- I last voted in an election (of any sort) in 2010 (although I voted leave in the referendum);
- Since then I have often stated that I will never vote again under any circumstances;
- I think Tice is useless and Farage should have exacted a far higher price for taking over as leader (in my case I wanted to see a zero immigration policy for the duration of the next parliament).
But...I'm voting Reform because:
- Words do not exist to describe just how much I hate the Tory party and want to see it ground into dust and scattered into the wind;
- And the establishment's disgraceful (but utterly predictable) treatment of Farage means I want to be able to tell every fucking shitlib I meet exactly who I voted for.
Thanks for commenting Besetting. Though I share your contempt for the Tories I’m going to get the gang together to take you on a relaxing spa day or something! Your last angry comment really made me laugh but I feel I want to say something positive. So. Let’s see if we can get rid of the Tories this time round and build something forward looking and positive from the wreckage. How’s that? All the best.
And I'm not a leftist (obvs), in fact I have only ever voted Conservative or UKIP!
As far as the Tory party is concerned, I see myself as an abused wife who has finally realised what a monster I married and is determined to wait until he next falls asleep while drunk then cut his genitals off with a bread knife...
Ha ha. OK Besetting, we’re going to upgrade that spa day to the full on acupuncture and crystal healing package. But I’m with you in wanting to see the Tories gone. Just maybe a bit less bloodily….
Now there we have a perfect specimen of the protest voter. Like all those Americans who love Trump all the more every time he does something outrageous *because* he is their vehicle for expressing their contempt for the establishment. Thus, the worse, the better.
As a fucking shitlib myself, I look forward to you telling me who you voted for. I expect it will help cure some of the tragic divisions that separate our country.
Most of us are totally fed up with being lied to day after day year after year by the Uniparty. I will vote Reform to ensure that if anyone is listening that is the direction of travel I desire (as another poster put it). If we spoil our papers or abstain they will never know what we want. Cameron only gave us the referendum because he saw the danger signal of so many votes for UKIP.
I probably disagree with about 80% of their policies but the three that I care most about (*), I think Carla will be able able to speak up for and get them some airtime.
(*) I expect they are the three policies that you dislike most!
Farage is quite correct. I was a consultant in eastern Europe from 1992-2012, mostly working for the EU assisting those countries to transition to EU membership, and also advising on policies (Association Agreements) which would drag these countries into the EU orbit. The EU attitude was just imperialistic, never actually considering what was best for the target nation or whether EU membership was really wanted. Bribes (money for projects) were used to get the politicians onside, and they persuaded the people that the West had all the answers. The levels of corruption should really have prevented countries like Romania & Bulgaria ever joining, but the EU just wanted territorial expansion. Ukraine was well known on the consultants' circuit as the most corrupt, with an economy entirely oriented to the Russian market, with most manufacturing capacity in the east. The EU tried to reorient Ukraine to the west through its association agreement which superficially looked good for the client country but in reality just made it easier to export EU goods there!
I recall when working in Croatia one of the Ministry officials I was working with saying "I don't understand. We have just got our freedom from communism and state control, we have democracy, and now our leaders are signing away our freedom to the EU. Why can't we be just a free democratic country?" But it was all about the €€€€ which financed this and that, and the price was loss of democracy. The EU has undermined democracy everywhere. In the Ukraine it was involved in supporting western leaning politicians against the democratically elected Russian oriented government.
As for NATO, it has broken all its promises to Russia regarding NATO expansion. Hardly surprising that a thug like Putin should respond the way he has. The west is responsible for the mayhem. A more nuanced approach to foreign policy and the development of democracy in the east of Europe would have avoided the war.
Fantastic comment and very eye-opening! I feel the EU has become more and more ideological, with each member state expected to toe the line on issues such as immigration, gender ideology etc.. I live in Hungary, which has just been fined 200 milion euros and will have to pay a further 1 million euros a day, for its failure to accept EU migration and asylum policies. Personally, I feel the issue of immigration should be a sovereign one, and should not be forced on any country. While it's true that Hungary accepted certain rules when joining the EU, I also feel that Hungary has signed away some of its hard-earned freedoms, as you mentioned with the Croatian official. That's not to say that Hungary hasn't benefited, because it has. But it is paying a high price now.
People talk about tactical voting in such a limited way, referring only to the election right in front of them. I'll be voting tactically with an eye on the next two or three elections. The only way to break the uniparty is to vote elsewhere. If there were an SDP candidate standing here they would have my vote, but there isn't, so I'll vote Reform. They aren't going to be in government, Farage isn't going to be PM, they might not even get any MPs (although I do think they will get some). But it's the only way I see to get the rest of the bastards to veer even slightly towards doing what we want and need instead of foisting their own pre-set agenda on us.
Yes. They originally split from Labour and the Liberals in the 80s. They are now a socially conservative, but quite interventionist social democratic party. I certainly don’t agree with a lot of what they say, I’m quite right economically, but they have their heart in the right place and they are very good on culture. Their manifesto is definitely worth a quick Look. https://sdp.org.uk/
Yes Brendon. I misread Deirdre’s original question. Also a bit statist for me. But certainly within the realms of a reasonable debate. I voted for their candidate in the London Mayorals. The impressive Amy Gallagher.
