shocked my best friend voted Reform

[clearmoon]

Long standing close friend came round for dinner and we were nattering away, and she just mentioned off hand in the conversation that she had voted Reform. i am really shocked. We don't discuss politics much. But I would have guessed lib dems or labour. I love her dearly. But I do wonder if I should think about her differently now, or just carry on as before

YANBU - She is not such a good person as I thought all these years
YABU-its all fine

It’s not talking about subjects which lets misinformation go in corrected. That’s how the far right like Farage and Trump are flourishing

Which is a pity, for the NHS was one of the greatest creations of the British, and a great act of Christian charity as well. I hope it doesn't. Bloody stupid Tories, neo-liberalism, and thick Labour.

Reform = racists.

Any friend of mine who voted for them would no longer be a friend.

I know people who voted for Labour, I didn’t. I swerve political conversations where I can and don’t think about it.

Ultimately it’s their choice and you’re being unreasonable thinking that everyone should be on the political page as you.

Why? Politics is really important. Its the future of the country at stake, You dont have to argue nastily about it but you should be able to discuss it. I have Brexiteer friends, but I'm not going to lie, I think they opened up a door to the protestors we see on the streets this week. But I don't blame them personally!

If I founds out someone I held in high esteem voted Reform it would definitely colour how I think of them.

Reform have one policy - anti immigration. Since they don't seem too upset about the vast amount of 'legal' migration (which is 10 x that of refugees etc), the only thing that differentiates them is the colour of their skin and their economic status.

To me, morally, judging someone who is in dire need and happens to have a darker complexion than yourself is pretty bad. Openly saying you'd stand on the beach and shoot refugees isn't just 'bad', it's abhorrent. Voting for people who say that is equally awful. It says pretty horrific things about your character, and I don't want to associate with that level of inhumanity.

It's actually ok to be intolerant of other's intolerance. It's ok to judge people by their actions, which this is. In fact, I'd be quite happy to say that if you are hate-filled, intolerant, racist, misogynistic, homophobic or otherwise an asshole, please give our friendship a wide berth as we'd have little in common!

What has lead to the riots this week has been years of failure to control immigration by both the Tories and last Labour government. They both promised time and again to sort it but didn't. That was a big part of why people voted Brexit, and they still didn't sort it. And this is why we are where we're at today.

Kier Starmer promised on his manifesto to stop the boats and sort out immigration and how much it costs us in millions each year. I wonder if he will stick to that promise!

Of course he won't, he will double down on tories misgoverning. As I have said before people are angry as govt is not keeping us safe which is their first duty. There have been many murders on the streets by illegal immigrants from war torn countries some of them white (and all covered up/memory holed). Alot of these people have severe mental health problems. We haven't got the resources to treat mental health of people already here.

How is someone in dire need if they are in France, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Holland or any other number of EU countries.

They don't need to come here, it's not life or death if they are in those countries. They come here because they want to, but we can't let everyone who wants to live here in, it's not sustainable, it has a knock on effect on services.

Starmer will find it hard if his plan to smash the gangs fails and numbers increase each summer

OP just out of interest, who did you vote for? Just because someone votes Reform, it doesn’t make them racist, bigoted, stupid etc. Why do people assume voting reform means
you dislike other religions / minorities? It actually doesn’t. My friend (a Muslim male) voted reform and is very proud of it. He is pakistani born and has lived here for years and works hard as a GP, paying his taxes and sending his children to private school. He is likely to be taxed now on giving his children the best he feels he can offer them. As an NHS worker he has been treat like shit by the government for years. (I work in the NHS so know this is true). His Children have been attacked, spat at and called some really horrific things by illegal immigrants in his home town and wants Migration to be controlled ‘like it was when he came here to live and work’. (His words not mine). The ignorance seems to be coming from the dogooders who believe all the crap this Labour government and the conservatives have spouted on for years about. Cover ups, lies, and a failure to deal with things that really do need speaking about without fear of retribution. Maybe voting reform was the best out of a series of bad options? Kier Starmer….dont get me started, the delightful billionaire Rishi Sunak who thinks working class people are the scum of the earth or Nigel Farage? Just because someone wants Great Britain to be great again and wants net migration to be reduced (not stopped, reduced to what it was 15 years ago), doesn’t actually make them a racist does it? And before you say, oh you voted reform….. no, I was one of the idiots who voted the government we now have.

I don't think you can draw any conclusions just on the fact that she voted for Reform. I think a lot of people in the last election just wanted the Tories out but didn't think Labour was any better. Votes for Lib Dems, Greens and Reform all went up - it could have just been a protest vote. I wouldn't read too much into it.

