What will life be like under Reform?

[Easipeelerie]

I have accepted the likelihood of the next government being Reform. I don’t think the government after that will necessarily be Reform. But in the 4 Reform years, what do people think life will be like for the different groups in our country? Will we see very immediate changes?

Objectively Brexit has damaged Britain.

We do live in an interconnected world and UK MPs should always prioritise UK interests taking those interconnections and consequences into account.

Reparations in no way do that. They would outright harm the UK in order to benefit other countries. I'm not at all convinced by Lammy's careful use of words...

I do plenty of reading, thanks 😂 And thinking too. You should try it.

It isn't at all clear yet how the US policies will pan out for the US. There are certainly some successes. Stop assuming that just because you don't like someone they are stupid and wrong. It's a very narrow-minded way to think- and prevents you from realising when new information (as time passes) proves you were wrong.

One can perhaps make excuses for Musk, as he is linked to Trump... & it wouldn't be in our best interests to attack him.... but Brexit is 10 years old, 5 years since we officially left, its now very clear its not working.

Economically, Culturally but most noticeable on immigration, we ve swapped white Christian Europeans for people from SE Asia and Africa, people who culturally will struggle to integrate and who will never go home, Brexit also vastly increased numbers too.

Badenoch supported over 2m people coming here under Sunak, whilst doing nothing for our labour shortages, which remain high in many sectors, esp health.

Suggesting we wait many more years to see even more damage is rather foolish.

Are you sure you voted Remain?

It’s not a political opinion. It’s an evidenced fact the Brexit has damaged the UK economy.

Hmm... funny how our GDP growth has been so similar to France and Germany's even after Brexit! Something definitely doesn't add up with that 8% growth loss claim...

Yep, definitely voted Remain!

I still wish we'd stayed, but I find the Brexit Derangement Syndrome ridiculous. And I'm open to the possibility that it might work out OK for us, might even end up being a good thing for various reasons.

Immigration is a choice completely separate to Brexit (now that we're no longer in the EU). As a sovereign nation, we can choose to accept people from wherever we choose in whatever numbers we choose.

Johnson made some bad choices. Tbf, it all happened rather quickly (similarly to when it spiked in 2004 under Blair's choices) and Sunak did act to fix it when it became clear... and once they were able to shift focus from that little pandemic that was happening at the time. Reductions in immigration since 2024 are due to his policy changes, not Labour.

The only way Labour have contributed to reducing net migration is by destroying jobs so that young British people leave the country, which is definitely not a good outcome.

Well, it depends how you define success, doesn't it? An 8.5% loss in tourism revenus in the first year is hardly a success - and that will get worse now that the US is bringing in its ridiculously intrusive rules on disclosing personal information. On immigration they may have had some success - but at the cost of overt lawbreaking which is going to cost them millions in lawsuits. Arresting your own citizens in a litigious society comes at a considerable cost.
Warmongering and killing helpless men at sea (whether or not they were criminals) is going to have an impact on how the US is viewed. And the tariffs have been objectively damaging, to the point where some have been rolled back. My opinion on the US is based on the effects of policy, not on personality (though I think Trump and his coterie of sycophants are monstrous people).

Chris Parry's comments about loyalty have all been aimed at non white people. You think that's coincidence - which really says a lot about you. It is by the way perfectly possible to be non white and also racist.

What policies other than immigration do Reform have?

@Alexandra2001
I listened to these podcasts recently by the IFS
https://ifs.org.uk/articles/how-could-chancellor-raise-more-tax-0
https://ifs.org.uk/articles/how-fix-vat
https://ifs.org.uk/articles/how-fix-wealth-taxes
https://ifs.org.uk/articles/how-could-chancellor-cut-spending

You are correct to say that politically it doesn't always benefit a government to have tax reform. Sadly, most political parties are putting their interests as a party above the long-term national interest.
You asked me what tax reforms I would like so based on listening to these podcasts and other articles I have read, I would like to have the following tax changes:
Flat rate of VAT (with compensation for those who are poorer in terms of a universal credit increase, child benefits, reduction in income tax for those on very low incomes etc.)
For people to pay the same tax in a business whether they earn an income, pay themselves dividends or pay themselves with capital gains (any investment into a business not to be taxed).
For income tax and NI for employees to be combined.
Make child benefits for everyone, remove the personal allowance taper and bring down 45% rate to 100k. Productivity problem solved while tax revenues stay about the same.