I saw a few of her YouTube campaign videos - pretty good stuff. They need a more impactful leader, though. Farage has illustrated the point with Reform. Without him they just wouldn’t have had the same impact. They’ll need younger blood at some point but Farage is necessary now.
That's the thing about protest parties, they don't have to win to be effective they need only scare the establishment into, just possibly, smartening up a tiny little bit. And if the establishment does not smarten up, as in France, then eventually the protest party replaces them. Me, I always vote my conscience because I refuse to be trapped within the choices the establishment permits me.
Exactly. That strategy has worked well for Farage in the past. He is the most influential British politician since Blair probably, and he has never held a seat.
The Ministry of Defence are trying to to rationalise Putin's actions as if he was a Western leader. He isn't. In the last three hundred years plus, all the threats to Russia have come from the West. In the past their Eastern European countries soaked up some of the punishment before the soldiers got to Moscow. That's no longer a possibility.
So the West rightly says that any rational Western style leader of Russia would not see the West's expansion of NATO eastwards as a threat. But they aren't dealing with such a person. The expansion of NATO, however well intentioned, and however much it benefited the people in the countries involved, has given Putin the opportunity to persuade Russians that another invasion of Russia from the West is on the way, so they need to take pre-emptive action. The fact that Putin doesn't actually believe this is irrelevant.
If Biden were a strong leader, Putin would not have invaded Ukraine, because one thing Russian dictators do respect is strong Western leadership.
Farage put it clumsily, not least because the inevitable twisting of his words has helped Putin's standing in Russia. But allowing Eastern European countries to become part of the EU and NATO makes it appear to Russian isolationist mentality that the next invasion will be at Moscow in no time at all. Combine that with no firm leadership in the White House, and the rest was inevitable.
The gross oversimplification and misdirection in the MSM, and from idiots like Cleverly, Starmer and Johnson, is as predictable as it is disgraceful.
A great summary Jeremy. I do think Farage stumbled in that interview. As I say in the piece he seemed more interested in bigging himself up than watching out for bear traps.
Nigel wasn't 'clumsy' recently or nearly ten years ago when he said this, in 2014, couldn't be clearer or more correct - it's the warmongering US, NATO and expansionist EU who started this disgusting war: https://youtu.be/9uNsXEu8ljM?si=C1GkrzzmremqjvYz
I think he was clumsy. He’s smart enough to know his words would be wilfully misinterpreted He chose to prioritise his own predictive abilities. I’m not saying he didn’t make that prediction.
So you're saying Farage should toe the line and self censor? That is the road to hell. He's winning BECAUSE he tells the truth, screw what the Dail Mail says. He's now circulating two newspaper front pages, the 'i', May 2016, where Boris blamed the EU for war in Ukraine and the Independent where Boris said the same in Feb 2022 - so Farage has deliciously cornered Boris AND the media for crass hypocrisy and double standards.
I'm not sure we need to LIKE politicians, if only because politics is not a game for nice people. You've got to have a bullet-proof ego to get anywhere in that world and so I wouldn't expect Farage to be anything but full of himself.
I wasn't going to dignify our electoraI farce by voting, but I agree with everything in Reform's manifesto and now that Tice (who denigrated Bridgen for standing up for the vax injured) is no longer leader, I AM going to vote Reform like millions of other disgruntled Conservatives. I hope the Tories sink and disappear for ever - they have totally betrayed us all.
I agree Bettina. The more I read about the day to day back stabbing and manoeuvring (reading Tim Shipman’s Now Way Out right now) the more it sounds like an absolute nightmare of a job. And even if you rise to the top you usually end up detested by the voters. But yes. I’m looking at Reform. Especially as the elites are clearly terrified of them. Poor old Tice, I feel sorry for him. 🤕
I love that. I'm going to print it on a tee shirt and wear it. It's me.
Perhaps the way to look at your Nigel is not to think of him as good or bad but rather as necessary. Or even -- as with Trump -- inevitable. If I have not attended to my garden for a week or so I come back to find it sprouting weeds. I could describe them as bad, but it's more constructive to think of them as the inevitable consequence of my laxity. But Farage is more than inevitable, he is necessary. What he says needs to be said, even as much of what Trump says also needs to be said. He is quite correct that the West provoked Putin. We have also very conveniently forgotten that Ukraine has had quite a number of neo Nazi outfits within it who have terrorized the Russian speaking parts of the country. Messy facts.
Dare I say that a healthy democracy will have and even *must* have a certain number of cranks and lunatics and fundamentalists within it? I'm glad Nigel is there, which is not the same thing as saying that I hope he wins.
Farage is RIGHT about so many things and the only RIGHT of centre voice this country has - of course the LibLabConGreen Marxist blob and media/civil service/Bilderbergers/Davos luvvies etc etc will ALL be gunning for him. And he's 100000% right about Ukraine. He's left it a bit late to get a grip on Reform but better late than never.
Hello Mrs Bucket. Yes he has left it a bit late. It will be fascinating to see how he does on the 4th. Reform could genuinely become a persistent if minor force with maybe eight MPs. Or it could end up with nothing. (Though it
Looks like they’ll taken Clacton). Interesting times.
