To not see the appeal of Reform

[Reallyneedsaholiday]

Sure, I can see the appeal of “reform” (with a lower case “r”), noone is under any illusion that the country is in a great way, at the moment, but not the appeal of the Reform political party. And I genuinely want to understand what it is that has so many people in thrall to them. All I’m hearing is “sToP tHE bOAtS”, but Reform will not do this, no matter what they are saying now. Simply returning anyone who arrives here on a boat, without following due process and considering their application, would see the country subjected to international sanctions, that we cannot afford. The only viable way to actually stop the boats, is to address why people are using them in the first place. WE have decreed that no one can apply from anywhere other than on our soil, and so have left them with little choice. France offered the opportunity to have a centre in Calais, Rwanda would have also worked, as a base where asylum seekers could apply without risking their lives on the channel. Those who are successful could be brought here safely, and anyone using unauthorised routes, could THEN be legally removed without appeal. It’s not a difficult solution, so you have to ask yourself “why” politicians turned down the opportunity. The only logical reason for this, is that they WANT the boats to continue. Again, you have to ask yourself “why”, and the reason for THAT is simply that they want the distraction, they need the scapegoat.
We’ve all seen the headlines, claiming that asylum seekers are living in the lap of luxury, with free phones etc, which is simply not true. Asylum seekers actually cost the country less than we lose through tax avoidance, every year.

But if we put immigration aside, as the distraction that it is, what appeals about Reform? I’ve asked many people and really struggle to find any Reform supporter who can even tell me what any of their policies are. Why are they so keen to sign away our human rights, leaving us to the whim of successive governments? Why are they so keen to introduce a private health care system (good luck getting any cover if your have any pre-existing medical conditions in your family)? Why are they so keen to introduce fracking? Or to scrap “net zero”? Tbh, I’m not completely sold on “net zero” myself, but overall, being more environmentally friendly strikes me as a positive move. Less pollution, less plastics, cleaner water, cheaper, safer energy etc, etc. you could scrap the title “net zero”, while keeping the important bits that would generally improve our quality of life, without throwing what we have achieved, to date, away.

I could go on, but I’d just like to ask anyone who is thinking of voting Reform, at the next opportunity, why? And how you see your own life improving IF they won a GE?

I do not care what "open borders" means - I presume for different people it means different things.

The only relevant things in my opinion are -

(1) If you want less immigration the borders probably feel open
and
(2) If you support the status quo then long term you might find that you are better off support Reform-like policies, because the longer the concerns of the majority are ignored the more restrictive (and potentially fascist and racist) future border tightening ill be.

I don;t think anyone wants closed borders with no-one allowed in or out of the country. They probably want more tightly controlled borders that allow holiday-makers in and out but do not allow mass immigration especially from people who are Islamists and despise the west and its values.

I agree. I think a lot have a nothing to lose philosophy and if they have nothing, other people should suffer too.

There is a lot of jealousy amongst them too. Always complaining and comparing.

I see this more behind Labour’s policies and recent popularity. Although their popularity is damaged a fair bit recently. The dragging others down part this is

No, you miss the point. They may or may not have something to lose, but faced with an incredibly dislikeable, smug, virtue-signalling wanker who lives in a pretty all-white village telling them off for their racism, then they're even more likely to vote in ways that pisses off incredibly dislikeable, smug, virtue-signalling wankers.

What a ridiculous post.

I think that Farage will show you new levels of corruption and incompetence and grifting that make you wish for either / or tories / labour.

But I understand 100% why you would feel completely let down by both tories and labour. And "anyone but the last two again" is pretty rational.

Why is he getting all the coverage? According to this most people don’t want him

https://yougov.co.uk/politics/articles/52896-how-do-britons-see-reform-uk-ahead-of-their-2025-conference

I suppose it’s worse in terms of voting intention for the other parties and only 11% approve of Labour, 70% disapprove.

If they don't answer the question, then its a reasonable assumption that they don't know.

Only one person has even attempted to give any logical reason beyond "they're not Tories or Labour" and tried to give any example of any policies, which is what I asked. Noone has given a single example or way in which they believe their own lives would improve if Reform WERE to be voted into Downing Street.

My son sent me this instagram reel! If these are real Reform supporters then we really are fu*#ed!
Reform policies

To be fair, the current government was only elected on the basis of stuff like “get the tories out” and suchlike. It wasn’t because a majority of people really loved the idea of Labour. They wanted change. And they got change, it was just change to make things even worse!

Reform’s manifesto contained stuff like scrapping BBC licence fee so we’d all save a bit on that. Also, tax relief for independent schools would certainly help the sector out - remember that it isn’t just “rich” parents/kids, there are people with (quite low) paid jobs there who are getting made redundant left, right and centre. This would help a relative of mine out - teacher who’s had the lesson and other duties load substantially increased to account for redundant colleagues.

Anyway, I’ve long said there’s nobody to vote for.

Thank you

Exactly. For some ‘change’, not tories and son of toolmaker was enough for Labour. People have as much as an idea and maybe more, they probably just avoid mn threads asking the same questions and often ending in insults.

I’m interested to see how this plays out amongst Gen Z and younger voters because ultimately Millennials, Gen X and Boomers have allowed a political, decades long, ping pong game between Labour and Conservatives to shape the state of the country as it is today.

Who speaks to them at the moment? Reform?

Disengagement would only make things worse for their futures, in the work place they’re more likely to call out what they disagree with so I can’t see them sitting idly by as their future prospects and standard of living gets decimated by further shoddy choices from their elders.

Way to go on missing the point 😂😂😂

The appeal is they’re not the main two parties. It’s quite simple really. They make bombastic statements that don’t really make any sense but as a headline attract people (not me). By being an alternative option they can make empty statements that they don’t really need to backup because it’s unlikely they’ll ever actually have to back them up. There’s a large number that don’t trust anything “mainstream” and so this approach is an easy hook.

People saying it's simply because Reform are "the only real alternative to Labour and the Tories" seems a bit bs to me. You vote for policies, and Reform seem to have close to zero besides "get rid of immigrants."

Fair point. The op could just be bothered to read.

Actionable policies, as opposed to fantasy ones.