It is unfortunately inevitable that Reform will do well even though the leadership are tits. The Tory party was elected promising to reduce net migration from 250k to below 100k, Boris campaigned and won Brexit, and that happened to a large degree because of migration, and then Boris was elected as PM. The Tories under Boris in fact increased net migration to above 600k, and in the latest figures it's 700k, with few of those from Ukraine or Hong Kong. They could have kept the same system as existed before, and just applied it to both non-EU and EU migration, which was occurring under Theresa May, but Boris chose a massive liberalisation.
The increase in small boats has happened under their watch, partly as a result of Brexit and mismanagement afterwards, and they have even deported vastly fewer people than New Labour did because of their incompetence and obsession with cutting services. If mainstream conservative parties are no longer competent, and no longer conservative, they are going to be thrown in the bin by voters and who will pick the next right wing party to hand. We are probably lucky that Reform are not the AfD. In Denmark both the centre left and centre right changed their policy to go back to allowing the levels of migration which existed before the last decade or two, and the far right disappeared, in Britain we can't even go back to the levels of migration from five years ago. If we want far right or hard right parties to go away, the mainstream parties must represent the public.
I think every reasonable person believes that migration needs to be controlled in some capacity, and I think most people are probably quite aligned on what they think is reasonable and unreasonable, but Farage and his ilk look to division rather than reasonable open debate. An earlier poster mentioned migration has reached this level simply to massage the GDP figures for the last two years, which although perhaps not true, is probably a welcome side effect.
Yes, I agree. Farage is an activist and publicist, it's all about what plays well in the press and he has shown no sign that we would be able to lead a country. The party is an effective shell company, and we have no idea about their candidates and activists, many of whom will be mad. But Farage would have dwindled into irrelevance if the Tories had not taken the piss.
Even now the Tories have promised to cut migration to 400k a year, that's 4 million more people to build homes and infrastructure for over a decade, that's a new Brighton or Edinburgh every year, while homes and infrastructure are already way behind where they should be. Population growth taking into account births, deaths and migration is not being held stable by increased levels of migration as it should be, population growth is five times what it was in the 90s.
It is obvious idiocy, and as you say just from some kind of slum landlord idea that if you cram more people into the existing homes and infrastructure, the country can be a nominal amount better off while income per person is stagnant, everything costs more, and the people live like sardines. We do need significant levels of migration, but what is happening now is clearly wrong and dysfunctional.
The obr has stated that migrants are a fiscal drag, the country looks much shabbier than I'm past decades, we are a post peak country, it's yet to be decided if we can stop the slide.
>the country looks much shabbier than I'm past decades
I was around in the 90's. As far as I can tell, this country *always* looks like shit after an extended sentence sentence to Tory rule. Yes it's worse this time around, but that's because the people who sell themselves as an alternative to the Tories only create slow half-arsed improvements. It's like every Tory takes you 5 steps back, but if you're only taking two steps forward in between, the destination is behind you.
Its so fucking mad people can't join up the dots and seem to wind up just blaming immigrants and some kind of weird vast left wing conspiracy thats taken over everything from the legal system to the police instead.
What is the conspiracy? Net migration is fifteen times what it was before about 1995, population growth taking into account births, deaths and migration is five times what it was before 1995 without an increase in the house building rate, half the adult population of the capital city was born outside the UK, and that percentage will rise even further because net migration has trebled again just in the last five years and the change has not worked through.
That has happened not because there is any conspiracy but because sensible, moderate people are unable to express any sceptical opinion about levels of migration, because they don’t want to be accused of racism. And because politicians and business leaders want cheap labour rather than having to pay to invest to increase productivity, or pay workers more.
> half the adult population of the capital city was born outside the UK
So you think things would be better if they were born inside the UK? Your statistic is wrong btw but I'm just interested in your thinking here 🤔
> So you think things would be better if they were born inside the UK?