Excellent appraisal of the MSM's blatant attempt to hobble reform by accusing Farage of holding views they themselves espoused - or at least didn't baulk at - in the very recent past. How quickly the public can be made to forget, and therefore how important this article is.
Reform want to abolish IR35 which couldn't come soon enough. A stupid hateful idea that somehow a person cannot set up their own company and get paid for their own work because they may "look" like an employee. The hoops and twists of logic alone are daft and it was originally pushed by Labour from consultation with big agencies.
But that's not the real sin here. After the recent changes, no entrepreneur can sell services to bootstrap their own ideas. You can't build up a lump sum in your company that could lead to loans and expansion. All revenue is straight out as salary even through your own company. There is no residual.
A lot of permanent employees were happy that the contractors were now "paying their fair share" but all that's happened is rates have almost doubled now even in hard industries like engineering. So a company will be paying a contractor twice the amount which after tax will be a net value of income that is even higher than what that contractor's company would get paid in gross. Those companies are now effectively paying the tax man the cost of one contractor before this nonsense. The contractor still gets more money but the pool of money for permanent staff is reduced PLUS you are paying twice as much for one person so productivity has halved.
The maxim should always be if you think you'll pay less tax as a contractor (in the old way) and it's easier then just become a contractor. Funny how numbers never really skyrocketed in all those years.
Absolutely Overhead. We did get rid of those de growth, anti small business IR35 rules for about five minutes under Truss. But of course Hunt immediately reversed that. Another reason to despise this administration.
Thanks Graham. Another one to add to the list. I think I recall seeing the Economist lining up to denounce Farage this week. But I don’t have the link to hand.
Yes they would. I find The Economist useful in many ways even though it is well and truly Lefty whenever it touches on any social issues. Interested to know what you made of my latest....'Back in the Summer of 2020' piece?
I just get the free digital bulletin.... (like I do with dozens of other legacy media publications). I then read (or skim-read) about one article in 30. As long as it's not opinionising about political/social current affairs, it can actually be a useful source of information. Worth a look?
The Economist has been a lost cause for over 20 years at least. I was at one time a subscriber and I suppose I had been reading it since the 70s - compulsory reading, really, for someone who used to call himself an economist. But it became increasingly left wing and anti-democratic on so many issues, and its economic analysis blind to non-market values that I gave up on it. Just as I gave up on Private Eye. You won't be surprised to learn that I have also given up on the daily press and all live TV channels.
Yes Jos. I have upon Private Eye too. I used to love it so much. I still read the Telegraph but it is becoming increasingly dodgy, and I’m happy with The Spectator’s range of voices. I do worry that eschewing the mainstream has left me siloed. But I can no longer bear it, so much genuinely seems like naked propaganda to me.
I thought it was excellent Graham. Thoughtful and balanced. I don’t feel I’m qualified to talk too much about American society, but your words rang true to me. I have just popped over and read it again. Thanks.
Great post, thanks for making the effort to unearth the MSM quotes. I hope you don’t mind, I’ve posted a link on the Unherd website as a comment under an article in which Mary Harrington makes the same argument. Let me know if it’s a problem, I’ll take it down.
I will also vote reform as a middle finger to the lot of them (safe in the knowledge they’re unlikely to wield any real power).
Again another guy here voting Reform this time. I don't have much hope of the party long term, especially on your point about enfranchising the younger voters.
I know what I would like to see in a political party. A party not of left or right, not wedded to an ideology but instead a party that asks the people specifically on issues how they want to proceed and then hold referendums to validate changes of great societal impact. In short more direct democracy.
Now it's just pick a set menu of ideology and get every good idea watered down to ineffectiveness in hopes to not offend those against the concept. While influence is bought and sold within the walls of Westminster by the wealthy and it leaves people disallusioned about the point in voting at all.
Hi John. Yes direct democracy has some appeal I think, especially when contrasted with our current ‘no democracy’ model. It seems to work well in Switzerland(?) they seem to hold a lot of referendums on a range of issues. So does California I think. With much less successful results. Maybe this has to do with size and more homogenous nature of the Swiss electorate. I’m just writing this comment from memory. So please put me right if I’ve got this all wrong!
Well that would have ended up with most of us 'refuseniks' locked up in camps and forcibly jabbed for the safety of the majority of the deluded fools. The last thing I want is my mental multi-jabbed and wilfully ignorant family getting their way over my health and safety.
California would be the example to use to dissuade people regarding direct democracy especially looking at the place now. To be fair the progressive initiatives in California are still originating in their state legislature. Direct democracy is small scale matters like single issue tax code changes.
California has had direct democracy for over a hundred years and was to disrupt the influence of the railway company on the state's legislature. Switzerland use it for larger issues as well.
Id like to have referendums on an English parliament, a formal British constitution, immigration, the nuclear deterrent, justice system and taxation. I don't have opinions on all these things but imagine having the ability in parliament when being criticized on an issue, being able to say that you are pursuing the aspirations of the majority of British people. A party willing to do that and not let ideology or ego get in the way would be a revelation.
Thanks John. My worry is this stuff, as with everything I guess, is really open to capture. It’s like how I find the idea of a written constitution appealing until I realise that it would probably get written by Yvette Cooper, with the assistance of Rory Stewart. Then of course, you are stuck with it.
