AIBU to be utterly baffled at how many people are falling for Reform after the Brexit mess?

[TheCoralShaker]

I’m not into any political party or ideology – honestly, they all seem like varying shades of grifters to me – but I just can't believe how many people are jumping on the Reform bandwagon like it's some magic fix.

After everything that happened with Brexit – the lies, the infighting, the broken promises, the economic fallout we’re still wading through – how are people still falling for this kind of simplistic, shouty politics? The "common sense" soundbites, the "tell it like it is" nonsense, the constant scapegoating of whatever group is most convenient that week... it's all so transparent.

I'm not saying any of the main parties are perfect (far from it), but Reform seems to be just a bunch of media-savvy populists spouting whatever will get the loudest headlines. What’s worrying is how many people lap it up without even questioning what’s actually being proposed, or whether it’s remotely feasible.

Where are the critical thinking skills? Why are people so easily seduced by these pantomime figures who tap into anger and offer no real substance? It’s like the more outrageous someone is, the more they’re celebrated, and never mind whether any of it makes sense.

I get that people are frustrated, disillusioned, sick of the status quo, so am I. But falling for another bunch of opportunists who thrive on division and offer nothing beyond slogans seems like doubling down on the same mistake.

AIBU to think that we should have learned by now? Or is this just how politics is going to be from now on, performative outrage and no actual plan?

Farage will be answering to the US Christian right on things like abortion rights etc. He doesn't have normal peoples interests at heart, just his and his masters

A lot of people are a lot thicker than you imagine.

Fuck me, the "disruptors" caused Brexit, the most ridiculous self-destructive own goal a nation ever voted for (until, maybe, America voted for "disruptor" Trump).

The ""disruptors" are self-serving elite bankers and billionaires whose policies lead to more money for those at the top of society and a discarded, divided underclass.

They are the last thing we need. We need consensus, collegiate politics if we are to face down the challenges of the demotic and the climate crisis.

Protest votes.

And a lot refuse to believe Brexit was a mistake

There's no reasoning with stupid
You won't persuade people to vote for you by sneering at them.

I'm not a politician so not asking anyone to vote for me or any particular party. But there are a lot of stupid voters out there who don't look at the evidence

I think people have lost faith in the mainstream parties and want change , but I don’t think the Reform party is the answer . I am not sure what is tbh! But government after government has messed up We need some great minds , a think tank or even AI to come up with a strategy to fix the UK, take into consideration all the problems and concerns everyone has, what a vision for good looks like for everyone and come up with solutions!

Fuck me, AI, she says?!!!

I just hope that Reform make that much of a hash of local government that it makes people stand up and think oh shit maybe we won't vote for them again.

By the time the next GE comes round Trump will have totally wrecked the USA and made RW politics untouchable.

And Reform will have failed their voters badly. They're already imploding as a party and ballsing up the councils they've won.

You've answered your question yourself... Critical thinking skills are severely lacking in large swathes of the population. It's that simple - many, many people believe what they read/hear in soundbites, election propaganda, social media posts and tabloid media, without critically evaluating what they've taken in.

I read the OP and cut straight to the end. ‘The People’, those who voted Leave, are still being shielded financially from the consequences of their action. As a result, they still do not understand what they did; because they can’t understand why their lives weren’t instantly improved.

The ‘Leave Deliverer in Chief’ has cleverly spotted an ongoing opportunity. ‘Reform will deliver where Brexit failed you’.

Do not underestimate the drunken, feudal, cap-doffing, woefully undereducated Anglo-Saxon peasantry.

I've heard this point hundreds of times since 2016, and honestly, fuck that. I'm not a politician, I couldn't give two shits about trying to persuade people. If someone said the earth was flat I'd call them stupid and sneer at them, not listen respectfully and say both sides have got good points.

And in any case, even if you do carefully lay out the points, not a single one of these idiots ever say "you know what, some of that makes sense!" They just call you a traitor or a snowflake and launch into the remainers' tears memes.

They decided what to do and how to vote (because they're morons) without any reference to others' views - the idea that sneering elitists drove them to it by saying mean things on the internet is just a way to give themselves cover and avoid responsibility. I've never fallen for it and I'm not gonna start now.

