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!

😂😂😂😂

Well, that certainly spiced things up a bit. This GE was looking very boring and predictable.

I don't think Reform will get more than one or two mp's, but I also don't think they necessarily need to.

A protest vote can always shake things up.

I think that a lot of people stuck in an echo chamber will be shocked at just how many people dont think like them, just like Brexit and the Corbyn GE.

Boris got in on a massive majority and then fudged Brexit in the eyes of Farage and possibly Trump
it will be an interesting year for Politics both here and across the pond
used to go to Clacton for a day out with my Granny in the 70s remember the laughing Policeman at the end of the Pier
doubt he is laughing much now

He got brexit through so he will succeed I think in getting in…then the gloves will be off.

Did he though ? Honestly I remember him agitating for it, but my memories of that time were more of Johnson and Gove and their bus ?

middle-class Labour don't really have much to offer traditional Labour voters

I never understand why this isn't talked about more because it's so obvious to anyone who comes from or lives in the traditional Labour areas @Katypp

The morning after Brexit , Nigel farage was on GM tv telling people they didn't really mean it about millions a week for the NHS on the big bus.
I hope someone will resurrect that interview with Suzanna Reid to prove it wasn't what it seemed. 24/06/2016.

He won't get the blame for any of that, the Tory's will.

I have to admit that I'm a little worried about protest votes against the Torys AND Labour going to Reform.

UKIP got nowhere near power, but they were the ultimate cause of Brexit and I hope people don't underestimate that. Europe in general is heading further and further right.

Maybe tuned in to what some people want to hear, but not all. I would be quite happy if I never heard him speak again.

On Question Time last week he chortled along with the Tory non-entity who - in reply to an audience member who asked where the promised extra 350 million a week went - said something like "it has actually been more than that." Of course, the not-so-hidden bullshit was completely disingenuous because it's only a fact to say that the NHS gets more than 350 million a week (ie. not 350 more than before brexit) but nobody challenged them

On the other hand, I was heartened throughout the show to notice that Farage got far less applause than he was hoping for each time he opened his mouth. He was losing the limelight, which might help explain his volta face today. Pathetic, needy, nasty little shit that he is.

What worries you about people voting reform?
Why do you think Western countries are turning further right?

And so it begins. People who want a change from the Tories and Labour, both who are an absolute shambles, are labelled bigots. To throw around insults and name calling is just a substitute for rational debate by people not capable of rational debate.

He's from the Truss school of Thatcherism on steroids but without the unique circumstances that allowed Thatcherism to flourish. North sea oil - Thatcher wasted it. Selling off the family silver - Thatcher done that already. The economy - already completely fucked.

Farage would destroy whatever is left of the NHS, more unfunded tax cuts for the rich, have us out the ECHR and pledges to end net migration. No plan to actually grow the economy though. We'd all be fucked.

I'm a believer in immigration being a net positive, and think the benefits are not discussed enough and are not so obvious to people being affected by a crumbling infrastructure and health service (which is too easily blamed on too many immigrants instead of a failure to invest).

I'm an immigrant, so the rise of anti immigrant rhetoric makes me feel very insecure and scared.

I think that instantly verbally assaulting or labelling anyone who has been misled about the root cause of this, or for having concerns about culture and integration, or who want a discussion on the vetting process for immigrants, has just driven the concerns underground to simmer and become more extreme. And that it pushes people further and further right.

Tbh the logic is impeccable. Farage will do well. And it is about immigration- which has exploded since Brexit. That core, older white vote is not happy. The Conservatives have been paying a lot of games with asylum seekers. Bur Farage is not stupid- he’s going to point to legal migration as the problem as he has done for years. Reform isn’t going to pay lip service to diversity. There are more votes in dismissing it. It will motivate this older, majority white vote to support him. The logic is immaculate.

@Westfacing

loads if the « facts » he said are utter lies
i am considering suicide versus having to listen to this bigot repeatedly again
i don’t want to live in a country with despicable racists and hypocrites like him

I’m all for people being allowed their own views and opinions however I genuinely don’t view supporting a known racist bigot as having a legitimate view 🤷‍♀️ there should be absolutely no place in politics for active hate and that’s all Farage and his cronies bring to the table.

Well my prediction is that Farage and Reform will start getting a vote of 15 per cent plus in the polls. A lot of people will feel free to vote for him. He will talk along racial lines, he will explicitly discuss immigration and I dare say once Labour wins this election he will give them a lot of pressure to limit immigration and citizenship. And it will be popular in the U.K. Whether Labour are really against some of his agenda remains to be seen.

Kathy Burke National Treasure™️ said it best I think..

The Tories have massively increased immigration each year while simultaneously demanding all kinds of curbs on immigration, under pressure from Farage and the right wing press.

Immigration does need to be controlled (you can't have net migration near a million every year, it's simply not sustainable). However, the Tories won't be frank about why we need immigration so much to keep the country functioning. There's nobody doing that, just shouting about Rwanda and stop the boats.

When immigration is not managed properly, and not explained properly, then it's going to lead to Brexit (however self-defeating that is for those who voted for it). it's going to lead to votes for Reform.

What power will a single MP have over a government with a massive majority?

The Bus. The Bus.

Firstly, it was a suggestion of how to spend money by a campaigning group and not a government policy - i.e. 'Let's do this instead.'

Secondly, I remember that interview. The interviewer, Susanna Reid, was banging on about the bus and trying to hold Farage accountable for it. You'd think a journalist would know the difference between Vote Leave (Boris) and Grass Roots Out (Farage). Apparently not.

Farage had nothing to do with the The Bus™.

It's always an indication of somebody's lack of political understanding when they bring it up and link it to Farage.

I wish more people would understand this. It’s one of the many ways in which Sunak is so fundamentally dishonest.

The bus was a Cummings/Vote Leave gimmick.

Farage and Cummings hated each other, so Farage was happy to distance himself from it.

My grandad was an immigrant and suffered immensely but I do think there is more tolerance today.
I can understand your fears but people who vote Reform are not all bigoted and racist.
Most just want to be able to get an NHS dentist and have enough money for a few beers at the end of the week.
Just because people read the Daily Mail it does not make them dangerous or morons.
Labour and Conservatives don’t seem too concerned about deprivation and poverty.
When UK born people live in shipping containers, sofa surf or live in a tent, do you think that they have any sympathy for immigrants who protest about it? It’s not because they hate them, it’s because they don’t see why they are protesting when their own accommodation is sub standard.
I also believe on the whole immigration will always be a net positive. But when people are accused of being racist or bigoted for speaking their truth then the right will get more right and the left will get more left.
Both sides should show more tolerance and maybe start trying to understand political views rather than resorting to name calling.
I hope you haven’t found the UK people unwelcoming.

He’ll have 15-20% of the electorate behind him. That puts him in a strong position to be a significant influence in whatever right of centre party develops after the GE.