Reform as a protest vote

[twirlischocolate]

I hear and read of people who would normally vote for one of the main parties but are now thinking of voting reform.

I am in my fifties and I remember being spat at, called a paki just walking down the street and told to fuck off for no other reason than I don’t have white skin. Told by teachers to stop telling tales if I was hit/punched by kids while they were screaming National Front in my face.

After the referendum I heard stories of people being shouted at in the street “we voted leave so leave” The people being shouted at were all brown. I was in the queue at the post office when an old lady in front of me said to the Indian lady who worked there - as we voted leave you’ll be leaving now won’t you?

The people who spat at me in the seventies would now be voting reform.

You may be saying - Farage offers a different way. To me Farage emboldens these people - evidenced by his refusal to disown or deselect various reform candidates recently.

Some people would say that it’s a protest vote and they’ll never get in - but every single protest vote makes him think that people agree with him and makes him louder.

And as to the man himself - he shares platforms with the AFD and says that real live human beings should be left to drown in the channel. Is this who we want anywhere near power?

A few years ago he was so broke he was doing “up the RA” videos for 80 odd quid and suddenly he has a Coutts account. Where has this money come from?

I know none of this matters to those who are absolute reform voters but hopefully it will make those who are protest voters think again.

I know you may ask “but what’s the alternative for the politically homeless?” Maybe an Independent- I don’t know but I really don’t think reform is.

Will vote Labour as always.

I’m sorry for your experiences OP.

This is not just a British problem, strong political divisions are showing up across the Western world. The question is why and what can we do. Except part of the problem is that we have become too scared of open debate, voicing opinions, and independent thinking.

Like many people on this thread I will have ideas, experiences and opinions. However if I were to express them do I risk being accused of transphobia, racism, or whatever. Too often argument has been replaced by insult. The unifying cultural bonds, like only two TV channels that everyone watched, have now become splintered. People can stream the content that appeals to them, find their own bubbles of Reddit or Facebook, and with it the belief that everyone thinks the same way, and if they don’t they are wrong and bad.

Reform is a symptom not a cause. Farage is a sort of Trump light. There is not much depth to the party or its manifesto. Support is from the disaffected. The more that support is told they are racist or whatever, the more they will feel disaffected. How do we, as a nation, find a way to pull people together?

Can you give examples of the dystopian nightmare you are scared of?

I am so sorry for your experience.
I agree that anyone thinking about voting Reform should have a long hard look at themselves and do some research. Farage has made very racist remarks and even when he was at school his teachers thought he was dangerous. It also attracts racist candidates who have not been vetted properly. I think a large number have been found to be Facebook friends who neo nazi groups.
If you don't want to vote for any of the main parties vote Green, independent, Count Binface, Monster Raving Loony.

I am scared that many people are. And I have seen them on these.boards.
I am genuinely scared of Reform because they are a real danger to the UK

The Conservative and Labour hierarchy need to take a long, hard look at themselves. Reform are only gaining traction because a huge number of people don't feel represented by them, and Farage knows how to play to that. Don't forget that large numbers of voters don't have educational attainment beyond the level of a primary school kid. I'm going to be looking at independent candidates because honestly I wouldn't want to choose between the 2 main parties.

I am not sure.
Typically, teh right wing populist party in European nations averages around 13%, bouncing between 20 and 8.
With FPTP, that does not normally apply but everything has gone wrong with the Tories. So, the right wing Tories all rush to reform until the get a hard border with the EU that is open in Ireland, with trade barriers that are not barriers to trade etc.

I wish he’d died in the plane crash years ago so we didn’t have to see his toady face and hear his whiney voice.

Wow. I hope I never get on the wrong side of you in real life.

Reform is the BNP with a new logo.

@38thparallel sorry was feeling a little pissed off in general when I wrote that. Not that I feel any different today mind you!

Honestly I feel like about very few people - only Farage, Trump and Boris really

Exactly. We all need to do our own research and vote responsibly and be as informed as we can. Russian bots are doing their best to divide us and create instability.

Those saying they will vote reform may just be Russian Bots rather than real people. I think pointing out Farage supports the views of Andrew Tate (women should be the property of men and kept at home with no possessions) should be enough for any woman to not vote for them.

Totally agree op and so sorry you've experienced such awful racism.

And the utter stupidity of people talking about a 'protest vote' just blows my mind

So was Liz Truss and look how that turned out.

Pension funds would've collapsed without a huge bailout from the state, and our mortgage payments got bigger.

Anyone who's fiscally Conservative will know that Reforn's manifesto is a nonsense on that score.

Didn't Sky say their tax/spend ratios were even more pie in the sky than the Greens?

Abandoning Net Zero costs more than doing it of course.

Let's hope after 14 years of decline the country has had enough of the right wing agenda and is ready for a forward looking future-proofing modern thinking government rather than one banging on about culture wars to detract from the fact that Conservatism is a busted flush as an ideology.

Well the stupid people will vote stupidly obviously.

Mostly in areas of low educational attainment and high deprivation.

We just have to hope that they are a minority, and that they are evenly distributed over all the constituencies and good old first past the post will do the rest.

Absolutely spot on.

Immigration aside, Reform have right wing policies when conservatives do not. Although if you hear the bloke speak it’s all “immigration”. (Side note, whoever thought a vote on Europe would stop migration is a plonker by the way).

The clearest message you can send is to vote for the party that most aligns with your views. That’s also the reason I don’t support tactical voting.

Sorry you’ve been subjected to such horrendous abuse OP.

Trying to split the Tory vote?

I think what I find so unattractive about the right wing view nowadays is the whining and blaming other people all the time. Haven't they heard of taking personal responsibility? .

The "When I said racist things people told me I was saying racist things so I'm going to vote to put my country into the hands of obvious wrong'uns and it'll All Be Their Fault!" argument reminds me of Farage saying sovereign countries aren't allowed to make their own decisions about which international organisations they join. If they do it's their own fault if Putin attacks them. And also ours for thinking they are a sovereign country and can make their own decisions.

We've got a very tiresome guy on our local Facebook page who posts slogans and talking points he parrots from right wing commentators and he calls himself an independent thinker. Irony is officially dead in Godalming.

I believe the NHS budget has increased by more than this post Brexit.

In a nutshell - The basic fact is there are too many people in this country hence the overloaded Hospitals, Doctors, Schools etc.etc.etc. Unfortunately Labour, Tories, LibDems or Greens are not listening to the majority - IT NEEDS CONTROLLING!!!

Farage is the old one who is prepared to do something about it. A diverse population is what we need and want, but in a measured and controlled fashion.

The likely hood is Labour will win but Reform need enough votes for Farage to stand opposite him in the House of Commons. The Tories need demoting to a fringe party to teach them a lesson.

Hospitals, doctors, schools etc are struggling because of 15 years of chronic underfunding by the Tory party, not because of immigration.

The only people I know voting Reform are people I have called out for racism and sharing BNP/Britain First posts. Or my FIL who openly uses the N and P word and is a homophobic twat.

There is no doubt the country is far too overcrowded and immigration is definitely a large part of it. There is also massive underfunding but the money has to come from somewhere.
Reform are gaining traction because people are sick of living in a country that is sinking under the waves. However it is the NF by another name.