Why would mumsnet leftists vote Green over reform?

[Wizeman]

Now I have your attention

What are the substantive political reasons for voting for the Green Party over Reform UK?

Please avoid responses based on personality or tone (e.g., claims that one leader is “nicer” than the other). Instead, I am interested in clear policy-based arguments and ideological reasoning.
Reform UK is led by Nigel Farage, a businessman with a long-standing role in national politics. The Green Party is currently led by Zak Polanski, whose professional background includes work in theatre and as a hypnotist.

With that in mind, I would welcome serious explanations focused on policy positions, governance approach, economic strategy, and long-term outcomes, rather than personal character assessments.

No, Labour are in power because they looked like the least bad of the abysmal choices.

Sadly they've proved to ten times worse than anyone imagined, which is why we find ourselves in dangerous territory.

Thanks to Labour & Conservatives, I think we will see five years of a Reform govt, followed by a coalition of the desperate to get rid of them.

So, I have a question for you OP: how can you support a party led by someone known to have been a racist bully at school, who has refused to apologise for his actions?

Do you think that someone who used to creep up behind Jewish kids and imitate the hissing of a gas chamber, or approach much smaller kids to tell them to "go back where they came from" is a fit person to fill any political role whatsoever?

How does that relate to your claims that the pressure on the NHS is down to immigration?

I will vote tactically for whichever party will beat reform in my local area. In my upcoming local elections that means reform. If it means green, I’ll do it. I’d do it even if it means voting Tory.

Reform are not just a little party who trot out a line about stopping the boats. They want to turn us into America, and look how they have turned out. In a year of Trump’s rule they’ve got federal agents going door to door, demanding papers, and arresting American citizens (they’ve even arrested other ICE agents), people are being shot in the street for daring to be out and about. ICE gassed a car with a six month old in it, the six month old then required CPR. They want to ban abortion, which is fundamentally healthcare.

I do not want to live in a country like that.

Not reform, Lib Dem. Need a coffee!

There are arguments in favour of drug legalisation - taking the profits out of the hands of criminal gangs and making it taxable for one thing. Drug policy at the moment isn't preventing drugs from being sold and used in this country, and we have children being recruited via county lines, people used as slaves in cannabis farms and women trafficked as part of the whole operation. I can see why a radical solution of legalising drugs and taking the money to fund addiction treatment and rehabilitation of those whose lives have been ruined by the drug trade is interesting to some. You say, OP, that we need radical change - that it's madness to keep doing the same thing politically ie voting Labour or Conservative and expect change. Perhaps the same logic could be applied to our drugs policy - that it's madness to keep doing what we're doing while vast criminal networks make enormous amounts of money off the back of untold harm and suffering.

Reform is basically the tories at this point. They’re crapping on about the tories breaking Britain, but they’re full of the people who did that!

I didn't answer because the word Leftist stuck in my craw.
But I will back up my answer with these photos.

Also true! Reform is essentially the Tory Party but without anyone even slightly competent - not that I think there are many (any?) competent politicians left in the tory party either. Boris ushered in a new era of anti-expert, let the lunatics run the asylum approach to government. But Reform have really scooped up the dregs of a very rotten bunch.

Quick Google search also says drug use is at a 12 year high and starting to have massive negative effects.

What is your evidence that ‘1 in 8’ pip claimants are ‘taking advantage’?

If Someone You Know has a prescription for ADHD meds they would either pay for prescription charges or not, depending on eligibility. Nothing to do with PIP.

And sadly a lot of the population isn’t intelligent enough to see how their lives would be ruined by a reform government.

As soon as he became an MP Farage admitted it was actually a lot harder to stop migration than he believed it would be. But he then doubled down on his rhetoric.

It’s hilarious watching Jenrick say he believes Farage is the only one to lead the country when barely six months ago he was saying Farage wasn’t fit to do it.

It's interesting that the opening post included so many caveats about how references to Farage's character somehow don't count. A politician's values and integrity are as important as their policies. And someone so closely aligned with men such as Trump and Tate is not fit to hold office. We should have people of good character and judgement in government. It's a very basic prerequisite!

Neither part has any credibility with me.

Farage incited Brexit, promising that once we ‘took our country back’ from the EU and got rid of all the marauding Poles, we would be living in the land of plenty. How did that work out? Now it’s all the other immigrants he blames. It’s a party of nasty, power-hungry racists appealing to the the worst instincts in humanity. No thanks.

The Greens are a confused bunch, spouting cloud cuckoo land student union rhetoric that they’ll never be able to put into practice if they ever get any real power. And they have no idea what a woman is. They can fuck right off, too.

HTH

I think weed is ok, not harder drugs like coke. It depends how they do it. I think legalised weed would work well.

I can’t imagine why that would be.

Could it possibly be because the Tories stripped the NHS, all social care, the police and community services?

Agreed. People are their character and you can tell a man's character from the company he keeps.

Still lower than the rest of the EU. The biggest issue they seem to be having is a lack of investment and political engagement in the programme since its implementation. Most studies into it seem to suggest it was an initial success, it still has some success in reducing death, crime, and HIV infection,s and could have been more successful with proper funding.

Surely you could say the greens could also ruin the country. The party is led by a communist, when has communism worked?

Is whataboutism the only argument you’ve got?

This is entirely false - no plans for a U turn at all.

There are many reasons but the main ones are
The Green Party isn't led by a racist and doesn't have racist policie.
Also the Reform Party is against Net Zero and is more interested in profits for big business than in the environment

When has Zach Polanski ever said he was a communist?

Just a tip OP: you're not going to recruit many people to your cause if you come out with blatant, disprovable lies.

Maybe you have a good point then. Maybe we should legalise all drugs.

People can easily buy coke in the UK now. People are risking their lives, health and finances to use it. They have no guarantee of what the coke they buy contains, whether it's been cut with other substances or how strong it is. And when they buy it, they are funding criminal networks who are trafficking women, exploiting children and inflicting violence and death across the world on a vast scale.

Legalising coke would mean it could be provided by legitimate means, that the dose could be controlled, that people would get what they expected and no money would go towards funding crime. Tax could be taken from the profits for our economy.

There are risks and pitfalls. I'm not saying I'm wholeheartedly in favour. I don't think cocaine is good for anyone, and I don't want to be around coked-up people. However, plenty of people do coke regardless. I'm not sure that millions more would take it up if it was legal. I certainly never would! I absolutely think it's worth exploring.