large amounts whilst their company eg utilities fail to deliver the service and pump sewage into the water system. HS2? Getting smaller and slower but seemingly more expensive. But politicians of either main party seem to enjoy a golden life and become enriched if they step down and go into the private sector. Social media and the press are all fanning the flames. It needs to be about what do we as an electorate want not what Labour/Conservative think are policies that suit their voters

Here here, couldn't agree more.

The moral superiority demonstrated on this thread is quite staggering.

Awful as Starmer has been, I think the country is not long term left and many would not have repeated a Labour vote even if Starmer had been better. If he is replaced by anyone further to left, that will just ensure that they are unelectable for another generation. I don't think it matters if he stays or goes at this point. There's a viable alternative to Tories on the right now, it fits the mood of the nation which tends to the right anyway, it's pretty much a slam dunk that Farage will be the next PM. You can criticise all you like but it only shows a lack of understanding, or even a lack of desire to understand if it's done clumsily.

I wasn't on MN during the Gordon Brown years but its unbelievable that this site was ever deemed a credible political think tank, as it was then. All the left leaning posters want to do (as clearly evidenced from the many posts on this thread) is scream "thick" and "racist" at every turn rather than reflecting on their own party and actually acknowledging that anything economically sensible that Starmer has tried to do has been immediately blocked by their own back benchers and that's aside from the fact he is more concerned about the human rights of others rather than the country he represents which is another issue in itself

I managed to read it perfectly well. Why can’t you?

You say that but living in Wales, this is exactly why I voted reform. I'm more a conservative/lib dem voter usually. I could see now Plaid were topping the polls so voted Reform as a tactical vote to try keep Plaid out.

Plaid want to get more power to change the tax bands to increase the 40% at a lower point. I do not want to pay more taxes, im squeezed enough as a sole income household with 2x student loans coming out, so 15% deducted just for these. Scotland has the higher tax rate bands set lower. But at least they have free uni education so will not have the massive dept over their necks coming out of their wages on top. Plaid also want to throw extra money at anyone with kids on universal credits. They are planning to get extra power to give them all £10 per week top up. Plus many other extra freebies they want to dish out. The welfare bill is already out of control and they are wanting to throw more at it, while squeezing the ones who worked their way up to try & do better even harder.

But there are still millions upon millions in debt outstanding from EU students who came here for years, getting tuition feel loans from the SLC.

I live in quite a deprived area, with a lot of people from different countries. Not posh at all. Here the white very British blokes are the most aggressive hanging around the city centre and are the ones who girls like my (white) daughter fear. There is no trouble from immigrant ethnic minorities. They are too busy working all the hours to make ends meet.

I believe most people in the UK, even working full time are not paying for any immigrants because they will be taking out far more themselves than they pay in tax.

The group of people funding immigration are employed people earning over £40k per year with no kids, or anyone with kids earning over £70K

So if you want to talk about hard working people paying for immigration you are not quite correct. Only hard working high earners pay for them.

Reform must be cheering. The fool Starmer has brought Gordon Brown back to the fold as a consultant. He must have lost his mind.

@shuggles for me the system is so damaged and will take years to change so we need cross party consensus. Reform want to reduce the IHT limit and not touch pensioner welfare so I can’t see anything changing equality wise but happy to be proved wrong.

"we will simply vote them out" if they are crap is a VERY dangerous and foolhardy idea!
Look at the chaos Liz Truss brought with her in just a few short weeks as PM!

An awful lot of damage could be done by Reform in one term of Government!

This is fascinating thread and very telling.

The first response from @caringcarer articulates very clearly the issues which make people vote Reform. Yet all this poster has is barrage of mocking about paragraphs.

If those of us who don't want Reform to win in 2029 don't start listening and actually doing something about it, we'll have Nige PM in three years time. We will continue calling Reform voters idiots, the same as Brexiteers, but we'll suffer so much more than from Brexit.

I did tell in 2024 that voting for Labour will bring Reform to power in next GE. You can check my posting history. This is exactly what's happening now.

If you try to understand what @caringcarer is actually saying - this is all about working people at the lower end are having it very hard and they believe that money are wasted on "others", these "others" being immigrants or benefit claimants.

I think nobody in sane mind can argue that welfare and tax systems need drastic overhaul. They both kill our economy and investment in public services from two directions.
The issue is that Nige cleverly made people like that posted believe that he's the man for the job. He's not, he doesn't give a s..t about people. But people have seen both Tory and Labour in action, they see that nothing happens, so they want to try something else. Hence Reform on one end, and Green on the other.

How long will this take for Labour and Tory to understand that they need to sort prosperity out and Reform and Green will die out naturally and people can actually see outcomes of their effort?

I am not interested in how much money you have. Private schemes are often less willing to pay for expensive, specialist or non-standard. treatments, particularly where there are ongoing costs or uncertain outcomes. Pre existing conditions, premiums, declined treatments, eligibility...

It will not simply be “pay your premiums and choose whatever treatment you want”.
Even the French system, which is arguably far better than the US model, still has restrictions and is effectively two-tier in practice.

You really haven't thought it through or done any research. Your post screams "you all have to pay because I had to".

I believe most people in the UK, even working full time are not paying for any immigrants because they will be taking out far more themselves than they pay in tax.

This is a huge part of the problem. The average worker doesn’t pay enough for their state pension & healthcare. When demographics change that matters

I didn’t vote reform but England is crap for a lot of people right now and telling reform voters they’re stupid doesn’t do any good. A lot of people are unhappy and have no faith in the current two main parties.

@MaidOfSteel
They would have been here paying off their loans if it wasn’t for Brexit. Most of EU countries have excellent universities so most of them wouldn’t have come here if they had not been planning to live here. Many would have got free university education in their own countries.

Reform are going to build council houses ? 😂

They literally believe in the smallest state possible. There is nothing they don't want to privatise, mmm lovely contracts which will personally enrich them all one way or another.