REFORM Party Questions.....

[Modernfamily2011]

Genuine question here, I do not want to start arguments but i'm honestly curious as to the hate for the Reform party....... I will be the first to admit that politics is absolutely not my strong point but this Election and for the last few months I have been doing a lot of research

I will not be voting Conservatives but Labour don't fill me with any confidence either, the Reform party Manifesto actually looks good, I would love the minimum income tax rate to be raised, Stamp Duty threshold to be higher, NHS change, energy bills to be lower etc

Am I just a little naïve and is this just a case of Farage talking nonsense? A bit like the Brexit debacle? Surely if these policies could have been implemented then they would have and where would the money come from? Farage is an excellent speaker and he knows how to play the public, there is no doubt about that

I would love some insight from those who know a little more about politics than me!

Suit yourself. It is all in there. I am not going to follow instructions from you. I have wasted enough time.

"Because in that instant of ira @Aladdinzaneit is very difficult to find out what happened after 50 years and very easy for "armchair critics" who have never put themselves in danger to criticise people who have to make split second decisions when they're life and others on the line."

We have evidence to this day, given in investigations just after events happened, that British troops committed war crimes in N.I.

The second part of your sentence is just a bad character attack on anyone who states this.

"They should have been prosecuted at the time if there is a case to answer"

Would you apply the same values to the very old people still being prosecuted for their part in German war crimes? What about those that we are prosecuting in the ICC for Sebian ones? Rwandan ones?

I am still waiting for @Triestre to explain how removing employment rights is in the middle class' interests.

Farage seems to get upset when interviewers ask him questions about his policies and the massive holes in them...

Keep waiting. I replied and nowhere in the manifesto specified the points you raised. You were the one who came up raising that point not me. I specially talked about my favourite bits of the manifesto.

"Your tax proposals help someone who is richer more than someone who is poorer"

Ed Balls calls out Nigel Farage who then has a meltdown

https://x.com/implausibleblog/status/1802988220210155661

Reform Ltd's "contact" specifically states they would scrap employment laws.

Why would anyone vote for that?

I do not know ask someone who is voting for that or Reform?

I think perhaps we are in agreement that Reform Ltd's "contract" would be bad for the UK including the middle classes?

Well if we aren't allowed to call them thick, then we need to seek alternative explanations.

Like being thick.

The problem is what you think of as "the UK" and what Nigel Farage think of as "the UK" are not the same. Not even close. I bet yours has a lot of people who aren't white in it, for a start ?

@Triestre appears to have a little difficulty evidencing their points.

A little like Farage.

😂
I'm none the wiser about the question

There will be things you agree with and disagree with in every party's manifesto- but I think you have to look at the overall picture. I personally don't want the country run by a bunch of regressionist BNP types , most of whom haven't seen how business works for best part of 15 years and have a ton of utter weirdos as candidates and a motor mouthed bullshitting narcissist as leader - he would be awful in international affairs too- a real embarrassment.

I do however agree with their take on degrees over 2 years-apart from very specialist things like medicine, teaching, law , STEM etc

I also agree with looking at how we fund health- although I do think he's bullshitting when he says 'a French' style system- what he means is an American type system and this isa real issue for anyone who isn't 100% fit and healthy as it stands.

With regards to why do people vote to remove employment regulations- I estimate at least 70% of Reforms voters don't work and are retired OR are things like plumbers/cab drivers/brickies etc. so it doesn't hit them. Sadly many (not all of course) older people become very selfish and if it doesn't impact them then they don't give a shit.

His manifesto is unaffordable and batshit in many areas-

I do wish people though would look at the whole picture, the lack of a decent modern thinking team behind him , getting rid of laws designed to protect people, it would end up a giant 'free for all' - with a few winners and many many losers.