Rory Stewart is actually the person who I would recommend being part of committee to oversee the process of establishing a British constitution. He's been vocal about the prospect in debates in the past and talked about it in one of his books.
He expressed his views on the need for a more formalized constitution in the UK to clarify the powers of different branches of government, protect individual rights, and ensure democratic principles are upheld. He has highlighted the importance of a constitutional framework to guide decision-making and prevent abuses of power.
Additionally, he advocated for greater public engagement in shaping the country’s constitutional arrangements. So made through direct democracy and not any one appointed politician.
Just one of a large group, although you win the point on Brexit, wasn't his constituency a leave voting majority. He didn't represent his constituents there.
I think you might be surprised about the ReformUK supporter demographic. Every young adult I know between 18 and 30 is voting ReformUK. Farage has nearly a million followers on TikTok while Sunak and Starmer have none, because they both have no account (what their social media manager was thinking, should be fired immediately). Don't underestimate the power of all those youngsters getting to know him as a good bloke on 'I'm A Celebrity...' with no prejudice about him whatsoever from the 'olden days' as they had never heard of him.
I agree Nicola. I think the younger generation has had enough of ‘business as usual’ too. At least some of them will rebel. And if it’s the ‘cool’ ones then that opens up a lot of opportunity for an insurgent party even if it proves not to be Reform in the medium term. Starmer’s votes for 16 year olds might come back to bit him on the bum.
Said similar but without as much thought into it on my own stack. Was lucky enough to see a live debate once, featuring Lord David Owen who was involved with brokering an agreement with Putin before 2016 regarding keeping a land gap between Russia and nato/EU. He said since the agreement the EU / NATO have broken every part of it.
I won’t vote for him because he can’t win here. It’s neck and neck with Tories and LibDems and I know the Tory candidate is well respected among farming community and will strive to protect them. The election seems very very focused on local issues being championed which is interesting and a good thing.
As for Reform they need to also focus on women. Sorry to tell you that they hold balance of power in the “unsures” and Nigel just isn’t as sexy as the guy they have in France.
I agree totally. Farage is fine for now. But as I keep banging on saying, we need someone who appeals to young voters. (And no. That doesn’t mean they have to be 12 and covered with tattoos).
We were at a village summer fair last weekend with our wares on display under our gazebo. I'm retired and therefore allowed to nod off in the folding chair, hat tilted forward. We were in the lane with cottages and twee front gardens behind..
I awoke to two blokes chuntering to each other. "Look what those bastards are saying about Farage and Ukraine! They're trying to drag him down with them! It's a f---ing disgrace!
Quite clear I was in safe company, I tilted my hat up and looked at them. Apologetic, they held up palms towards me. I grinned, gave them two thumbs up and waved a thumb at the cottage behind me, to the ReformUK poster in the window. The two blokes? Early 50s, one with a small haulage business, the other? A Morris dancer. No makeup.
I watched Nigel Farage in Devon, stirring up an enthusiastic motley crew, a surprising number of younger people, they were there to follow him anywhere.
I handed my other half her postal voting envelope. "There my dear. For you to annotate as you deem fit. (She, like me, would wish the Tory fate doubly so on Labour.) Later after wine - she deplores Richmond sausages on the BBQ - she tells me I'm so ReformUK with my unhealthy McDonalds and disgusting sausages. I say it's a shame I have the iron constitution to survive a Labour government. How many snowflakes will?
In brief:
- I last voted in an election (of any sort) in 2010 (although I voted leave in the referendum);
- Since then I have often stated that I will never vote again under any circumstances;
- I think Tice is useless and Farage should have exacted a far higher price for taking over as leader (in my case I wanted to see a zero immigration policy for the duration of the next parliament).
But...I'm voting Reform because:
- Words do not exist to describe just how much I hate the Tory party and want to see it ground into dust and scattered into the wind;
- And the establishment's disgraceful (but utterly predictable) treatment of Farage means I want to be able to tell every fucking shitlib I meet exactly who I voted for.
Thanks for commenting Besetting. Though I share your contempt for the Tories I’m going to get the gang together to take you on a relaxing spa day or something! Your last angry comment really made me laugh but I feel I want to say something positive. So. Let’s see if we can get rid of the Tories this time round and build something forward looking and positive from the wreckage. How’s that? All the best.
And I'm not a leftist (obvs), in fact I have only ever voted Conservative or UKIP!
As far as the Tory party is concerned, I see myself as an abused wife who has finally realised what a monster I married and is determined to wait until he next falls asleep while drunk then cut his genitals off with a bread knife...
Ha ha. OK Besetting, we’re going to upgrade that spa day to the full on acupuncture and crystal healing package. But I’m with you in wanting to see the Tories gone. Just maybe a bit less bloodily….
Can I their genitals off too and have a spa detox?
The best I can do is the acupuncture. Cost of livin’ crisis innit?
At least it’s Stabby
Whoops. My bad. I forgot you aren’t allowed around sharps. 🤣
Now there we have a perfect specimen of the protest voter. Like all those Americans who love Trump all the more every time he does something outrageous *because* he is their vehicle for expressing their contempt for the establishment. Thus, the worse, the better.
As a fucking shitlib myself, I look forward to you telling me who you voted for. I expect it will help cure some of the tragic divisions that separate our country.
