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?

People are strange.
Look at the SNP in Scotland. Scotland would be hugely poorer after independence but your true believers don’t care. They’d rather be independent and poor than part of the UK.

There has never been a sensible answer to where the money is coming from without the Barnett formula and recourse to the huge English tax revenues. Huge in comparison because there are only 5.5 m people in Scotland and over 10 m in Greater London alone. And of course those few higher rate taxpayers in Scotland who don’t work for the state are likely to decamp to England.

Perhaps @EasternStandard will believe you because she won’t have it when I tell her.

I'm no Farage supporter, but I've never felt so disappointed in the quality of both the Labour and the Conservatives MPs. I want politicians I can admire and have confidence in. I look at the Labour Cabinets of the past and the current cabinet is so lightweight. We had Jack Straw, Robin Cook, Mo Mowlem - we are so desperate for leaders, good orators and Statemen. Raynor is none of those.

The two main political parties have failed to tackle the biggest issue for Reform voters - immigration.

Whether it's true or not, the perception is that "these people" are costing the country billions of pounds each year, to the detriment of "us".

A quick Google search showed expenditure on asylum support for 2023/24 as over four billion pounds, which Reform voters believe could be better spent elsewhere.

With many hotels being taken over to accommodate "them", with the perception of crime rates increasing in areas where asylum seekers are accommodated, and "our housing" being given to "them", school places being taken by "their children", NHS struggling to cope with the increase in patient numbers etc etc etc, it's not hard to see why Reform are gaining popularity.

Of course, when the only thing their supporters are focusing on is immigration, all their other policies can fly under the radar. Until the time they actually get into government, and the shit hits the fan.

I remember after one election, when UKIP had gained a lot of votes, David Cameron coming out and saying "message received, and understood", i.e. we need to tackle immigration. Yet here we are, with Reform gaining popularity on the grounds of immigration. I suspect if you were to ask most Reform voters what the Reform party's policies are, apart from immigration, they'd be hard-pressed to come up with anything. But they don't care, because - immigration.

I would go one step further and suggest that politicians not only have to listen to people but also represent their views otherwise someone else will Someone that will bolt on more extreme policies and really start pushing us on to some very dangerous ground.

Time and time again people are telling the government and powers that be about what they care about. Immigration, over taxation and the sky high welfare benefits bill being funded by an overburdened working population, a worrying and unsustainable explosion in disability benefit claims etc. None of these things are easy to tackle but it's imperative that a major, moderate political party has sensible policies in these areas that reflect public opinion otherwise people will look elsewhere for more radical alternatives.

Rose tinted spectacles there I think. Those Labour politicians you revere were reviled in their time. Rayner could hold her own with any of them. In fact I imagine Mowlem would have been her greatest cheerleader.

All parties and their MPs are self serving grifters, who lie as soon as they open their mouths. 🙄

Reform are no worse than the rest.

If you think that Brexit has been a complete shit show and that most of Farage's policies are half-baked at best, but you would still vote Reform in the next General Election, what would be the benefits for you of a Farage government?

I see him as an accomplished campaigning politician with no track record of successful delivery of his policies and I think that the policies he has spoken about would be a disaster, e.g. getting rid of the NHS. He spends a lot of time on self-promotion and very little time as a constituency MP.

I would be totally fascinated to see what happens if we get a Reform government if I didn't think that it would have a devastating impact on vulnerable people.

The likes of Reform / Rupert Lowe blow inconsequential minor issues into apparently important topics. Last week - burkas and halal slaughter. Weirdly these issues are almost always linked to immigration and especially Muslims.

I've never felt so disappointed in the quality of both the Labour and the Conservatives MPs. I want politicians I can admire and have confidence in.
It's strange, isn't it. There are so many jobs that you can only do if you have the correct qualifications, and it seems that the list grows daily. Yet there is no competency test for politicians. Maybe PPs are wrong to be cross about the quality of voters and should be looking at the quality of politicians instead.

This is a very good point. Hopefully they will give the other main parties a kick up the arse.

Most people I know who are vehemently against Reform haven’t even looked at any of their policies.
What else do we have to go on? All parties have a manifesto and they nearly all back track once they get in to power. So we either don’t vote, or vote for the policies we most align with.

I wish it wasn’t a popularity contest. I wish that, come election time, we were just given key policies and told “this is party A, this is party B” etc so we don’t actually know who we are voting for. Very few people put much thought in to it. You have so many voting Labour, for example, because “my family have always voted labour” almost like they’re supporting a football team.

Im a swing voter. When the next election comes round, I will vote for whichever party most aligns with my views on certain topics.

Our Government are arseholes…. Mad Ed Silliband…mandates putting solar panels onto all hospitals n schools and conversely gives
£57 million to research into dimming the f…king sun!
Read the Kathryn Porter report on Net Zero. Unachievable in the timescale, extortionate costs heaped on bills,
The shower of shite we have atm are complete liars and corrupt charlatans.

And dont even start me on the fishermen debacle. Completely inept negotiators.
Go Reform!

Would be interesting to see a list of their policies and your take on each of them - or anyone who’s a fan of Reform explaining them and why they’re good…

I think we are going to have to disagree Rayner (thanks for pointing out my typo!) is never going to be admired as a leader or statesman. Yes, she has life experience but she is no deputy prime minister.

@askmenow can you tell me more about how you think Reform will do better? I'm genuinely interested and not being snarky. I want to understand what you think they bring to the table.

Oh and don’t think for one minute that calling Reform voters stupid and racist will make any difference. If anything, you’re just going to end up encouraging people to vote reform by doing that

Laughable really. Talk about fishing and remember how Farage attended exactly 1 of the 42 fisheries committee meetings in the EU he was supposed to attend. He doesn’t care.

Why not have a try? Because we've already seen what happens when communities ignore red flags.
Laughing at people’s genuine concerns is exactly how past scandals — like the grooming cases — were allowed to fester. People raised the alarm, and they were mocked, dismissed, or accused of scaremongering.
I refuse to sit back and stay silent while young children in our town are being lured into certain shops or environments that don’t seem right. If something feels off, we should be able to speak up without being shut down.
If it turns out to be nothing — great. But if it's something more serious, and we ignored it? Then we’ll have another tragedy on our hands in a few years, asking how we let it happen again.
It’s about safeguarding, not judging. And it starts with taking local concerns seriously.

You can go and look at them yourself. It’s not difficult. I’m not listing them out here and my take on them. I was making a point that people don’t even bother to read them before tearing a party down.
You’ve also made the mistake of assuming I am a reform voter. I’m not. I even said so in my post.

What I am saying is READ each parties key policies and decide who to vote for that way. If Reform policies aren’t for you, don’t vote for them. It really is that simple.

I think you’ll find a lot of people disagree with you. It’s fashionable, particularly among women ironically, to dismiss her as thick and gobby but anyone who’s seen her interviewed can see she’s a highly intelligent, straight talking, well informed politician.

When I said pissed off earlier I meant this. Of course it’s linked to Labour and how they are perceived,

Maybe - but once again, she is no leader or statesman.

It’ll be hard to say it’s only conservatives switching if Reform do well in Wales.

Do you think that poster was ever a Labour voter? Seriously? She was always as likely to vote Labour as you are, you’re both cut from the same cloth.

This is an example of a conversation j had the other week. Again, full disclosure, I am not aligned to ANY party

“I’m terrified Reform will get in!”
”why?”
”well it just feels wrong?”
”what feels wrong about it?”
”just like we are going backwards”
”in what way? What are you terrified is going to happen?”
”mumble mumble, Farage, mumble mumble”
”which of Reform’s policies are you worried about in particular?”
them - blank face