Unfriending right wing friends

[nondrinker1985]

One of my school mum friends of around 10 years has started sharing loads of Restore Britain/Rupert Lowe posts.

I’m actually really shocked as she’s an Irish immigrant herself.

I’ve unfriended her which is a shame as day to day she’s ok. Also another mum who has been liking and commenting on the Restore Britain posts, they’ll probably tell me they’re not racist but I can’t be arsed calling them out.

The constant whataboutery.

Why not address the points raised? Do you have an opinion, or do you just have this kind of response?

This.

What’s alll this ‘block’ and ‘unblock’ activity, and ‘unfriending’ ? sounds like most of these ‘friendships’ are just online connections if that’s all it takes to end one!

In any case, the ‘left wing’ ‘right wing’ political shorthands no longer really apply. Brexit was supported by a large number of traditional Labour Party supporters, and there are very significant numbers of people across the political spectrum who cite concerns about immigration.
The bigger split now appears to be more urban vs rural to some extent.

What a shame to end a good friendship over political views; surely better to talk it out and learn from each other , test each others assumptions etc.

It all sounds very petty and childish. Some people are still talking about friendships as if they were still in primary school.

And also, what I find particularly annoying is the assumption by some, that you can only be a good person worth befriending if you hold left-wing views 🙄

It’s so arrogant and presumptive. People have different opinions about things. The world would be very boring if everyone shared exactly the same views on everything.

If you can't look past someone's political beliefs and stay friends, were you even a real friend in the first place?

Friends stick together despite differences.

It depends. Different politics is one thing. Being racist, homophobic or misogynist isn't a political belief, as repeated upthread.

It's incredible we need to say this. The new argument that you're some sort of self-righteous ideological purist if you aren't open to being on friendly terms with bigots is precisely a way of discrediting anyone who has what, until just a few years ago, were very normal boundaries.

I have friends and acquaintances spanning Labour party activists, staunch Conservatives and Brexiters. Fine. However, I won't maintain any kind of social connection to anyone espousing views that are racist or from the manosphere, etc. Nor would I engage with anyone carrying a cross at a Tommy Robinson rally - or those who threaten women with violence for their GC views. If that means I'm living in an echo chamber, so be it.

Unless the specific post content are outrageous then not sure what these people have done wrong to you. You sound very judgemental, intolerant and ignorant. Assume you support a perfect political party?..... Didn't know we had any.

Grow up 🙄

I've been unfriended by right wing friends. My social media is quite self limiting/ self selecting in that way. When I say 'right wing' I mean Restore/ Reform. I have moderately Conservative friends, and most know me well enough to engage in respectful debate. I'm not at all bothered by losing those who think Farage or Lowe would make a good Prime Minister.

I wouldn't want to be friends with anybody who kneels for a career criminal either. Friends who join Palestine rallies which threaten Jews. Friends who actively support terrorists groups, friends who support a PM who thinks blokes can have a cervix. Friends who question whether women were really raped on October 7th. Friends who think it's OK to be friends with teachers who hold Suella and Rishi are coconut signs up. I could go on but luckily none of those hypocritical fuckers ever were or will be privileged to be my friends.

And being concerned about immigration isn’t racist, being concerned about public fetishism isn’t homophobic and being concerned about gender ideology isn’t misogynistic.

Everyone agrees that good things are good and bad things are bad. The problem occurs when people think they can dictate which is which with no debate.

@moderatethe issue isn’t whether people can debate immigration or gender policy. Of course they can.

The issue is that support for a political movement tells me something about a person’s judgement, values and priorities.

And life got in the way while I wasn’t on-line the thread has moved on by about 700 posts glad it opened debate but I need to catch up!

If you feel immigration is affecting your life, been victim to a crime etc. like my friends daughter who was followed and they where taking photos of her. Where she went into a shop and they followed her round to the point she cried at a worker that she was scared. Guess who her parents are now voting and you think that makes them monsters?

I’m no fan of Lowe, but I find it interesting that you acknowledge a lot of the country’s issues are ‘complex’ yet you’re determined to shut down one angle of the debate and anyone who is showing an interest in it.

It’s one thing to not want stuff in your SM feed, it’s another to banish a friend (and now a family member too!) because they have a different political view than your own.

Genuinely, who are 'they'? It's horrible to hear that any woman or girl is upset or intimidated by men in any circumstances, but how did she ascertain their immigration status in this situation?

Because as she walked past the hotel that was closed because of migrants they came out and started heckling her, they followed her to town despite her taking detours to get rid of them and they followed her. With one running up front of her turning round and taking ger photo. The police where informed

Well yes, if they equate the actions of 1 person to a whole race or ethnic group. That would be racism and fairly monstrous; responsible as it is for injustice and death across the world

There was 5 men following her & numerous posts from the local Facebook page reporting instances of girls being approached. With one man hearing a man offering a school girl £70 if she went out with him

Are you under the impression that immigration is a racial characteristic?

Trying to pretend that there are not serious consequences to the changes of the last 30 years (whether these changes are immigration related, ones affecting social mores or impacting women) is deeply unserious.

The left pretend to us that there is nothing seriously wrong and that nothing has really changed. Anyone with half a brain cell can see that that is not true. The left are just deluded.

You don't have to admire Lowe and Farage (I don't particularly) to recognise that their popularity reflects a growing frustration with how change has been imposed on us. The utter failure of the left to acknowledge these issues let alone make constructive suggestions is shameful. Instead they just try to pretend these issues don't exist and blame others for pointing them out!

That’s very true @KateSixer

No, they're voting for them because they're racist, xenophobic and/or bigoted.

There's lots of clips resurfacing now of those same people making all the same accusations against middle eastern/African migrants as they did of Eastern Europeans a decade ago.

Same rhetoric, same hate, same perpetrators, just a different target.

The irony of people opining that immigration poses a danger to women, while voting for the party that is an absolute threat to every woman across the country.

How any woman can vote for the scrapping of the Equality Act and the Online Safety Act, not to mention restricting current access to abortion care, is beyond me. And that's just what they've told us they'll do.

How can THESE issues matter less?

The same people? Interesting. Have you got a side-by-side video?