Better for who? Better for British citizens growing up in Britain to be able to afford to access the opportunities in their capital city, which is the location of most of the national institutions, which receives huge amounts of national-level investment, and which is the only place where many highly skilled, highly paid jobs are available? Yes.
> Your statistic is wrong btw
It isn't wrong, it is not difficult to look it up:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_London
By the mid-1990s NHS waiting lists were a very big issue, higher education funding was was at very low levels, pensioner poverty was far more of a thing and schools were notably underfunded.
On the other hand housing was relatively cheap.
Overall, it wasn't as bad as now - there was far more headroom for improvement in 1997, the conservatives really have driven the country into a ditch over the past 14 years.
He's running now because trump was convicted, so the payments for Farage and probably Truss too to keep doing rally appearances aren't likely to continue.
That's exactly my interpretation too. I hope Starmer absolutely canes him on this (if he even deigns to acknowledge his presence in the election, which he might not).
There are a quarter of a million Europeans leaving every year now too. A huge loss of skilled workers. The mass of new arrivals from Asia and Africa are being expected to do an awful lot with much less rights, less freedoms and few protections.
It's going to be an utter shitshow. But maybe that's what happens when people elect populists who are too lazy to formulate a coherent plan. Change costs money. And Starmer is going to force the jilted generation of underfed kids from the landlord owned estates to work into care homes instead? Jesus. What a time to get old. No doctors. Pharmacies empty. Care-homes at the heart of a political battleground in a society where the over-65's are the largest cohort and the most influential at election time - but they don't know what they want and there are simply not enough skilled, caring kids to wipe their arses. It's a mess.
Let's be honest, campaigning on "we will only let in 400% more people as many as we campaigned to let in last time" isn't exactly as wonderful as they seem to think.
It seems people have finally started to see through the Conservatives when it comes to immigration. I've been saying this for years on both immigration and crime: the Tories might claim to want to be tough on both, but they're not interested in sorting either. High immigration and crime create a problem they can claim to want to fix to win over sections of the electorate that have their eyes closed.
Now, I'm not going to claim to agree with people on this subreddit. I'm a lefty and argue that the above should be sorted, not by concentration camps or by letting people drown (as some here have genuinely argued), but by the get it at the root approach we used to have. Crime is best prevented (and the prosecution service should be efficient), and immigration is best processed. Starving both of these of resources, as we have for the last decade and a half is hardly conducive to sorting anything.
The Tories are pro-mass immigration for the same reasons they always have been: it saturates the labour market so big business can increase profits while upping the demand side of the housing market, increasing profits there too. They just claim to be against it to appeal to their voter base.
Labour used to be against it as they recognised it damages the interest of the working class and the unions they pretend to represent, but now they’re not.
Now we’re in this room. Not sure what people expected to be honest.
Both can be, and are, true, I think.
I remember Lindybeige, of all people, making this point years ago (probably well over a decade ago now), using immigration as an example to illustrate that the professed politics and interests of the left and right in the political arena are really malleable and the labels themselves are a bit pants.
It's like Brexit. Have had many conversations with weak-left Europeans who can't see why the British left is wary of the EU. Brexit was definitely a shot in the foot fo the UK, but there are good ideological reasons one might be a leftist and against it. I with Corbyn had gone full leaver, really. He doesn't and never did like the EU. Might have won if he'd refused to be tempered by his party.
> and we have no idea about their candidates and activists, many of whom will be mad.
I've noticed their social media game seems t be on point, probably a load of Cambridge Analytica again.
I've had a barrage of "Reform UK - " posts on Facebook
Why is it bullshit? People often cite "an Australian system" and somehow never clock... Australia does actually have a higher rate of immigration than us... Bunch of nitwits are going to empower scum like him thinking the rich boy commodities broker isn't the exact same ilk as the Tories shoveling in as much cheap disposable labour they can for corporate profits. Christ Reform even label themselves as a fucking limited company, how are people so stupid they can't see whats going on?