No shitlibs here Ragged. Just decent folk with a range of opinions. You’re Bristol right? Will the greens take it?
Most of us are totally fed up with being lied to day after day year after year by the Uniparty. I will vote Reform to ensure that if anyone is listening that is the direction of travel I desire (as another poster put it). If we spoil our papers or abstain they will never know what we want. Cameron only gave us the referendum because he saw the danger signal of so many votes for UKIP.
I hope so!
I probably disagree with about 80% of their policies but the three that I care most about (*), I think Carla will be able able to speak up for and get them some airtime.
(*) I expect they are the three policies that you dislike most!
Ha ha. Maybe. But we’ll be thankful for any range of voices in the next parliament I think.
Yes! Anything but the Uniparty 🙏🏻
Farage is quite correct. I was a consultant in eastern Europe from 1992-2012, mostly working for the EU assisting those countries to transition to EU membership, and also advising on policies (Association Agreements) which would drag these countries into the EU orbit. The EU attitude was just imperialistic, never actually considering what was best for the target nation or whether EU membership was really wanted. Bribes (money for projects) were used to get the politicians onside, and they persuaded the people that the West had all the answers. The levels of corruption should really have prevented countries like Romania & Bulgaria ever joining, but the EU just wanted territorial expansion. Ukraine was well known on the consultants' circuit as the most corrupt, with an economy entirely oriented to the Russian market, with most manufacturing capacity in the east. The EU tried to reorient Ukraine to the west through its association agreement which superficially looked good for the client country but in reality just made it easier to export EU goods there!
I recall when working in Croatia one of the Ministry officials I was working with saying "I don't understand. We have just got our freedom from communism and state control, we have democracy, and now our leaders are signing away our freedom to the EU. Why can't we be just a free democratic country?" But it was all about the €€€€ which financed this and that, and the price was loss of democracy. The EU has undermined democracy everywhere. In the Ukraine it was involved in supporting western leaning politicians against the democratically elected Russian oriented government.
As for NATO, it has broken all its promises to Russia regarding NATO expansion. Hardly surprising that a thug like Putin should respond the way he has. The west is responsible for the mayhem. A more nuanced approach to foreign policy and the development of democracy in the east of Europe would have avoided the war.
Fantastic comment and very eye-opening! I feel the EU has become more and more ideological, with each member state expected to toe the line on issues such as immigration, gender ideology etc.. I live in Hungary, which has just been fined 200 milion euros and will have to pay a further 1 million euros a day, for its failure to accept EU migration and asylum policies. Personally, I feel the issue of immigration should be a sovereign one, and should not be forced on any country. While it's true that Hungary accepted certain rules when joining the EU, I also feel that Hungary has signed away some of its hard-earned freedoms, as you mentioned with the Croatian official. That's not to say that Hungary hasn't benefited, because it has. But it is paying a high price now.
How dare the Hungarians want to keep Hungary Hungarian? Quite shocking.
The arrogance! 😂
Thanks Jos. Some great insights here. Thank you for posting this.
Looks like Nigel is winning the argument: https://youtu.be/_2k96Qb63es?si=Ybs-IMIjvVP-ry_Z
Hear hear!
People talk about tactical voting in such a limited way, referring only to the election right in front of them. I'll be voting tactically with an eye on the next two or three elections. The only way to break the uniparty is to vote elsewhere. If there were an SDP candidate standing here they would have my vote, but there isn't, so I'll vote Reform. They aren't going to be in government, Farage isn't going to be PM, they might not even get any MPs (although I do think they will get some). But it's the only way I see to get the rest of the bastards to veer even slightly towards doing what we want and need instead of foisting their own pre-set agenda on us.
I agree Danny. I’d vote SDP too but they’re not standing in my area sadly. We definitely need to be playing the long game. Thanks for commenting!
Yes I have just voted SDP( Postal Vote).
There are the only ones in the short to medium term of slowing the decline.
They have no chance of course under the banana republic parliamentary system we currently have.
This is the last chance folks in another 5 years it’s over.
Perhaps it was over for Blighty years ago.
Sad times.
Sad times indeed Legends. But good to hear the SDP have gained another voter.
Is sdp socialist democrat party?
Yes. They originally split from Labour and the Liberals in the 80s. They are now a socially conservative, but quite interventionist social democratic party. I certainly don’t agree with a lot of what they say, I’m quite right economically, but they have their heart in the right place and they are very good on culture. Their manifesto is definitely worth a quick Look. https://sdp.org.uk/
Social not Socialist. An important distinction 🙂. They’re a bit too statist for me but worth a look 👍.
Yes Brendon. I misread Deirdre’s original question. Also a bit statist for me. But certainly within the realms of a reasonable debate. I voted for their candidate in the London Mayorals. The impressive Amy Gallagher.
I saw a few of her YouTube campaign videos - pretty good stuff. They need a more impactful leader, though. Farage has illustrated the point with Reform. Without him they just wouldn’t have had the same impact. They’ll need younger blood at some point but Farage is necessary now.
Absolutely. We’ll get nowhere unless we can appeal to younger voters. That has been the key in Europe.
100%. Voting Reform is sending a message: “This is pretty much the direction of travel we want”. Simple as that.