You are justifying a racist comment because you think Lammy is not loyal to the UK?

How do you define loyalty?

Do you think Farage is loyal to the UK?

@TopPocketFind
I define loyalty as putting UK interests above other countries interests.
I am not sure Farage is loyal to the UK. I have doubts.
I am also very sceptical about many of Reform's economic and social policies.
However, I completely support Reform's desire to control immigration.
I also believe in integration versus multiculturalism. "Integration involves newcomers adopting certain aspects of the host country’s culture, whilst preserving elements of their own. The overarching aim is to maintain aspects of individual cultural identities, but also create common cultural values and customs." We have followed a policy of multiculturalism in the UK but I don't think it is working and about 50% of the country don't think it is working. I am concerned when recent immigrants to the UK tell me that they they don't believe in female equality and that it is better if women stay at home.

@Alexandra2001
I would also like to get rid of council tax and stamp duty and move to an annual property tax (with a reduction/compensation for those who are retired/over 60).

No.

She's saying that a UK MP should be loyal to the UK - which as already explained means prioritising the UK's interests in their work. It is unbelievable that this even needs to be said.

And she's saying that when an MP instead prioritises the interests of different countries... which he has said he identifies with... then it's not unreasonable for UK people - who the MP/cabinet minister is meant to be representing and acting for - to be angry and feel it's a betrayal of his responsibility as an MP and government minister.

It's not unexpected to retort that he's treating the country he's prioritising as 'home' so he should go and live there.

It's about context. He's prioritising a different country.

As we've repeatedly explained.

And is not hard to understand.

Which makes me think you are being deliberately obtuse.

I don't like Lammy, just don't like his behaviour, loses his temper too often in my opinion. But I think Rachel Reeves is actually doing an ok job.

Labour were elected to make the country fairer and invest in public services which have been neglected. That's exactly what she is doing so all the screaming and shouting is simply the right reaction to a changing environment.

The land tax is a move to target the growing interest in land as a tax free investment. Large parts of our country is being purchased by the very wealthy as a means to avoid tax. Tenant farmers are dealing with huge rent increases as a result which in turn impacts food prices. Personally I think the tax needs to be tweaked so that genuine farmers are not caught up and end up losing farms.... problem is how do you do it.

Yes we don't like tax rises but in the end how do we pay for the NHS, invest in infrastructure, fund social care and maintain educational standards. Nothing is free so it needs funding. Taxation is the only way government can raise money.

I think the reform movement has stalled and the people are thinking twice about what a reform government would mean. The conservatives are more likely to win the next general election in my opinion.

But my opinion is that any government should be given a chance once elected. That's the nature of our democracy. So if Reform win then we will see what that will mean in reality. My local council was Labour and is now reform....the cuts have hit largely working class voters. There have been cuts to adult education, school buses, streets repairs to poorer areas have been scrapped, lots of people have lost jobs in areas like care takers etc. If this is a council what will a reform government do.

You are saying that you think Lammy is not loyal to the UK based on his support for a review into reparations for slavery and therefore Chris Parry's comments are maybe ill adviced but acceptable

The UK already controls immigration. Net migration is falling.

Which of Reform's policies on immigration do you like?

I don't support Reform. To repeat myself.

The reason net migration is falling is
a) because of policy changes Sunak made around visas and dependents
b) because Labour's job destruction policies are encouraging our young people to emigrate

I actually quite like a lot of Shabana Mahmood's policies. I just don't have much hope that Labour will actually implement them.

