Why aren’t the Tories attacking Reform UK ?

[Karlmayforpresident]

Why no attacks on Farage and his party which are realistically the biggest drain on Tory votes ?
The manifesto is a joke and will not survive scrutiny, some of their candidates have associated themselves with unsavoury individuals and have pretty out there beliefs, and yet the Conservative Party is haemorrhaging votes to them. I don’t know any Tory voters swinging to Labour but I know plenty who will vote reform (or not vote).
Why are they holding back criticism ?
Apparently some cabinet ministers are suggesting to Sunak that he ‘goes low’ and starts to make personal attacks on KS. But why are they so reluctant to call out Reform UK who let’s be honest are an easy target ?

Possibly hoping to use them to form a coalition?

Because Farage is an idol to a lot of people and attacking him is futile as, although I want to make it crystal clear I disagree with almost all his views, he is a charismatic public speaker and whatever they say will be like heresy.

Agree 100%. Farage plays extremely well with Tory party members, who are mostly very far to the right of the mainstream.
Meanwhile, old school.common sense Tories have already gone elsewhere.

Because there's every liklihood it'll be a hung parliament.

Very unlikely I think.

well, not every likelihood really. a very small chance...
if you really believed that you'd be putting your money where your mouth is and placing a bet with amazing odds.

@KnickerlessParsons sadly I agree. Despite an abysmal record the Tories are Teflon coated. Can run the country into the ground and they’ll get away with it.
None of their policies have worked. And yet the fear of the ‘other’ is so bl***y entrenched they’ll pull it off.

Not in the universe I inhabit.

@BIossomtoes I don’t want it but knowing how flakey the British electorate is I’m not so sure.
When the Tories discover that Starmer agreed with the execution of Geronimo the alpaca, that will no doubt influence a lot of floating voters.

Please provide some evidence for that bold statement.

They seem to be going after Reform in quite a big way on social media.

Not that but as Reform has only one policy, ie immigration and the Tories have failed miserably, its pointless attacking a one-man band. A failed one man band that did not manage to get elected last time. This time he has the best chance to get elected. Reform may get one MP at best!!

Bookies odds here. It’s actually really quite unlikely.

They tend not to get things that wildly wrong, or they soon go out of business…

To be fair, I think they might get two or three, who will be so direly awful as constituency MPs that they will immediately get voted out again. That is, if they don't do something stupid, racist of criminal that will end up in a byelection.

Nigel Farage has also said he will scrap a raft of laws - including a whole lot of protections for workers' rights. That's where the attack needs to come from.

They’ve given up.

The private jet to LA is already booked for July the 6th…

I agree @pointythings. I think that the Tories know that the best way for Reform to be outed as pitiful is for one or two MP's to be elected and to be so crap that they show themselves as the incompetents that they are.

To those saying a hung parliament is practically impossible- I hear you, but did many people not think that Trump being elected and Brexit was an impossibility too? I'm not trying to be goady- and I'm no expert but when those things happened I think I lost all faith in impossibility.

@Onedaystronger the difference with Trump and Brexit is that in both cases the polls were close. The polling for Brexit was all within the margin of error. People believe that Remain was widely predicted to win - that just wasn't the case.

The situation now is very different. We're 17 days out and there's no real movement at all yet. I suppose if Keir Starmer ate a live kitten sandwich on the High Street somewhere in the Cotswold, it might all turn.

I think both the Brexit vote and the Trump/Clinton election were far closer races. Iirc, the Brexit polls were essentially seeing both sides as neck and neck at the time just before the referendum.

How can the Tories really criticise Reform
Uk and who would really listen to them?

The conservatives have failed on nearly every promise they’ve made in 14 years.

They bring back a failed PM ( David Cameron ) by sending him straight into a cabinet job by making him a Lord.

Cameron is now being vocal about Farage but who cares ?
The Tories deserve nothing less than being wiped out in the election.

All Labour need to do now is keep quiet and not say anything too ridiculous.

Really?!

@pointythings though it depends on how he ate the kitten sandwich. It could turn the tide if he ate it á la Milliband bacon sandwich.

Both main parties are terrified of bringing up Brexit and Reform is UKIP with the same front man...

FYI, I'm not voting Tory and have never voted Labour
Reform s as I said a one man/clown band and they'll be luck to get the clown in as an MP.

Immigration is the only subject Farage knows!!
The other two, if you think the Tories f'd up England, wait until the possibility of Labour slipping in via the back door with coalition partner/s. I bet you the Libs are ready, will able to join a coalition and stab their voters in the back for the second time!!

If you are on benefits, then Labour is for you. If you are on, near or above avg wages, own your own place, paying into private pension/s, you will be totally suffed if Labour slips in via the back door

Both Lab/Tory along with any other policitaclly party will feed you total bS just to get the vote if you are still easily led, IMHO!!