Reform party

[Gman1]

Is the growing intrest in the reform party a sign that racism is growing in this country and has now become acceptable.

And I imagine the younger voters with any kind of ND or health issues will get themselves out there and vote for anyone but Labour as they are taking away their safety net of benefits.

I don’t support Reform but I can absolutely see how they will become a valid option. An alternative to the current options because people are desperate now. The change they wanted from Labour hasn’t happened, Labour are just Red tories. I think Reform will be the only option for some and won’t be their ideal option but they’ll turn a blind eye to some of the more controversial policies because of a real desperation for change.

Ok as you wish. But if you take your post here and swap out Reform for other groups of people you might not like the outcomes that much.

You're right. The country would only be better place if we were able to get rid of all of the Reform voters as well as Reform themselves.

Blaming political parties and their supporters for the country's problems is rather different from blaming other groups of people, don't you think?

Your not a child at 16 anymore, the world is very different place than when I left school in 1980.

They are making adult decisions at the age of 14. They understand the world a lot more than we do because they have instant access to information and are able to process complex arguments very quickly.

People need to wake up the world is changing and we are on the wake of a revolution and our children will be in charge of it. AI is going to be revolutionary and a 14 year old has a better grasp of it than most 40 year olds.

We have to adapt

I don't believe that at all, the difference is we've lost the ability to discuss things and come up with a plan that meets in ths middle.

You want to get rid of people. And you’re ok with others saying similar. Fine we reap what we sow. Although more saying yes it’ll be better if we got rid of whomever is not going to help much.

No it's about giving a person of working age the right to choose. They are paying tax, able to create a life they are pretty adult things.

Majority aren't paying tax though, majority are in education still. Even those who are working won't be hitting taxation level at 16. Most kids are still in school at 16!!!

It looks like Starmer is wedded to it, it might not be to his benefit as first thought.

I disagree. At 16 most are still in education. They can't get married, or fight in a war. They are unlikely to be tax payers, own or rent a home, or have children to think about. I would also argue (as a parent of a 16yo) that they are far too easily influenced by what they see and read online. Labour would be making a huge mistake imo if they thought this cohort would automatically vote left. As I said in a pp, my dcs school voted Reform in their mock election.

But they are taxable just the same as a pensioner. All my children were paying tax because I set them up with Stock ISA the moment they are born that matured at 16...so it pays them an income...all of which adds to taxable income

Saying the country is ‘full’ is another way of being racist

@dubsieif polls show closer to the GE the younger age group are more likely to vote Reform than Labour would you still be keen?

Being called a racist when you want a control on immigration (like a lot of other countries have) is getting old. It's a word thrown around to shut people down and people are getting sick of it now.

Or it may well be, you are taking one poster's anecdotal reference as the categorical proof that this would be a move to the extreme right. They carried out mock General elections at my eldest's 6th form college and Labour won, they carried them out at my DD's comprehensive, Labour won!

I think 16yos should be given the right to vote regardless of who they would vote for.

The politically literate amongst them will be old enough to have formed their views by that age. Those who are not politically literate by 16 probably won't be by 18. Or indeed by 25 or 35.

I am very concerned about the growing popularity of Reform amongst young boys. I believe it is much less popular amongst young girls. I would like to see our education system get much better at teaching young people to think critically and to distinguish between fact and fiction online.

Regardless, I would welcome 16yos getting the vote.

Is that a joke, "they are far too easily influenced by what they see and read online" what, as distinct from most of the population!

16 year olds are still legally classed as children.

I agree but you can only really apply critical thinking skills if you are an informed individual, I think the lack of reading books is to blame for that decline!

Can you elaborate by what you mean by this, it has sinister undertones.

No, it's not a joke. Have you watched Adolescence? Reform had a massive following online during the election campaign. My 16 yo is absolutely more influenced by what they see online. They don't read the Times ffs.

Not definite but a quick google shows support amongst young men in particular and why SM is helping them.

So, in a party where the median age of an MP is 60, how is it hooking in younger voters?

The popularity of Gen-Z skewing social platforms like TikTok is part of the answer. Reform was quick to engage with a younger audience there - racking up 308,100 followers. That is more than any other major political party, just ahead of Labour on 233,100.

Do you read The Times? Does your average Reform voter read The Times- a bit representative of The Establishment isn't it?

Jeez, the Adolescence drama wasn't even that good IMO but back to the real world as that was a drama not a documentary! But the context your child is in is completely different to mine as like I posted, both of their school's and college vote in the mock GE was a resounding Labour win. Do you not think people vote differently across the country?

Sure. What I mean is that I would love to live in a country without far right extremists because I believe that people who hold such views pose a major threat to our democracy and to the stability and success of our society.

There is nothing sinister in this, for all that you and another poster appear to be trying to twist what I'm saying. It was abundantly clear from the context, if you would only care to look at it, that I was responding to a previous poster who suggested that some of us were suggesting that everything would be much better if the Reform Party just disappeared. I was making the point that the disappearance of a far right party wouldn't help us much if we still had lots of far right supporters.

As I have already made clear, I am not advocating that we harm anyone or that we prevent anyone from voting as they wish, so you can stop trying to paint me as some sort of monster that is out to destroy my political opponents. What I would like to see is an education system which teaches people to think more analytically and to critically evaluate the stuff they read on the Internet so that they can make more informed choices in the best interests of the country and be less susceptible to the malign influences of disinformation.

Yes, a certain kind of young man that will probably never vote and actually base their political stance, if you can even call it that, (do they even know what 'politics' means) on a Tik Tok video, how changeable is that- they would have forgotten about it in 24hrs!

Aren't you a Reform voter, MP, of course you are going to promote this proposition, it doesn't mean it's true!