That's the thing about protest parties, they don't have to win to be effective they need only scare the establishment into, just possibly, smartening up a tiny little bit. And if the establishment does not smarten up, as in France, then eventually the protest party replaces them. Me, I always vote my conscience because I refuse to be trapped within the choices the establishment permits me.
Exactly. That strategy has worked well for Farage in the past. He is the most influential British politician since Blair probably, and he has never held a seat.
I have only ever voted tactically since Thatcher. Nobody since has been worthy of a positive vote.
The Ministry of Defence are trying to to rationalise Putin's actions as if he was a Western leader. He isn't. In the last three hundred years plus, all the threats to Russia have come from the West. In the past their Eastern European countries soaked up some of the punishment before the soldiers got to Moscow. That's no longer a possibility.
So the West rightly says that any rational Western style leader of Russia would not see the West's expansion of NATO eastwards as a threat. But they aren't dealing with such a person. The expansion of NATO, however well intentioned, and however much it benefited the people in the countries involved, has given Putin the opportunity to persuade Russians that another invasion of Russia from the West is on the way, so they need to take pre-emptive action. The fact that Putin doesn't actually believe this is irrelevant.
If Biden were a strong leader, Putin would not have invaded Ukraine, because one thing Russian dictators do respect is strong Western leadership.
Farage put it clumsily, not least because the inevitable twisting of his words has helped Putin's standing in Russia. But allowing Eastern European countries to become part of the EU and NATO makes it appear to Russian isolationist mentality that the next invasion will be at Moscow in no time at all. Combine that with no firm leadership in the White House, and the rest was inevitable.
The gross oversimplification and misdirection in the MSM, and from idiots like Cleverly, Starmer and Johnson, is as predictable as it is disgraceful.
A great summary Jeremy. I do think Farage stumbled in that interview. As I say in the piece he seemed more interested in bigging himself up than watching out for bear traps.
Farage was saying the same thing back in 2017. It's not new. He was right then and he is right now.
Nigel wasn't 'clumsy' recently or nearly ten years ago when he said this, in 2014, couldn't be clearer or more correct - it's the warmongering US, NATO and expansionist EU who started this disgusting war: https://youtu.be/9uNsXEu8ljM?si=C1GkrzzmremqjvYz
I think he was clumsy. He’s smart enough to know his words would be wilfully misinterpreted He chose to prioritise his own predictive abilities. I’m not saying he didn’t make that prediction.
You are correct. Newspaper headlines prove they don't expect most people to get past the first sentence.
So you're saying Farage should toe the line and self censor? That is the road to hell. He's winning BECAUSE he tells the truth, screw what the Dail Mail says. He's now circulating two newspaper front pages, the 'i', May 2016, where Boris blamed the EU for war in Ukraine and the Independent where Boris said the same in Feb 2022 - so Farage has deliciously cornered Boris AND the media for crass hypocrisy and double standards.
No. I’m not saying that Mrs Bucket. Clearly. Or I would have said that.
Nigel is clearly right to raise this and he's clearly winning: https://youtu.be/_2k96Qb63es?si=Ybs-IMIjvVP-ry_Z
I'm not sure we need to LIKE politicians, if only because politics is not a game for nice people. You've got to have a bullet-proof ego to get anywhere in that world and so I wouldn't expect Farage to be anything but full of himself.
I wasn't going to dignify our electoraI farce by voting, but I agree with everything in Reform's manifesto and now that Tice (who denigrated Bridgen for standing up for the vax injured) is no longer leader, I AM going to vote Reform like millions of other disgruntled Conservatives. I hope the Tories sink and disappear for ever - they have totally betrayed us all.
I agree Bettina. The more I read about the day to day back stabbing and manoeuvring (reading Tim Shipman’s Now Way Out right now) the more it sounds like an absolute nightmare of a job. And even if you rise to the top you usually end up detested by the voters. But yes. I’m looking at Reform. Especially as the elites are clearly terrified of them. Poor old Tice, I feel sorry for him. 🤕
Funnily enough, having met him, I think Tice is quite nice as a person...so he's obviously totally unsuited to politics!
Ha ha. It’s like showbiz. Not saying the good guys never make it. But being a bit of Ahole certainly seems to help.
> and war mongering Hitler adjacent psychopaths
I love that. I'm going to print it on a tee shirt and wear it. It's me.
Perhaps the way to look at your Nigel is not to think of him as good or bad but rather as necessary. Or even -- as with Trump -- inevitable. If I have not attended to my garden for a week or so I come back to find it sprouting weeds. I could describe them as bad, but it's more constructive to think of them as the inevitable consequence of my laxity. But Farage is more than inevitable, he is necessary. What he says needs to be said, even as much of what Trump says also needs to be said. He is quite correct that the West provoked Putin. We have also very conveniently forgotten that Ukraine has had quite a number of neo Nazi outfits within it who have terrorized the Russian speaking parts of the country. Messy facts.
Dare I say that a healthy democracy will have and even *must* have a certain number of cranks and lunatics and fundamentalists within it? I'm glad Nigel is there, which is not the same thing as saying that I hope he wins.