No. He literally said the other day pro Palestine March attendees do not align with British values, an obvious veiled way to say brown and black people are not British.
Normally I'm on Reddit posting apologism for Palestine but I am pretty sure the reason he said that is conflating support with Palestine with support for Hamas not that black and brown people cant be British. Now maybe he thinks that, I wouldn't be surprised, but I don't think we can ignore the whole intifada thing.
Honestly, I think the way to deal with Farage and his kind of people is to actually talk to them. Not the way they like to talk, though. I mean instead of letting them moan and piss and whine about what other people are doing, actually ask them what *their* plans are, and ask for details of how *they* would do things.
After all, can anyone remember what Farage's brexit looked like? Anyone? Best you were getting was 'we'll be able to XYZ, because raaargh ABC bad!'. No path or detail on how to achieve XYZ. Just a man headbutting the air while angrily belching nonsense. And it works because it sounds nice and is full of 'the pope is catholic' type statements.
So yeah. Give him something to actually *think* about, and he'll hate you for it, because thinking isn't his forte, while hating is. Scrutiny is, after all, the enemy of disinformation.
This really doesn’t work, partly because Farage can just bluster, and partly because Reform voters only care about migration, they are not voting for Reform as a programme of government or to run the country. And it is trivial to run a migration system with much lower migration, we did it for hundreds of years before about 1995. In fact we had two thirds lower migration five years ago.
Considering the type of migration they're always yapping about is already illegal, banning it won't do anything.
So how does Farage propose to 'stop the boats'? The Tory answer to this is to try to remove *my* human rights, and that's partly why they're getting annihilated next month. Anything that threatens the rights and freedoms of British people is not up for debate at all. And let's face it, the only people who will lose any rights that way is us. See how leaving the EU affected the freedom of movement of all those other citizens of the union... not even slightly. Only ours.
As for the asylum system, the way to deal with that is to actually process people's asylum claims. Leaving them on the bench being fed on taxpayers' money indefinitely while not getting them a quick decision on whether they stay or go... that's what's expensive. Get them decided and kicked out (or accepted) quick. If accepted, they enter our normal systems where if you want money you have to work and pay tax. But you know, I honestly think Labour might try that one. It's a no-brainer. It's not much they differ from the Tories on, but they were doing this perfectly fine before 2010, I don't have a reason to doubt they'd go back to that.
It's why they're called "REFORM" too, it's a nice fluffy word about how they're "getting rid of the westminster elite".
By electing a man who's spent his life around politics and the fucking city
Reform gives me so much Dutch PVV vibes. The same rhetoric, the same non-existent policies and the same kind of leader who claims to represent the people but hasn’t worked a day outside politics in his life.
Oh, and isn’t Reform a party without members too? In the Netherlands a party needs at least two members, so the PVV has as first member Geert Wilders, and as second ‘member’ a foundation called ‘Friends of Geert Wilders’ with a single board member called Geert Wilders. Talk about taking the piss.
UKIP was just BNP in Savillle Row suits, while BNP was just National Front in a George @ Asda suit. (They only had one, they had to share it)
And that followed with Nick Griffin too, he was incapable of not saying the quiet part out loud.
Why bother with the "No blacks can be in the BNP" when you know that they're not wanting to in the first place!
Pretty much. Unless a hell of a lot has changed in media in 13 years, the BNP was destroyed by UKIP, which itself was destroyed by Brexit/Reform.
Because I sure as hell don't remember politicians being much more held to explain their workings back then as they are now. We had Paxman, but he was alone and on the way out already.
Farage is not a serious politician, none of his policy propositions are based in any kind of serious reality, so the idea he will do any more than vapid sloganeering while allowing the border system to fall into even more chaos because he doesn't have the faintest clue about or interest in actually governing is a lot of fun to me. But people will vote for him because he says the things that makes their peepee go a little hard with a wee little hate-boner for the forrins.
