Welcome to Reform's vision for state control...

[CassieMaddox]

Buried in their "contract" I.e. manifesto which I've just lost an hour of my life reading.

New Police Leadership & Recruitment Regime. Strong preference for ex-military officers and personnel. I read this as militarising the police.

Introduce new Armed Forces Justice Bill.Protect our servicemen and women on active duty inside and outside the UK from civil law and human rights lawyers. AKA allow the military/new military style police to operate with impunity against UK citizens. A bit like the Stasi. 😮

Instigate “Veterans First” priority Status. For healthcare, housing, training and education, together with support for dependents.

Preferential Qualification for Key Public Sector Leadership Roles. Such as Chief Superintendent of Police Forces, CEO / COO roles in hospitals amongst others.

Give ex military rewards for being loyal, in terms of housing, jobs etc.

I'm actually quite scared by the level of state control Reform are suggesting, buried in pages and pages of boring waffle so I thought I'd summarise it for others who might be considering voting for them

https://www.reformparty.uk/policing

https://www.reformparty.uk/defence

https://www.reformparty.uk/department-for-veterans

'When you're accustomed to privilege equality feels like oppression.'

Oh come on. That is an entirely unrepresentative section of the electorate in terms of age, sex, ethnicity.

It is depressing that it's clearly one type of person that overwhelmingly votes reform, however on the positive side it shows they have limited appeal to the broader electorate and so therefore are probably quite limited to the vote share available to them.

It's quite cheered me up to be honest.

I think you’re right about the lack of hope being a major factor.
I was reading about the noticeable shift in youth votes in Germany.

In the 2019 European Parliamentary elections a third of the young people in Germany (age 18 to 24) voted for the Green Party.

This year, the voting age was lowered to 16 from 18, and 16% of 16 to 24-year-olds voted for AfD, a far-right party.

article amp.cnn.com/cnn/2024/06/11/opinions/scary-results-from-16-year-olds-voting-first-time-germany-hockenos

“But this about-face of Germany’s youngsters doesn’t come out of the blue. German surveys show a general unhappiness with the post-pandemic economic and political conditions. “It seems as if the coronavirus pandemic left [young people] irritated about our ability to cope with the future, which is reflected in deep insecurity,” concluded the authors of “Jugend in Deutschland 2024.” The issues most responsible: personal finances, professional opportunities, the health sector, housing and social recognition.”

This really bothers me too. I don't know why it is allowed.

So you don't like older white people ????

How very old, male and white

So you don't like older white people ????

Not at all. But I believe Governments should represent everyone. Not just appeal to older white people.

Even if it is aimed at the old and the white, the body language in that pic isn't what I'd call open and interested.

@Bendegedig I agree with you. It's about looking after veterans and so they should be looked after as a priority. None of them should be homeless.

Reform candidates

https://www.thetimes.com/article/10c14799-7f79-4cc1-b845-c4c89b5efd58?shareToken=b01deaa711b58f77e4d4e372b24414d0

Not sure Facebook "friends" really counts for much.

Ex military joining the police would be a fantastic idea - considering the wet nosed , virtue signalling, uni leavers we have now.

Doesn’t mean martial law is in the way ffs! It’s just focusing on housing and funding work for people who have been in the army.

I have family who have been in the services. One was in the marines and is mentally tortured at what he had to see and do.

So yeah they should be a priority it’s an absolute disgrace they are not.

You seem to have a real dislike towards people that have kept you very safe.

Reform will not win the election but they will do a lot better than what people think. MN is like a political left wing bubble sometimes - but ordinary folk who don’t sit on internet all day will vote for them because they don’t like the current situation. Tbey are gaining popularity

👏👏👏

Because psychologically scarred ex-marines are exactly the police force we need.
🙄

High intensity training camps could be a good idea if they really would
educate and rehabilitate and physical
activity is good for everyone so seems like that’s one good idea out of lots of bad ones 😂

Ah yes, what is a bit of facsism between friends, just watch out for those wet nosed virtue signalling uni leavers.

Because psychologically scarred ex-marines are exactly the police force we need.

So you want to leave veterans on the scrapheap? Overlooked for jobs and not supported with transition to civilian life? Not every veteran is psychologically scarred, but if they do have PTSD they should be given (timely and effective) support and more support into civilian jobs. Including policing of that's what they choose.

Policing is hardly an easy job either. It can also cause psychological scarring. Dealing daily with awful crimes, seeing awful things, witnessing and sometimes being targeted by violence, breaking the news of the death of a loved one to families. All takes a toll. They, like ex and current military forces, should be given more emotional support, to address any effects on their mental wellbeing.

There is a whole infinite wide world of jobs between "the police" and "the scrap heap".

I don't think we need a more militarised police force and I am unsure why Reform think we do.

The bit about bringing back strength and fitness tests also seemed like a good way to weed out those pesky women. Make the police a manly man's job!

Would they be 'less depressing' if they were less old? Would you have made the same comment if it was a room full of 20 somethings, or a room of any other demographic?

Just because folk are not young and 'trendy' doesn't mean that they don't have a opinion. We should really be looking at why the older generation feel so unrepresented by other parties.

I don't think someone who is ex military joining the police necessarily makes the police more militarised?

It's a civilian job and the ex military person is no longer in the military but many will have transferable skills appropriate to the police.

Psychological and physical strength, teamwork, and experience of humanitarian work. (The military isn't only about active conflict. Many are engaged in humanitarian aid).

I don't know if that's Reform's plans (and they're not going to form the next government) but regardless of Reform, I can see why some ex-forces would be potentially welcome additions to the police.

Agree but also I can't stand age generalisations (or other generalisations tbh). Large and varied group often with nothing in common except their age.

Although if people want to generalise by age, look at the recent EU elections. Large numbers of young people voted for the Right. France, for example (although similar in other countries) something like 30-40% of the youngest voters choose RN (Le Pen's party, although think it has a new leader now).

It's wrong imo to generalise by age. Everyone's different and in different circumstances and with different priorities and concerns regardless of their age.

They are not saying they welcome applications from ex military. That would be fine. They are saying:

New Police Leadership & Recruitment Regime. Strong preference for ex-military officers and personnel.

That's it. I don't think there should be a "strong preference" like that in recruitment of the police.

But actually it doesn't matter what they say, because it's not a democratic organisation so Farage can change his mind whenever he likes.

Although if people want to generalise by age, look at the recent EU elections.

Exactly. As mentioned in my previous post, in Germany 16% of the 16 to 24 year olds voted for the far-right AfD party.

@CassieMaddox I suppose it depends really on the motivation of that plan. Could be simply they see the need for more opportunities including jobs for ex military, and often there's transferable skills that might make policing a good option. If, however, it's what you're concerned about, that's not good but it's all down to interpretation.

But anyway Reform aren't going to form the next government.