I'd also like the overall tax burden on higher earners dropped so that our young people choose to stay; drop the job-destruxtion policies around soaring NMW, increased NI and the suicidal employees rights bill; and do something sensible about youth worklessness: a combination of much, much better support for vocational training and apprenticeships - which needs a change in attitude from schools as well - and reduced welfare support so that it isn't a prefered option over doing the work we are currently bringing in immigrants to do at such huge lifetime cost.

There was an estimated 366,000 young people NEET aged 16 to 24 who were unemployed in July to September 2025. Youth unemployment has risen to about 20%

Puts a different slant on the argument that we 'need' unskilled immigration, surely.

Reform is keen to cut the minimum wage for young people and are no fans of workers rights.

This is a 2023 graph and only shows a temporary picture amid shared Covid and energy shocks. By late 2025 the latest data shows UK total GDP only 5.3% above Q4 2019 levels, lagging behind the Eurozone's 6.5% and most G7 peers. This doesn't disprove Brexit's costs as the damage started earlier with referendum uncertainty slowing investment from 2016 onward, and new trade barriers hitting after 2021.

More importantly, raw GDP growth misses the point, studies compare the UK to what its economy would look like if it had stayed in the EU. The UK's Office for Budget Responsibility still estimates a long-run 4% productivity hit from reduced trade. Your 2023 graph omits the latest 2025 research which puts the overall GDP loss at 6-8% by now due to lower investment (which is about 12-18% down) there is weaker productivity and trade frictions. UK goods exports to the EU are about 18% below 2019 levels (in real terms) and on a per-person basis (ie GDP per capita better for living standards) the UK has underperformed France and the Eurozone average since Brexit, partly because high migration has boosted total GDP but spread it thinner. The "similar growth" to France and Germany as depicted in this graph was a snapshot in 2023 but subsequent and more recent evidence from official forecasts and independent studies points to more substantial Brexit related underperformance

Thank you for having the patience to explain that @Circularmadness.

I love how mumsnet can be counted on to challenge deliberate misinformation.

Disinformation is wearying!

@TopPocketFind Decreasing the minimum wage for young people might mean that businesses are more likely to employ them and increase employment. At the moment, high NI contributions and an increase in minimum wage means that businesses are reducing staff where they can.

I am hoping that there will be reform in Europe generally to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) to better manage migration and deportations.

I think the conservatives and reforms stance to leave the ECHR puts pressure on Kier Starmer to drive through changes in Europe.
Possibly we do need to leave the ECHR completely because I agree with Reform that we need to reduce asylum rights in the UK so we can remove them more easily. I also agree with the conservatives on ending immigration tribunals, with all appeal decisions made in the Home Office, an end to legal aid for immigration cases, and to block judicial review except in the scrutiny of statutory powers.

I like Shabana Mahmood's announcement to increase the period of eligibility for ILR from five years to 10 years and her plans for:

• higher English proficiency
• evidence of community contribution (e.g. through volunteering)
• lawful employment and contributions to National Insurance
• no receipt of benefits
• no criminal convictions

I do not agree with Reform requiring migrants to apply for a new visa every five years if they continue to meet qualifying requirements but I do agree with their plans to bar anyone other than British citizens from accessing welfare.

I do agree with Reform's plans for an “immigration tax”, increasing the national insurance rate for migrant workers to 20%, incentivising businesses to employ British citizens for whom the rate would stay at 13.8%. Young British people are finding it difficult to get jobs due to migrant workers. For example, UK graduates in medicine can't get training contracts in the UK because the NHS is employing overseas doctors who already have 5 years experience who just want to come to the UK. This is wrong.

Lower wages and less rights?

And immigrants paying extra.

Very Reform

The UK needs immigration.

Re graduate doctors, the UK scrapped the Resident Labour Market Test (RLMT) in January 2021 with the introduction of the Skilled Worker visa post Brexit.

The government has now proposed the following
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-to-prioritise-uk-medical-graduates-for-training-places