What can an individual do to keep Reform out?

[Thepoliticsofchaos]

I have a young friend (a university student) who is getting depressed about the prospect of Reform getting in next election. He thinks that the UK is fucked, basically. He's left-leaning, I assume a Labour voter. I've advised him to get politically engaged (so that in the future he'll at least be able to feel that he did what he could). He's not the most outgoing of people, though is interested in politics. Can anyone suggest how he could become usefully politically engaged to try to reduce the Reform vote? Not just joining a party and turning up to meetings, but actually doing something?

Man of the people 🙄

Just l knew it would be a charity giving food to ‘asylum seekers’ 😂

I agree with this ^. I found my life improved massively when I stopped paying much attention to the bigger picture of politics and started focussing more on my local community, where I could actually make a (small but useful) difference to real people. I’m a big introvert but there’s lots of things to do that don’t involve a lot of socialising or big commitments. I’m seeing people I know being basically sucked into a depression rabbit hole through their obsession with politics, but all they do is worry and moan, some don’t even use their vote.
I feel personally that what happens will happen anyway whether I pay attention to it or not, there’s not much I can (or would) do to affect politics at large but I can help to improve small things. I.E. I can’t affect climate policies but I can help plant a few trees in the park. I can’t influence the economy but I can give to the food bank regularly

None of it matters to his acolytes. He could be out shooting their grannies and they'd still support him.

It’s the power of online Russian propaganda. Same in America. People are so focused on hating immigrants they are blind to almost everything else, including the destruction of their country.

I don't give a shit about immigration. It really doesn't impact my life. I do care about the destruction of the country by Labour.

The UK isn't being destroyed, that is hyperbole.

Things are not great, Labour is making mistakes, but Farage is certainly not the answer to our woes.

He doesn't care about the likes of any of us ordinary folk on MN. Unless there are a few billionaires posting of course. Or a few racist ex-cons.

Immigration is a HUGE issue. Forget about skin colour and religion and all that nonsense, our country is not big enough to comfortably house 100 million people and give them all a good quality of life, spacious home, access to nature, air quality. We are already hugely overcrowded and it’s getting worse every day.

And you think Tax dodging, Russian amplifying Farage and his murky private limited company is the answer? 😂😂
I’m not here to champion Labour but It's only been just over a year since Labour took office, and like any new government inheriting a tough economic hand, they're facing headwinds from global inflation and ripples from inherited fiscal black holes.
This isn’t simply a Labour-led spiral, it's a global cooldown amplified by the UK's post-Brexit, post-pandemic scars. Crucially, the UK is now the fourth-fastest growing G7 economy since July 2024, with GDP slightly ahead of Germany and Japan. Inflation-adjusted wages rose 1.6% in the year to June 2025.
Labour's fiscal reset (fixing the £22bn "black hole") has steadied markets, and early signs show investment coming into green tech via Great British Energy. It's not boom times, but it's not the abyss that the right wing press amplifies either.
iLabour has also done the following which we never hear about;
NHS has been boosted by £29bn, with £10bn for tech and whilst it’s not enough, waiting lists are down 5% .
Labour have banned bee-killing pesticides and sewage fines are up 200% for polluters
1,000 have been arrested for smuggling people and net migration is projected to be 10% down.

Labour is absolutely not flawless but they’ve inherited 14 years of Tory pillaging, they're trying to plant seeds.
Reform would be far far worse for the country. Worse by a country mile.

Agree

This sounds like Labour talk with black holes, headwinds etc but that hole has grown since they’ve been in.

When is the UK population expected to reach 100 million?

These projections will ease your worries, I hope.

Apart from some of this sounds like Labour soundbites, I need to fact check you on a few.
NHS waiting lists are rising again, Labour have overseen huge spikes in 10 + 30 Yr gilts (eclipsing those of Truss repeatedly), increased cost of borrowing, increased national debt and increased size of the "black hole".
I could go on.

No Labour sound bites, just facts. Waiting lists actually fell for six consecutive months in 2025 due to Labour's initial reforms. In May alone there was a 50,000 increase in new treatments, this showed progress before seasonal pressures reversed the trend. Labour is trying to halve the list in order to meet constitutional standards which would require sustained multi-year investment, which they’re pursuing despite fiscal constraints.

