Farage has announced that he'll be making an announcement...

[Westfacing]

... an 'emergency' announcement, no less.

Presumably to announce he's finally plucked up courage to put his money were his big mouth is and stand for Parliament, after bottling it!

You're entitled to your opinion.

Interesting.

Far from it.

How is your evening going?

I cannot say too much. But fair to say that he actually has a lovely daughter.

I’ve never voted Conservative but I do genuinely fear for them after this election. I still suspect they’ll recover but there’s a chance of them being squeezed out by Reform, or going (even further) down the pandering to Reform-voters route.

I’ll take traditional conservatism over populist, conspiracy theorist nutters any day of the week…but that’s not the way things are trending.

Out of interest (and not argument). What do you consider to be populist, conspiracy theorist nutters?
Genuine question.
Is it a far right thing? Far left thing?
I'm honestly interested.

We voted Remain back in the day, but I remember thinking Farage was the only person not speaking rhetorically in the debates. It was impressive stuff.

Populism and propensity to believe in conspiracy theories aren’t the sole preserve of either the left or the right, but it’s become more and more mainstream on the right over the last decade or so (obviously this is most apparent in the US).

I've re-read and think I understand what you are saying...

Tories have shot themselves in the foot, let's face it, how many PMs were actually voted for? It's all been an incredible f up, and that in itself has lead to an opening to the far right.
Well it's been a shambles really and Tories will lose, due to their votes going to Reform.
I make no apology though for saying that I despise anything to do Tommy Robinson and his racist clan.

Call me pissed, call me (not you OP that I'm quoting!) anything, I'll have to scroll back up for the insults, but..

Having a far right, taking votes from a conservative right, whilst brilliant for Labour, just shows what a state our country is in.

I understand what you are saying. Sadly my 27 year old son likes to bury himself in them and has become rather right wing himself. Much to my disgust. I'll not tolerate it.

That's why I said up thread to never underestimate him.

It all got out of hand after a comment on my part.

It's quite funny really, the things I've been accused of since!

I think the problem for traditional conservatives is a demographics one. Right wing politics is about preserving (or growing) the wealth of the richest. They used to be able to count on middle class votes (where middle class voters reasonably considered that they were voting in their own best interests) but the middle class had both shrunk and has shifted left.

The only way for the right to win elections now is to persuade working class voters to vote for them, against their own interests- hence populism and the focus on “culture war” issues.

From my own experience, a lot of the 'Baby Boomer' voters that were originally Conservative are now moving left because they can see the impact on their adult children. Immigration (red herring in some respects) no chance to get on the property ladder, not having to worry about getting a school place is absolutely trickling down to the Grandchildren. Whilst they have got richer through buying their first property at £4K, they can see that there is no chance for the next generation until they die.

I was going to say that I never understood the shift of working class people voting for the right. When you look at it though, it's often a vote to keep England for the English in spite of being kicked whilst you are down.
It's true, working class, voting Tory may as well lay down and ask for a kicking.

On that note, I think I'll go to bed and read a cheap trashy murder mystery novel - clear my mind!

It’s because they can’t debate it pragmatically and have to resort to ad hominem attacks.

I think it is good he is standing - not because I agree with him but I think politics needs people who have conviction from across the political spectrum. What I like about Nigel Farage is that he is direct and clear, just as was Tony Benn and Ann Widecombe. These politicians are able to express themselves clearly without shouting down others - another politician who I put into this category is Chris Bryant and I also feel that Yvette Cooper is falling into that category more and more but I am not entirely sure on that.

Too many politicians are not prepared to stand up and say what they believe and are seeking to tow the party line at all costs. I think having those with conviction across the spectrum promotes debate which is important.

@Socha

Because Nigel Farage has proven that he is just spouting word soup - all style with no substance. Very Trump-esque.

Yes some people thinks he 'speaks the truth' yet a lot of others thinks he has caused division and disorder.

Take Brexit, by every single measure, it's been a disaster for this country. He was one of the main protagonists, yet seems to get away with it. Think of this country's standing in the world, it's gone down the toilet, mainly due to people like him who seem to hark back to the 1950s like some kind of golden age.