People voted UKIP in the EU as a "Protest vote" and now want to vote REFUK, which is just same shit, new name. Thinking they're now "doing proper politics".
Are they dumb.
I thought Nigey's whole "hiding in the shadow" thing was pretty genius. The sheer amount of people I spoke to who didn't realise it was his latest iteration was mind boggling.
But now he's out and proud. So we'll see
People on the streets are thinking immigration needs to go down drastically. Not halted or anything, just massively reduced.
The problem is that Reform is the only party suggesting this. OK, the Tories do too but they’ve proven they can’t or won’t do it.
It’s that simple.
It’s unfortunate in a sense, but also this election needs to be about immigration and the NHS - and both parties were just skirting around the issues.
The Tories have been absolutely terrible on both fronts. It’s actually hard to think of one net benefit they’ve brought. Ooooh, inflation’s down. Inflation that was by and large guaranteed to fall anyway - and which was caused by largely unnecessary lockdowns in the first place.
But Labour have energised precisely nobody. They’re at 40-odd percent because people hate the Tories and haven’t got to know Starmer yet.
People want to feel like they’re living in the world’s fifth largest economy. They want *something* in return for having the highest tax burden on record. Instead, we have unaffordable housing, a dangerously lacklustre jobs market, abysmal public services and a broken healthcare system.
If the boomers had any sense, they’d realise that if *they* - probably the luckiest generation in history - are complaining about things, the younger generations might well have it a lot worse.
Then we could potentially band together in some kind of coherent group and demand change that works for everyone.
Instead we’re kept artificially divided along stupid lines that make zero fucking real sense.
At least by standing, he’s ensuring immigration is part of the conversation, which is almost undeniably what needs to happen.
Its genuinely hilarious to me theres still this massive undercurrent of "we can't vote for Labour because they'll increase immigration" coming from types who've now voted Tory multiple times and seen the "anti-immigration" folks somehow create an even more lenient system than Blair's "rub the right's nose in diversity" open borders policy. Absolute clown world.
I’m not sure that exists for ordinary people, GB News voters are breaking for Labour for example. What they’re not going to do is vote in large numbers for the Tories because there is no point to the Tories. I don’t expect there would be much difference between the Tories and Labour on migration, the Tories will strike a hard line in the press but I expect both will end up ay 350-400k.
>If we want far right or hard right parties to go away, the mainstream parties must represent the public.
This is exactly it. Mainstream parties are so out of touch with what most of the country actually wants and thinks is important that there is no alternative for them at the ballot box bar parties like Reform. It just amazes me that virtually nobody in Westminster wants to acknowledge this.
Idiots want stupid unrealistic things. I want a pot of gold, so I'll vote for anyone who says they will give me a pot of gold. But after the election when I don't get my pot of gold that was promised it's suddenly outrageous that the politicians aren't delivering?
Reform are grifters. They just promise whatever people want to hear. They will get elected on impossible statements because the voting public are idiots with no capacity for critical thinking. Don't blame reform, blame our failed education system.
> The Tory party was elected promising to reduce net migration from 250k to below 100k,
What your average voter cannot understand is that it cannot happen under a party who relies on donations from big companies. Those big companies rely on depressed wages to to generate high income and that can only happen reliably with a high supply of workers
>"Richard Tice probably does want me to replace him. But do I want to be an MP? Do I want to spend every Friday for the next five years in Clacton?"
NIGEL FARAGE, THE TIMES, 1 1/02/2024
He used to drive to Brussels in his trusty British Volvo to collect his wages though.
He was featured in a C4 doc (I think it was C4) where he openly waved a wad of cash at the camera gloating.
I live within spitting distance of ol' Clackers, and I can definitely see that lot voting for him - there's only like 100 young people left in the town, and everyone else is *old* and *miserable*.
The voter turnout is almost always a procession of ornery pensioners with nowt better to do than fuck the country with a wasted vote.