Farage is RIGHT about so many things and the only RIGHT of centre voice this country has - of course the LibLabConGreen Marxist blob and media/civil service/Bilderbergers/Davos luvvies etc etc will ALL be gunning for him. And he's 100000% right about Ukraine. He's left it a bit late to get a grip on Reform but better late than never.
Hello Mrs Bucket. Yes he has left it a bit late. It will be fascinating to see how he does on the 4th. Reform could genuinely become a persistent if minor force with maybe eight MPs. Or it could end up with nothing. (Though it
Looks like they’ll taken Clacton). Interesting times.
Excellent appraisal of the MSM's blatant attempt to hobble reform by accusing Farage of holding views they themselves espoused - or at least didn't baulk at - in the very recent past. How quickly the public can be made to forget, and therefore how important this article is.
Thanks Jimmy.
Reform want to abolish IR35 which couldn't come soon enough. A stupid hateful idea that somehow a person cannot set up their own company and get paid for their own work because they may "look" like an employee. The hoops and twists of logic alone are daft and it was originally pushed by Labour from consultation with big agencies.
But that's not the real sin here. After the recent changes, no entrepreneur can sell services to bootstrap their own ideas. You can't build up a lump sum in your company that could lead to loans and expansion. All revenue is straight out as salary even through your own company. There is no residual.
A lot of permanent employees were happy that the contractors were now "paying their fair share" but all that's happened is rates have almost doubled now even in hard industries like engineering. So a company will be paying a contractor twice the amount which after tax will be a net value of income that is even higher than what that contractor's company would get paid in gross. Those companies are now effectively paying the tax man the cost of one contractor before this nonsense. The contractor still gets more money but the pool of money for permanent staff is reduced PLUS you are paying twice as much for one person so productivity has halved.
The maxim should always be if you think you'll pay less tax as a contractor (in the old way) and it's easier then just become a contractor. Funny how numbers never really skyrocketed in all those years.
Absolutely Overhead. We did get rid of those de growth, anti small business IR35 rules for about five minutes under Truss. But of course Hunt immediately reversed that. Another reason to despise this administration.
On the folly of NATO's provocation of Russian paranoia, John Mearsheimer is often cited as the go-to authority. As in this 2022 Economist article:
https://www.economist.com/by-invitation/2022/03/11/john-mearsheimer-on-why-the-west-is-principally-responsible-for-the-ukrainian-crisis
Thanks Graham. Another one to add to the list. I think I recall seeing the Economist lining up to denounce Farage this week. But I don’t have the link to hand.
Yes they would. I find The Economist useful in many ways even though it is well and truly Lefty whenever it touches on any social issues. Interested to know what you made of my latest....'Back in the Summer of 2020' piece?
Also. The Economist is a lost cause now. A shame. I used to enjoy buying it and feeling guilty when I only managed to read about a third of it.
I just get the free digital bulletin.... (like I do with dozens of other legacy media publications). I then read (or skim-read) about one article in 30. As long as it's not opinionising about political/social current affairs, it can actually be a useful source of information. Worth a look?
Seems sensible Graham. I’ll take a look.
The Economist has been a lost cause for over 20 years at least. I was at one time a subscriber and I suppose I had been reading it since the 70s - compulsory reading, really, for someone who used to call himself an economist. But it became increasingly left wing and anti-democratic on so many issues, and its economic analysis blind to non-market values that I gave up on it. Just as I gave up on Private Eye. You won't be surprised to learn that I have also given up on the daily press and all live TV channels.
Yes Jos. I have upon Private Eye too. I used to love it so much. I still read the Telegraph but it is becoming increasingly dodgy, and I’m happy with The Spectator’s range of voices. I do worry that eschewing the mainstream has left me siloed. But I can no longer bear it, so much genuinely seems like naked propaganda to me.
I thought it was excellent Graham. Thoughtful and balanced. I don’t feel I’m qualified to talk too much about American society, but your words rang true to me. I have just popped over and read it again. Thanks.
What piece was that and where is it?
Here it is: https://grahamcunningham.substack.com/p/back-in-the-summer-of-2020 Hope you find it of interest.
Ah - a Didion fan from the 60s. I guess you are nearly as old as me!
73....where did you find the Didion reference? It wasn't mentioned in that particular essay or are you referring to my Substack title?
Great post, thanks for making the effort to unearth the MSM quotes. I hope you don’t mind, I’ve posted a link on the Unherd website as a comment under an article in which Mary Harrington makes the same argument. Let me know if it’s a problem, I’ll take it down.
I will also vote reform as a middle finger to the lot of them (safe in the knowledge they’re unlikely to wield any real power).
Thank you so much Martin!! Please don’t take it down. I need as many readers as I can get! Thanks for sharing my stuff. ATB.
Again another guy here voting Reform this time. I don't have much hope of the party long term, especially on your point about enfranchising the younger voters.
I know what I would like to see in a political party. A party not of left or right, not wedded to an ideology but instead a party that asks the people specifically on issues how they want to proceed and then hold referendums to validate changes of great societal impact. In short more direct democracy.
Now it's just pick a set menu of ideology and get every good idea watered down to ineffectiveness in hopes to not offend those against the concept. While influence is bought and sold within the walls of Westminster by the wealthy and it leaves people disallusioned about the point in voting at all.
