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

@JustAnotherDadOf2 ps no kids so please God she’s not on here.

@TinklySnail if you want to be friends with someone who votes for Reform that is fine. I do not want to be. And to be honest who I am friends with is nothing to do with you.

Yes ditto @AvrielFinch . You sound like you don't know much about politics, to me Labour are not mainstream they are quite extreme and are just trading on their brand when Labour was the party of the working class whereas now they make wc lives worse. They only got 20% of the vote of all voters so are not popular at all (Brexit got 37%) and are set to get far more unpopular.

I never said it was 😳
You okay?

eyupcocker · Today 19:45
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”

Absolutely. Our opinions of them may, naturally, change as a result. Choosing to distance yourself from someone whose views you find abhorrent does not make you ignorant?

@Northernnature Pot calling kettle black. I understand the different parties policies. I am totally against Reforms policy of being anti virtually all immigration and bringing in a US style health system and getting rid of the NHS.

Starmers Labour are centrists. That is why I voted for them. The Corbyn left hate Starmer. Not at all extreme, very middle of the road and unlike other political parties understand how to build a strong economy.

No political party is ever elected with a majority of voters. That is not how our electoral system works.

Exactly. Friends values and what they think about issues that affect people matters.

Corbyn was more popular than Starmer @AvrielFinch ie he got more votes in the 2019 election. Centrist is a meaningless word - based on what? Immigration was c. 40k pa in the 90s was that extremist? Is Japan extremist. It has been explained to you that reforms manifesto stated they aim for a French style health service, not US, so you have problems reading? I feel sorry for you if you have faith in Labour they will double down on the crap policies of the tories but unfortunately we are all going to suffer.

Ah so do you want anyone who voted or agreed with Reform manifesto to wear a bell round their neck and have a big white cross on the door?
You know, just in case you meet one? That way, you can avoid at all costs and walk in the opposite direction?

Let's hope so !

Yes I know alot of people that think bbc is impartial. I try and educate them but it's a losing battle!

Do you always respond with such hyperbole?
People can vote for who they want. I can choose to be friends with who I want and politics is a criteria for me.
I am never keen on people who respond to reasonable statements with such hyperbole.

What irony? There isn’t any.

Agreed. Or those who exaggerate massively to make a point.

How do you educate them? (Would like some tips as I was trying to explain to family but failed!)

I prefer the word sarcasm to hyperbole.
Obviously you don’t have to respond, that is your choice, I wouldn’t wish ill will on you for it.

What, like calling Reform voters Nazis?

There are plenty of old question times and interview programmes (see Brian Walden as an example) on YouTube that show how much more educated and knowledgeable journalists were in the past (rather than asking the tedious ignorant "gotcha" questions they do now). You could suggest they watch those for comparison. And point out alot of BBC people used to work for or go onto work for the Labour Party.

I can’t think of any BBC employees who’ve gone onto work for the Labour Party (or, for example, the Lib Dems or Green Party etc). Robbie Gibb and Allegra Stratton both worked at the BBC and then worked afterwards for the Conservatives though.

Nobody did this.

That is a fair point, I was thinking about people like James Purnell but that was quite a time ago now. The rest of my point stands true though.

I like to have friends with different political persuasions. Can’t think of anything more boring than an echo chamber.

loved this! So well said.

🤣🤣oh God….i hope you have no friends 🤣

Maybe it is different in the private school set. I am not well off. I have lots of friends who have different views, but care about the community and most are active locally. Some are Christians, some socialist, some lib dems or caring conservatives, but none would vote Reform. They want to build a better society, not to sow dissent, hate and division.