It's not surprising people are turning to reform. Tories are finished and Labour full of hot air about what they're going to do. Total fiasco over winter fuel, payments has made me doubt their ability to run the country. And that dreadful Chancellor. They need to get rid of her

Farage wants to reopen the coal mines in south wales. It’s like they’re picking ideas out of a hat at this point.

You see this. So do I. Both of us are thinking critically. Farage is one of the elite, as you say, but he has styled himself as an ordinary bloke propping up the bar in his local, nipping out for a fag every twenty minutes. Imagine having a drink with him. Easy conversation. Imagine having a drink with Kemi or Keir. Much harder.

This isn't a party political broadcast. It's a thread on Mnet. No one is being asked for their vote.🙄

Well, there we are, the OP is a political post I agree with pretty much 100%.

I dont think we need disruptors at all. It's incredible how much people undervalue stability when we have it. A long time ago I read an article by a writer who said Britain was a country where you look at the newspapers and read about apocalyptic political and economic collapse, but if you look out of the window, you see a man throwing a stick for a dog. He said he valued that because he'd lived in multiple countries where the opposite is true.

'Disruptor' to me = Liz Truss, ie a dim bulb and the most clueless Lord Chancellor we ever had who not surprisingly had a breakdown when via a stupid series of events and a few thousand party nembers actually had to try to run the country and implement her dinner party 'ideas'. Farage is about on her level, although I'll admit he talks a better game. Thank goodness we eventually stopped having Tory pass the parcel and had a recognisable government in power again.

This is exactly what those same people said about Brexit.

I know we're all supposed to pretend that this isn't about people being stupid, that these are all terribly disadvantaged and marginalised Normal Folk, who just want to be heard, but none of them ever say what it is they actually want. It's all vague "country's gone to the dogs" cobblers, and when you drill down to the specifics there's nothing.

Most of them are doing very-nicely-thank-you, but just spend all day soaking up bullshit on Facebook, convincing themselves that the Great Replacement is really a thing.

They did a feature on The News Agents this week at some pub in Blackpool that has declared itself the first official Reform Club. Everyone they interviewed was thick as mince.

One of them even said Brexit wasn't a good thing after all, and he wished he'd been told the truth before he voted for it. You were, pillock, but you chose to believe the snakes who called it "project fear". And yet this genius was still supporting Farage in his latest grift.

This is a social media problem. It's melting people's brains.

It’s simple. It’s because of immigration.
The Tories didn’t get on top of it, and Labour aren’t reducing it either. So people are looking for a party that will.

There are more racists out there than you realise.
And so many people who believe everything they see on social media.
It's all win win for Farage and co.

I actually think they do. He is very popular, he says what he wants and does what he wants.

I honestly think they’re all in for themselves in any case, but lately they they’re also all insane!

I think people have very different values. Some people want things to be fair and feel positive about strangers and have a view that we should help each other.

Other people see strangers as a threat to them and their security. They are a lot more concerned about staying ‘safe’ and protecting what they have from people who might spoil things.

do you know any reform voters ? I do, in a rural community I work in. They seem
to be hard working and self sufficient. They do not want to share their wealth with people they feel are undeserving. I’m not saying this is right but I can sense what it would bf like to feel very differently about the world

When you have the govt of the day unable to give a definition of a woman, actually denying science and giving credence to the bullying bullshit of the trans lobby, is it any wonder people give up on Labour?

I could never bring myself to vote reform but sadly we need someone (as a PP says, a disruptor) to give the mainstream parties such a scare that they remember what their job is and return to some semblance of intelligent, fact based policy making.

I live in an area where Labour has never ever lost an election. Average wage is £29k, most people rely on UC to top up their wages. Social housing is non existent, schools are overcrowded and underfunded, the local council are making cuts left right and centre but we have one of the highest rates of council tax in the country when you compare the average wage. You cannot get a doctors appointment, hospital services such as maternity units are being closed so people have to travel further, an NHS dentist is unheard of. Throw into the mix councils from Birmingham building housing to send people down from their area because they are overrun and local people losing their jobs in hotels that have been closed to house immigrants and it’s not too difficult to understand why people want change.

Are Reform the answer?, probably not but when you live in a deprived area it’s not hard to see why people will vote for Reform because they probably think what more have they got to lose. I can genuinely see Labour losing every election over the next few years here, that would have been unheard of less than 2 years ago.