We usually refer to Clacton as 'hell's waiting room' for a bloody good reason - it's a conservative cesspool packed to the gills with every kind of stupid the rest of Essex wanted rid of.
Hence, I suppose, why that *Frog-faced French fuck* is now sliming his way into their good graces.
I hope Clacton sees sense, but honestly, I feel like that'd be a first! :p
Their voting demographic is pensioners, they believe GBnews , Daily Mail that everything would be perfect without the ‘ boat men ‘.
Really they want Britain to return to the time of their youth, no trans people , few Muslims , obviously not all pensioners, I am basing it on my 77 year old Mums friends .
"Bring back the good old days when there was barely any crime and you could leave your door unlocked"
"I remember the times your Uncle Jimmy would be dragged home by the Police Man because he was caught doing criminal things"
Somehow those statements correlate according to my nan...
"Politicians don't care about us they just turn up somewhere they're not from and expect us to vote for them"
"OOOOOO Farage is standing in my seat, I'm going to vote for him"
If he loses it'll just be proof of the deep state/EU/immigrants/conservatives\* conspiring against him
\*delete as applicable
Otherwise NewsThump just being a bit too accurate to be parody anymore :-)
As long as Reform get a large share of the vote around the country, Farage will be able to 'declare victory'. He doesn't have to win the seat, and he's [never been successful before](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electoral_history_of_Nigel_Farage) but still able to claim he's winning
I don’t think he will, honestly. I’m not sure he can.
He can literally campaign on the single line of cutting immigration and a seriously sizeable chunk of people will vote for him.
We were given that chance in 2016 and gave him the biggest victory he could've possibly imagined
Never really able to forgive or forget the country buying into this Jingoistic snake oil salesman.
51/49% majority is hardly the “biggest victory he could’ve imagine”. Granted he achieved the impossible, which putting things aside is actually incredibly impressive
I think you'll find that 51/49 is the most absolute cast-iron majority possible, which can never be questioned and totally licence to implement the hardest possible version of what was voted for.
But we know there's gonna be a huge swing to Labour in this election. It might easily be 40% labour, 50% tory atm. With that tory vote being split, labour could come through the middle.
The swing comes from marginal seats rather than safe ones changing sides, though. Farage has chosen Clacton for a reason. It's like a little world of its own, untroubled by reason and logic.
https://x.com/YouGov/status/1797662463845978564
> [before Farage's announcement] Reform are currently third in that seat on 20%, with Labour on 42% and the Tories on 27%
But a huge amount of the Tory votes will now go to Reform, because of his name power. Plus a decent amount of Labour as well. Only needs to take 5% of Labour voters I reckon.
I still propose we get a Middle Eastern comedian to play 'Faisal Naraj', the original character upon which Nigel Farage is based. A Muslim cleric with 'deep concerns' about the amount of infidels and white people clogging up the arteries of Kabul.
I just think that when you have a parody version of Faisal showing up on the BBC every 5 minutes, it's a good idea to let people see the man himself.
Or maybe the original Faisal could be played by an actor, with a team of comedians writing the material. I think you'd have to include Omid Jalili and Joe Lycett, right off the bat.
> I just think that when you have a parody version of Faisal showing up on the BBC every 5 minutes, it's a good idea to let people see the man himself.
Why would we bother when the BBC platform Nigel every time he farts.
They gave him a fucking live feed for his announcement. What next, he'll be presenting the weather?
Oh wait they did that one too
> but he is a very important figure
Because the BBC gave him so much god damn airtime. He is actually a nobody, and always was. He just got thrust in our faces constantly. 37 or something fucking times on QT
The BBC is terrified of being called biased by the Tories because they know the Tories would try and dismantle them (because they've been trying it quietly for ages), so they overcompensate by bending over backwards for the right wing
It seems that very few people on social media know the reality of the electorate of Clacton.
