Reform UK neck and neck with Labour?

[NeatDog]

Absolutely shocked to read that in a poll Reform UK are neck and neck with Labour...

About 25% polling share for Reform and Labour.

I thought Blair was the worst PM ever, but Starmer seems to be giving him a run for his money.

Really. I don't believe this. Come next election, only one or other of conservative or reform will stand for each seat. No split vote. And very many more right wing seats will be won.

TBF you are correct, however, it needs to be pointed out that all that testing and etc, which did cost 25 billion, got us where exactly?

It was an utter waste of money.

this is what a Parliamentary committee had to say:

The £25 billion for test and trace is about the annual budget of the Department for Transport. Test and Trace still continues to pay for consultants at £1000 a day
Yet despite the unimaginable resources thrown at this project Test and Trace cannot point to a measurable difference to the progress of the pandemic, and the promise on which this huge expense was justified - avoiding another lockdown – has been broken, twice

But apparently, its the left that wastes the money...

Reform and Tories wont do an electoral pact but if they do, you can be sure the LDs and Lab will too.

Far more likely Reform and the Tories merge.

You are insane.

Yet that didn't happen in the last election. People were sick to the back teeth of the Tories yet Reform only won 4 seats. UKIP and Farage have been around for a long time.

4 seats is not convincing.

Can we have some actual, costed figures here? And I hope the WFA isn't restored as a universal benefit.

Speaking as a European, my quality of life is not reduced in the slightest by accepting asylum seekers, the ones I know are wonderful people who have been massively traumatised.

Refugees make up less than 0.5% of the UK population. In contrast this graphic shows the countries that accept the most per head of population.

Most of the test and trace money went on testing, inc. testing kits.

I doubt even the left oppose that use of money.

Curiously, you’ve even managed to repeat another debunked falsehood:

https://fullfact.org/health/test-and-trace-37-billion/

Are you familiar with the 1951 Convention?

🙄

The root of all the problems...

Or more kindly, a solution for a different world than the one we live in today.

Well that's a convincing argument.

You're not affected by asylum seekers so you think they're OK.

Awesome argument!

It is an opinion, nothing more, exactly the same as yours is.

You have comprehension problems.

This was my original post

This thread neatly demonstrates how populists win elections.
Slow hand clap to those who continue the narrative of 'everyone who doesn't agree with me me must be a right wing fascist or too stupid to have a vote' with no sense of irony about the fact that they are no better by trying to silence alternative viewpoints.
From a Political Theory view point these are fascinating times, the political landscape needs to adapt in in line with the changing world and we are living now through this change.
The next few years are going to be a rollercoaster but without doubt the left is handing it to the 'far right' by doubling down on its superiority complex.

Which you have, for reasons you can only know, taken personally.

There is no name calling at all.

My valid opinion, which is not name calling btw, is that the left does have a superiority complex. You can see it all over this thread with one poster who EVEN believes that people they deem to be stupid, because they hold different opinions, should not even have the vote.

My personal valid opinion is that Starmer would be better addressing the concerns of 71% of the public with regards to the issues in the north of England with muslim/ Pakistani child rape and torture gangs, rather call people who are now aware of it (thanks to Musk poking the stick) right wing.

I believe times are a-changing and the rise of populists like Trump and Musk will continue whilst people carry on stifling debate.

The Tories were awful and the Labour Party are woeful at disregarding valid opinions of the electorate. Voters feel like they are being sneered at when they are told that their opinions are 'right wing'.

You appear to have it in for me personally. You are attempting to shut my valid view points down. At the same time you are entirely proving my point!

I think the 1,500 women getting sexually assaulted on NY day in Germany would disagree.

So do you think there is a limit on the amount of asylum seekers we accept?

By refugees?

I think people are shitting themselves that Reform will get into power and.......they actually do a good job. God forbid!!

The fact people actually think Reform are "far right" too just tells you how left wing this country has been for years. They are a normal right wing party with some centrist policies. They want to nationalise the water companies for example.

Even if you are close to the public thinking say 40k per year or some figure is doable the system is straining and will get more problematic

The risk, deaths, profits, no vetting, lack of control

It’s not a good system, and the cost is huge. That cost includes surveillance, money to other countries, deportation, legal aid and that mentioned by pp hotels etc

And the response which usually comes back is safe routes, this won’t resolve it as won’t meet demand

This need for this system rather than addressing the major issue just perpetuates crime and risk

That's true for the US and we may see something similar here next time around. But in the 2024 GE Reform's lack of physical networks held them back,
amongst other things. People are also overlooking that for all the votes v seats commentary, there's no prospect of that system changing next election. Reform have to win under first past the post to get into power and make those changes. We will see if digital activism itself becomes key.

I think we need to be processing claims much more quickly, and get better at sending people back when their claim is refused.
But if someone comes to the UK to claim asylum and is found to meet the criteria, they should be allowed to stay.
I don't think these should be a limit, but I do think other forms of immigration should be more controlled.

I agree, the UK should absolutely be doing more as a member of the UN to do it's bit to help other countries get to the point where they are so unsafe that people are forced to flee.
Would be far far better for everyone involved.

@username299 , does it make you feel big to be so rude? I personally know plenty of highly educated Reform voters, many are in their 30’s. The arrogance of the Left is astonishing. My joy when Labour falls will be unbounded. 😁

You can look away, you can scream from the rooftops that Labour won a stonking majority but you know. I know you know that they have had the shortest honeymoon period in this nation’s political history. If it wasn’t so dreadful for the country it would be laughable. And it hasn’t even begun to really bite the electorate yet but it will and you know it will don’t you? You know too that the numbers are tenuous for Labour. They have four and a half years left, tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock.😉

Based on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015%E2%80%9316_New_Year%27s_Eve_sexual_assaults_in_Germany:

By April 2016, statistics recorded by authorities indicated that out of the identified 153 suspects in Cologne who were convicted of sexual offenses and other crimes on New Year's Eve, two-thirds were originally from Morocco or Algeria, 44% were asylum-seekers, another 12% were likely to have been in Germany illegally, and 3% were underaged unaccompanied refugees.

When you say no limit do you mean that if 500k wanted asylum or more that would be ok?

Just putting up a number to see if it a comfortable one. I don’t think the electorate would follow, if asked, so you may be at the end of a spectrum on this