Yields on long bonds shot up across Europe, it’s not just the Uk BUT we have been hit particularly hard. The UK's debt was HUGE when Labour came into power (nearly 100% of the whole economy's size) this came from Brexit, pandemic bailouts, and energy crises ALL of which happened under the Tories. Labour is trying to balance the books, but interest on that old debt is exploding (it’s up £20 billion a year). Labour have not had any big new borrowing binges yet, they’re just trying to pay the bills.

Its worth noting that Brexit slashed UK trade and productivity forecasts by 4-5% forever which slows tax income and creates bigger deficits. Investors see the UK as shakier than pre-2016 so they demand higher yields to lend.

Brexit is the gift that keeps giving as bond markets bake in an extra "risk fee" for UK gilts because of ongoing EU spats such as fishing, Northern Ireland checks and supply chain snagging. Recent 2025 yields are the highest in the G7, partly because Britain's growth lags behind Europe yields at 4.8% vs. much lower elsewhere. Brexit's trade barriers make recovery harder, feeding into the deficit fears that sparked the spikes.

Stop blaming everything else. Labour policies have directly made some of these things worse. They certainly are not trying to balance the books, highest tax burden + increased debt is not balancing the books.
Unemployment up
Gilts and bonds up (spiked as direct result of Labour policy)
Business closures at a high
Farm closures at a 15 year high
Inflation up
Energy prices up
Debt up
Cost of servicing debt up
Black hole larger now than when they won the GE

BUT it's always the fault of Brexit/Reform/Tories. Never due to Labour incompetence and mis-handling.

They refuse to do the 1 thing to help balance the books ie cut spending. So instead they keep raising taxes and borrowing more. Sunak predicted it correctly.

You claim waiting lists aren't up? They rose for 3rd month in a row back up to 7.4 million.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cqje5ljdnygo

No I didn’t. You might want to re-read what I said 🙄

“Waiting lists actually fell for six consecutive months in 2025 due to Labour's initial reforms. In May alone there was a 50,000 increase in new treatments, this showed progress before seasonal pressures reversed the trend.”

So July-Sept is usually a seasonal pressure point? I thought winter was ie flu? Didn't realise summer was also

By "seasonal pressures," I was referring to predictable fluctuations in NHS demand and capacity that intensify during certain times of year which can amplify underlying issues. For summer specifically you have staff and activity dips, Holidays and annual leave reduce available clinicians and operating sessions (for example, fewer evening/weekend lists), even if overall summer activity hit records this year through targeted recovery plans. This creates temporary productivity gaps, with elective completions typically lower than peak months.

Outpatient referrals often slow in July–August as patients delay non-urgent care during holidays which then rebound sharply in September.
Summers can strain emergency care and can bring hot weather pressures like heat-related illnesses or accidents which spikes A&E demand and squeezes elective slots, it’s distinct from winter's viral peaks but equally disruptive.

Also Covid isn’t showing signs of following the winter flu pattern, summer has seen a surge of cases.

Seasonal pressure on the NHS refers to the cyclical increase in demand, particularly in winter due to illnesses like flu, and also in summer due to factors like heat-related injuries.

Although Winter 2024 was the busiest ever for ambulance services and A&E, with some hospitals going into special measures in early January 2025 - July and August are also high demand months. Annual Leave & heat waves put strain on the NHS

There is some dispute over those waiting list figures, looks like Wes has been doing some gentle massaging.

https://pa.media/blogs/fact-check/fact-check-nhs-waiting-lists-have-fallen-for-six-months-in-a-row/

I'm shocked he would purposely massage figures 😆

😂😂 Did you even read the article? It highlights issues with the presentation of the data (specifically, flaws in Labour's accompanying graph) HOWEVER it explicitly confirms the underlying figures and claim are accurate and undisputed. There is no evidence in the article (or subsequent NHS data) of deliberate "massaging" or manipulation of the raw numbers themselves!! 🙄

Gosh, hit a nerve did I?

Maybe read this if you need more proof. https://www.bmj.com/content/390/bmj.r1753