Clacton voted in the first UKIP MP ever! They love Farage!
You are right few people on social media do, it isn't necessarily that they love Farage, Douglas Carswell (the UKIP MP) was a well liked Tory MP who left and joined UKIP, he didn't have to have a by-election but did, won the vote by about 12,000. In 2015, the next general election, he only held on by 3,500 votes, and didn't run in 2017, where the UKIP candidate came 3rd, with less actual votes than Douglas had won by.
That's exactly why he picked that.
Funny how the venn diagram that would complain about an MP not "caring about the area" would then jump at the chance to get the immigrant in
Case from Cornwall were someone was stood outside a university building saying that.
I live deep in brexitland and every town square has a little blue plaque.
Skimmed through it but that looks depressing.
Is everyone in Clacton overweight, on mobility scooters, have dementia. I thought my city was a sh*thole but everyone in Clacton seems to have that inbred look... At least from that video
Places like Clacton are where austerity-stripped London councils ship vulnerable and disadvantaged families out to because they're the few places remaining that has any available social housing. We create these sad fucking slums with no commerce or infrastructure and fill them full of all our poor, hopeless uneducated problem cases, and then deride them for the sad state of their lot and lack of bootstraps. Good luck convincing any of them not to vote for the racist isolationist rabble-rouser when that's their life situation.
We deserve the terrible future that these poor desperate bastards are voting for.
That's usually true but Clacton was always a shithole. FFS, a German pilot crash landed there in 1940 and they treated him like a celebrity.
It hasn't been nice since the 60s, which is long before London councils moved people there.
Clacton was relatively decent until the 70s, much like the other resort towns like Blackpool, Lowestoft and Scarborough when the package holiday destroyed them
Really good film, depressing as anything, but really good composition and really gives a feel for the place.
I wish Clacton and our other failing turnaround and feel alive again.
But nobody would be able to tell the difference. Except the people who live there and that would be sad because all in all they seem to be decent folk in a bad situation.
I can’t believe I’m saying this but the labour supporters of Clacton need to vote Tory. It’s the only way to stop that slimy frog faced weasel from becoming an MP. Lord please forgive me.
It might be a good thing if he gets in. It might jolt the other parties into being slightly less terrible and start to actually address certain issues they’ve been avoiding.
If the people of Clacton want a hard working MP who will fight to improve their local community and deeply cares about their issues, Farage ain’t it. Good luck to them if they decide otherwise. He’s a grifter and nothing more. The amount of air time the mainstream media have given this failed politician is staggering.
And how is that going for us all?? Inarguably quality of life has got worse since the Brexit vote, denying that is pure delusion! And did Nigel stick around and actually help the Uk transition?? No of course not he went off to the States to join the lucrative right wing speaker circuit.
Being mildly popular isn’t the same as failing to get elected seven times in an election though. I never disputed the popularity of Nigel. I rightly pointed out he’s a lying grifter who’s managed to dupe a not insignificant minority of the population!
Yknow, the "Make Britain Great Again" slogan thing really does make me wonder if the Reform lot do genuinely think the "great" in "Great Britain" means really, really, really good.
Thursday 23rd May, Farage won’t stand in UK election because Trump is higher priority
Thursday 30th May, Trump’s a convicted felon
Friday 31st May, Farage compared the American judicial system to a 'third world country' and said he has 'no respect' for the system
Monday 1st June, Farage standing as an MP
Am perplexed by all of the anti Farage comments, but none of responders presenting an answer to the fact that the Tories have allowed uncontrolled immigration and Labour Will do the same. Labour also have zero plan re boat crossings.
The two arent mutually exclusive. You can find more than one party 'a bit crap'.
When your choices are:
- The same people who've been screwing the country up for 14 years
- The bloke who lied and made a bunch of false promises of the benefits of Brexit, only for it to turn out to have very little upside and a lot of cost.