He has stopped my DC from easily living and working in Europe, like I did in my 20s. For that, I will never forgive him. Of course his DC are OK because his wife is German so will always have access to what the EU has to offer.

Shame on him and his grubby little politics.

For those champagne socialists that can't understand why 'working class' people 'vote against their best interests', I'd highly recommend this documentary.

As far as the Conservative Party is concerned, Thatcher was a blip and the 'wets' are the status quo.

Farage is very much in the mold of Thatcher and she was incredibly popular amongst the working classes that wanted more than a state job, state housing and bog standard (shit) comprehensive school for their kids.

Is just a shame there was no fact in anything he said.

If he was reasonable, and stood for something reasonable, he'd probably do very well.

Think of Donald Trump and his mob storming the Capitol on Jan 6th because Biden 'stole' the election. Trump railing against the 'elites' and talking about 'draining the swamp' (despite, like Farage, being a millionaire rather than some scrappy underdog).

The idea that Hilary Clinton was running a paedophile sex ring from the basement of a pizza parlour.

Anyone who talks about the 'scamdemic' or thinks that the vaccine was actually a method of controlling us and that ivermectin was a cheap cure that the pharmaceutical companies were suppressing because they couldn't make any money from it.

And of course the Great Replacement Theory that the country is being deliberately handed over to Muslims.

Tends to be the far right.

That's why I said up thread to never underestimate him

Whats impressive about a man who has stood for election 7 x and lost 7 times?

He is given a status by the media that far out ways his importance - why is he even being interviewed by the MSM ? (and he'll be interviewed many more times too)
He heads up a party with no (elected) MPs and predicted not to win any seats.

Just remember when you put your cross in the Reform UK box - he hates you. He wouldn't piss on you if you were on fire in his front room. He holds you, and all the other ordinary people who think he's their Saviour, in total contempt.

He doesn't even pretend otherwise. If you vote for Farage and his bunch of wannabes (did you see the guy in the white suit standing next to him at that press conference, a poundshop Tommy Shelby!), you're voting for a man who genuinely thinks you're a thick twat who he can manipulate as he pleases. He's a smarter Yaxley-Lennon in a Savile Row suit. So, enjoy.

There's an interesting podcast on Radio 4 called 'The kids are alt right' which discusses how across Europe the younger generation are now more right-wing than older generations. You might find ig interesting.

he hates you.

Au contraire. Sort of. I think he loves the people that enable him to be self serving. I agree that he doesn't give a shit about them in the sense you mean, but I would imagine that he is quite delighted for people to be lapping up his bullshit and enabling him to continue. Without people who don't investigate the facts, and make informed decisions, he would have nobody listening to him at all.

Let's face it, Danny Wallace managed to get a whole load of people wanting in just by placing an ad in the paper that said "join me". Nobody even knew what they were joining.

https://books.google.com/books/about/Join_Me.html?id=OcyNEAAAQBAJ

This is the point I was making up thread. Many traditional working class voters are right wing and middle class socialists don't seem to get this. Instead they tell them they know what's best for them, they're 'turkeys voting for Christmas' etc if they don't vote for Labour.

The Labour Party is a very long way from its roots.

IME traditional working class voters want low immigration, jobs/homes for British people and to have some control over their lives. They don't necessarily want lots of welfare money or jobs in Europe which is why Brexit was so popular.

Agree.

I grew up on a council estate in one of the most deprived areas of the UK. My parents never worked a day in their lives and we lived off benefits. They always voted Tory as they were racists. I was the only white kid in my class in the 80s and my parents blamed all the “brown people” for their circumstances - failing to see that they had a newly built 3 bed council house!

I’m the black sheep. Got educated, was 18 in ‘97 so thanks to Blair I went to uni for free.

My parents are dead now but my brother still lives where we were born. He’ll be a Reform voter. It’s just now he hates the “illegals” rather than the Indians and Pakistanis who we were raised alongside of.

Having lived through the Thatcher era, and being working class and from Liverpool, I say bollocks to the suggestion of her being popular amongst the working class.