@IClaudine - thank you for the apology :-) Farage might be fooling voters but no one really seems to question why that is............. I have a theory, he speaks clearly and not in political terms, the public warm to him for this exact reason, Rishi and Kier could probably learn from this, he is popular because he doesn't come across as though he is superior (in my opinion).
I don't think any politician has a clue about living in the real world, particularly Rishi, they all have expenses paid and do not have to think about money like the rest of us
Anyway, I feel as though i've stirred up a Hornets nest here when my question was genuine curiosity and i honestly wanted opinions on how someone can make all these promises with no way of backing them up! I suppose Brexit is the answer really!

I will grant Farage one item of note.

Many many many years ago, in a debate on immigration he was "schooled" by all the establishment players that immigration was essential for growth.

To be fair, his question in response has gone unanswered all these years.

(The fact he hasn't persisted suggests it was a stopped clock moment, rather than the result of any intelligence at work).

However he did ask: "Why do we need growth ?"

And frankly I have never heard an answer. I know all the economic bollocks about economies etc. However even an idiot in a hurry can tell that simply leads to needing infinite resources as the balloon grows. No amount of net zero bollocks etc etc is going to change the shape and direction of the graph that is soaring to infinity.

It's a question that the political systems appear to have decided to all agree to never mention. Which is fine. But not talking about gravity doesn't stop falling over.

Next time quote the user.

I agree with some of what you say, but you still haven't answered my question!

I'm not a reform fan. But I assume lots of employers would welcome this as would some self employed who don't have those rights anyway. I mean your average employee would be bonkers to vote for this. But there are a lot of small business owners and self employed out there.

Firstly, someone on a salary of 2.5m would pay PAYE. It is very unlikely that any employer would pay some in dividends, as that is reserved for company owners.

Secondly, you are actually agreeing with my point. All of the things you mention are legal ways of reducing tax burden. What I mean by closing loopholes is to take those legal channels away.

Also, you are incorrect about rental income. Income is income and is treated as such by the HMRC. Sure, there are a few things that can be offset against tax, but those have been reduced quite a lot over the last few years.

Sad to say, I failed.

Again, you are making my point for me. Those companies are doing nothing illegal. If we don't like it, we need to change the law to close the loopholes.

True, but re the dividends, it is perfectly legal. If we don't like it, we should change the law and close the loophole. The Conservatives are unlikely to do this as it is all their mates (and donor) who benefit in the main.

I hate hypocrisy.
@Triestre If you were given the choice of lowering your tax bill in a perfectly legal way or paying more tax, which would you choose?
If you can HONESTLY say you would opt to pay more tax, good on you.
If you would - like most people and businesses - take the legal way to pay less, then you are a hypocrite to complain when others do the same.

Are you seriously asking why we need growth?

If so, it's easy to answer. Let's say you earn 10k. With that 10k let's say you can pay your mortgage, bills, and have sufficient left over to do all the things you want to do.

Next year, you will still earn 10k (no growth), however inflation means that everything costs a bit more so your money doesn't go as far. Let's say you live in the UK where there is no growth. You could argue that the effect of inflation would be minimal, however the rest of the world is growing, so everything will cost more. Additionally, you would need to stop people being born and also growing older. Because there is no growth there will be no additional jobs for them. Of course there is a balance as people retiring free up jobs, but they will need supporting in their old age. We are living longer now, so there is additional cost to this. So taxes need to be raised, but people aren't earning any higher amounts as there is no growth.

Everything we buy from outside the UK costs more as those economies are growing.

Very noddy example, but you get the picture. It would be lovely if we could jump to a star trek existence where money is no longer necessary, but that hasn't happened yet. Everyone wants more, and so the only way to achieve that is growth. For Farage to question why we need growth is laughable, especially as he is one of those wealthy people taking advantage of the loopholes that others on the thread are complaining about. And still he wants more.

What loophole?
You get a dividend allowance of £1,000, above that you pay a reduced rate income tax. But when you factor in the combined corporation tax and the dividend tax on the profits being distributed the overall tax take is near enough the same as the same amount being taxed as earned income.

If you want loopholes, look at CGT.