- Labour who've not been in charge for 14 years, might still be a bit shit but at least it's someone different who havent got the brain drain of the current government.
Regarding the boats, the conservatives don't exactly have a plan either. Rwanda was an utterly stupid idea from the start and as history has shown, it does not work as a deterrant in any way, shape or form, especially when anyone forced to go there is free to leave immediately.
Anyone who lives near Claiton knows that he will get in.
Trust me, the Clacton majority have all forgotten about Farage’s false promises and lies he spun them from Brexit and instead recognise his recent stint on I’m a celeb which will be their main reason for voting
What is it about these deprived SE towns like Clacton that are obsessed with immigration?
The town is 96% white and has barely any immigration at all. It’s deprived, run down, has no job opportunities and has been hammered by conservative policies and austerity and what it really needs is regeneration, huge investment and social spending.
Yet the people there think the solution is to get angrier about immigrants, embrace even harder economic conservatism and hammer the poor harder.
They’re like those red state backwater towns in the US in Alabama and Mississippi that always rank worst in poverty, deprivation, infant mortality, drug abuse, education, healthcare access that just keep voting for Republicans to give tax cuts to the rich and take away their healthcare.
Very sad state of affairs.
No-one is immediately getting handed a free house when they land at Kent, so lying doesn’t help your argument btw.
People on boats aren’t the reason why Clacton is a run down dump with no prospects or investment. If the boats stopped tomorrow it would make no material difference to the town and it would still be beset by the same fundamental economic issues.
Tbh, it’s the great right wing populist con we see all over the world atm. The facade is protecting you from scary foreigners whilst by stealth they’re cutting taxes for the wealthy, slashing welfare, removing workers rights and handing power to big corporations.
In theory, this is the perfect seat for Farage to potentially finally get a win. Huge Leave vote, socially conservative, previous UKIP representation. The current Tory MP is also a rather strange fit for the seat; definitely not on the right of the party and a Remainer. It will be close.
A reminder that a few years ago when Clacton voted in a UKIP representative, Banksy came and made a piece of art on the beach. The council then pressure washed it away the next day. Ooops.
Just a general point.
The Tories are between a rock and a hard place at this point.
Any move rightwards makes it very plausible that the Blue Wall crumbles further.
Any move to try and give crumbs to traditional One Nation Tories gives room to Farage.
It does however look possible that they will get squeezed at both ends.
Gets my vote, fuck this biased post and subreddit honestly.
Why:
- They plan to reduce student loan interest
- Plans to reduce tax for hard workers
- Scrap IR35 so it’s worth earning money again
- Focus on nuclear energy
List goes on, prefer the party over the main 2. No way I’d ever be able to vote Starmer since he’s been supporting wars abroad and plans to kill a ton of jobs. (removing zero hour contracts)
The man may be an absolute arsehole but he does have his uses. His party will take away vital tory votes and hopefully send the tories into a political death spiral they’ll never recover from.
Clackton will welcome Farrage with open arms unfortunately
It is unfortunately inevitable that Reform will do well even though the leadership are tits. The Tory party was elected promising to reduce net migration from 250k to below 100k, Boris campaigned and won Brexit, and that happened to a large degree because of migration, and then Boris was elected as PM. The Tories under Boris in fact increased net migration to above 600k, and in the latest figures it's 700k, with few of those from Ukraine or Hong Kong. They could have kept the same system as existed before, and just applied it to both non-EU and EU migration, which was occurring under Theresa May, but Boris chose a massive liberalisation. The increase in small boats has happened under their watch, partly as a result of Brexit and mismanagement afterwards, and they have even deported vastly fewer people than New Labour did because of their incompetence and obsession with cutting services. If mainstream conservative parties are no longer competent, and no longer conservative, they are going to be thrown in the bin by voters and who will pick the next right wing party to hand. We are probably lucky that Reform are not the AfD. In Denmark both the centre left and centre right changed their policy to go back to allowing the levels of migration which existed before the last decade or two, and the far right disappeared, in Britain we can't even go back to the levels of migration from five years ago. If we want far right or hard right parties to go away, the mainstream parties must represent the public.