Nigel Farage is a fully paid up (pun intended, he's a loaded financier)member of the elite he's managed to fool you he's against. And you appear to have swallowed it hook line and sinker. That alone would make me think less of you, let alone all the " what other protest vote do we have " self-excusing nonsense.

Black and Hispanic people vote for Trump. Doesn't make him any less far right, and dangerous.

One of my best friends is a lefty, I’m slightly right of centre. I love her anyway. It’s not like any of our parties are extreme left or right, even reform. And this election really didn’t have any great options in my opinion. I don’t see why this should change your relationship.

She made the right choice REFORM Don’t let it destroy your friendship. I have a brother who’s Politics are quite different from mine and we argue all the time but we still remain friends.

@Shazam2 family is different. Friends would become ex friends if they voted Reform.

I am stunned by the level of ignorance on this thread! EVERYONE has a right to vote for whoever they wish! It has absolutely nothing to do with you. How dare you! How would you feel if she felt the same 'disgust' when you told her who you had voted for? Voting Reform does not mean you are automatically racist. Did you actually read their manifesto or just automatically assume it was all to do with immigration??
NHS, Policing, Slashing government waste, Housing, Schools, Children, Benefits, Agriculture, Fishing, Pensions and reclaiming Britain are just a few of the things people voted for. Some people may live in an area over run by migrants and are scared to walk down the street without a fear of being attached. Yes this does happen! Wanting less ILLEGAL migration does not mean you are Racist. How about the knife crime in this country? Labour & Conservatives did nothing? The justice system needs to change. The NHS is on it's knees and it will only get worse under this government. Pensions are going to be taxed even more than they all ready are with this government. Is that OK with you? Some people are sick and tired of being the lies and deceit from the Labour & Conservatives and felt this was the only option left available to try and make a change to what was once, a great county.

@eyupcocker anyone can vote for who they want to.
People have the right to decide who they are friends with and for some people voting for Reform affects whether they want to be friends. You have no right to dictate that people should remain friends.

Yes as I said earlier on this thread if I knew someone voted Labour I would think less of them as I think Labour are scum and will trash this country more than the Tories and hold Labour voters to blame. I would assume they're misguided and get all their new from the BBC and/or very young and haven't lived through last 20 years. I am perfectly entitled not to want to be friends with them as are people who don't like Reform (but abit childish).

@Northernnature I voted Labour last time. I have voted conservative as well in the past, and once Lib Dem. I do not think I would want to be friends with you anyway from the way you talk about a mainstream political party and those who vote for them. So it would be no loss.

So what if she voted for Reform doesn’t stop you from being friends just because you have different views.
immigration is a big problem and wanting net migration reduced doesn’t mean you are a racist - it needs to be controlled.
Also reform wanted zero tolerance on knife crime with stop and search this needs to happen.

Sorry to say, but you sound just a little bigoted in denying your friend the right to have an opinion, the audacity of being a foreigner and co-habiting with yet another foreigner.
Yes. I voted for Brexit because I wanted UK politicians to be accountable and stop hiding behind Brussels. Many of my friends voted to remain and they had their own good reasons for doing so.
I'm fine with immigration and emigration. I didn't vote for reform because Farage didn't present any policies that I cared to support. It becomes a problem when people wallow with their like-minded friends in their shared bigotry and are repulsed by those who dare to dissent.
Why don't you ask asking your friend why they voted the way they did? Ask them if they regret it? Tell them your own view. Try being respectful and open minded. There was a lot to be said for old-fashioned traditional Liberalism.

@eyupcocker It seems that if you are part of a certain group eg Reform voter, you are not worthy of any friendships and are automatically cast as a racist, hateful demon worshipper who is akin to a Nazi.
I have friends who voted Reform and wouldn’t cast her aside because she is anti immigration. We discuss pros and cons and then carry on with other topics.
As others have said, if you’re friend is going to cut you off for utilising your democratic vote then you should be thankful they are not in your life anymore because they weren’t your friend in the first place.

@JustAnotherDadOf2 you’re wrong. I didn’t deny her anything. She couldn’t vote because she hadn’t been here long enough. She lives with another immigrant (from a different country to hers), I wanted to point out the hypocrisy. You’ll see from a subsequent post she’s also homophobic (which I’d known in fact long before). There comes a time when you have to re-evaluate the amount of your own free time you want to spend with people with whom you have to be guarded. The friendship is moving after 30 years towards birthdays and Xmas messages and occasional get together. She doesn’t like blacks either. I don’t know how I put up with her so long. Nostalgia, I think. She’s well educated, well travelled.