Hi John. Yes direct democracy has some appeal I think, especially when contrasted with our current ‘no democracy’ model. It seems to work well in Switzerland(?) they seem to hold a lot of referendums on a range of issues. So does California I think. With much less successful results. Maybe this has to do with size and more homogenous nature of the Swiss electorate. I’m just writing this comment from memory. So please put me right if I’ve got this all wrong!
Well that would have ended up with most of us 'refuseniks' locked up in camps and forcibly jabbed for the safety of the majority of the deluded fools. The last thing I want is my mental multi-jabbed and wilfully ignorant family getting their way over my health and safety.
California would be the example to use to dissuade people regarding direct democracy especially looking at the place now. To be fair the progressive initiatives in California are still originating in their state legislature. Direct democracy is small scale matters like single issue tax code changes.
California has had direct democracy for over a hundred years and was to disrupt the influence of the railway company on the state's legislature. Switzerland use it for larger issues as well.
Id like to have referendums on an English parliament, a formal British constitution, immigration, the nuclear deterrent, justice system and taxation. I don't have opinions on all these things but imagine having the ability in parliament when being criticized on an issue, being able to say that you are pursuing the aspirations of the majority of British people. A party willing to do that and not let ideology or ego get in the way would be a revelation.
Thanks John. My worry is this stuff, as with everything I guess, is really open to capture. It’s like how I find the idea of a written constitution appealing until I realise that it would probably get written by Yvette Cooper, with the assistance of Rory Stewart. Then of course, you are stuck with it.
Rory Stewart is actually the person who I would recommend being part of committee to oversee the process of establishing a British constitution. He's been vocal about the prospect in debates in the past and talked about it in one of his books.
He expressed his views on the need for a more formalized constitution in the UK to clarify the powers of different branches of government, protect individual rights, and ensure democratic principles are upheld. He has highlighted the importance of a constitutional framework to guide decision-making and prevent abuses of power.
Additionally, he advocated for greater public engagement in shaping the country’s constitutional arrangements. So made through direct democracy and not any one appointed politician.
And yet he worked to overturn the largest democratic vote in British history. Not sure I’d consider him a safe pair of hands.
Just one of a large group, although you win the point on Brexit, wasn't his constituency a leave voting majority. He didn't represent his constituents there.
Yes, I guess I'll be voting Reform too. If only to stir the pot, and maybe change the recipe.
I think you might be surprised about the ReformUK supporter demographic. Every young adult I know between 18 and 30 is voting ReformUK. Farage has nearly a million followers on TikTok while Sunak and Starmer have none, because they both have no account (what their social media manager was thinking, should be fired immediately). Don't underestimate the power of all those youngsters getting to know him as a good bloke on 'I'm A Celebrity...' with no prejudice about him whatsoever from the 'olden days' as they had never heard of him.
I agree Nicola. I think the younger generation has had enough of ‘business as usual’ too. At least some of them will rebel. And if it’s the ‘cool’ ones then that opens up a lot of opportunity for an insurgent party even if it proves not to be Reform in the medium term. Starmer’s votes for 16 year olds might come back to bit him on the bum.
Said similar but without as much thought into it on my own stack. Was lucky enough to see a live debate once, featuring Lord David Owen who was involved with brokering an agreement with Putin before 2016 regarding keeping a land gap between Russia and nato/EU. He said since the agreement the EU / NATO have broken every part of it.
I won’t vote for him because he can’t win here. It’s neck and neck with Tories and LibDems and I know the Tory candidate is well respected among farming community and will strive to protect them. The election seems very very focused on local issues being championed which is interesting and a good thing.
As for Reform they need to also focus on women. Sorry to tell you that they hold balance of power in the “unsures” and Nigel just isn’t as sexy as the guy they have in France.
Just sayin. Don’t shoot me
I agree totally. Farage is fine for now. But as I keep banging on saying, we need someone who appeals to young voters. (And no. That doesn’t mean they have to be 12 and covered with tattoos).
Totally agree. And that’s partly what I mean about that French dude. He has huge appeal to the young
We were at a village summer fair last weekend with our wares on display under our gazebo. I'm retired and therefore allowed to nod off in the folding chair, hat tilted forward. We were in the lane with cottages and twee front gardens behind..
I awoke to two blokes chuntering to each other. "Look what those bastards are saying about Farage and Ukraine! They're trying to drag him down with them! It's a f---ing disgrace!
Quite clear I was in safe company, I tilted my hat up and looked at them. Apologetic, they held up palms towards me. I grinned, gave them two thumbs up and waved a thumb at the cottage behind me, to the ReformUK poster in the window. The two blokes? Early 50s, one with a small haulage business, the other? A Morris dancer. No makeup.
I watched Nigel Farage in Devon, stirring up an enthusiastic motley crew, a surprising number of younger people, they were there to follow him anywhere.
I handed my other half her postal voting envelope. "There my dear. For you to annotate as you deem fit. (She, like me, would wish the Tory fate doubly so on Labour.) Later after wine - she deplores Richmond sausages on the BBQ - she tells me I'm so ReformUK with my unhealthy McDonalds and disgusting sausages. I say it's a shame I have the iron constitution to survive a Labour government. How many snowflakes will?
You paint a vivid scene Zorro. Sounds idyllic.