I think every reasonable person believes that migration needs to be controlled in some capacity, and I think most people are probably quite aligned on what they think is reasonable and unreasonable, but Farage and his ilk look to division rather than reasonable open debate. An earlier poster mentioned migration has reached this level simply to massage the GDP figures for the last two years, which although perhaps not true, is probably a welcome side effect.
Yes, I agree. Farage is an activist and publicist, it's all about what plays well in the press and he has shown no sign that we would be able to lead a country. The party is an effective shell company, and we have no idea about their candidates and activists, many of whom will be mad. But Farage would have dwindled into irrelevance if the Tories had not taken the piss. Even now the Tories have promised to cut migration to 400k a year, that's 4 million more people to build homes and infrastructure for over a decade, that's a new Brighton or Edinburgh every year, while homes and infrastructure are already way behind where they should be. Population growth taking into account births, deaths and migration is not being held stable by increased levels of migration as it should be, population growth is five times what it was in the 90s. It is obvious idiocy, and as you say just from some kind of slum landlord idea that if you cram more people into the existing homes and infrastructure, the country can be a nominal amount better off while income per person is stagnant, everything costs more, and the people live like sardines. We do need significant levels of migration, but what is happening now is clearly wrong and dysfunctional.
The obr has stated that migrants are a fiscal drag, the country looks much shabbier than I'm past decades, we are a post peak country, it's yet to be decided if we can stop the slide.
>the country looks much shabbier than I'm past decades I was around in the 90's. As far as I can tell, this country *always* looks like shit after an extended sentence sentence to Tory rule. Yes it's worse this time around, but that's because the people who sell themselves as an alternative to the Tories only create slow half-arsed improvements. It's like every Tory takes you 5 steps back, but if you're only taking two steps forward in between, the destination is behind you.
Its so fucking mad people can't join up the dots and seem to wind up just blaming immigrants and some kind of weird vast left wing conspiracy thats taken over everything from the legal system to the police instead.
What is the conspiracy? Net migration is fifteen times what it was before about 1995, population growth taking into account births, deaths and migration is five times what it was before 1995 without an increase in the house building rate, half the adult population of the capital city was born outside the UK, and that percentage will rise even further because net migration has trebled again just in the last five years and the change has not worked through. That has happened not because there is any conspiracy but because sensible, moderate people are unable to express any sceptical opinion about levels of migration, because they don’t want to be accused of racism. And because politicians and business leaders want cheap labour rather than having to pay to invest to increase productivity, or pay workers more.
> half the adult population of the capital city was born outside the UK So you think things would be better if they were born inside the UK? Your statistic is wrong btw but I'm just interested in your thinking here 🤔
> So you think things would be better if they were born inside the UK? Better for who? Better for British citizens growing up in Britain to be able to afford to access the opportunities in their capital city, which is the location of most of the national institutions, which receives huge amounts of national-level investment, and which is the only place where many highly skilled, highly paid jobs are available? Yes. > Your statistic is wrong btw It isn't wrong, it is not difficult to look it up: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_London
I was around in the 90s and it wasn’t remotely like this.
By the mid-1990s NHS waiting lists were a very big issue, higher education funding was was at very low levels, pensioner poverty was far more of a thing and schools were notably underfunded. On the other hand housing was relatively cheap. Overall, it wasn't as bad as now - there was far more headroom for improvement in 1997, the conservatives really have driven the country into a ditch over the past 14 years.
I can't seem to find that piece of info.
I think you can't find it because it came from his bumhole
He's running now because trump was convicted, so the payments for Farage and probably Truss too to keep doing rally appearances aren't likely to continue.
That's exactly my interpretation too. I hope Starmer absolutely canes him on this (if he even deigns to acknowledge his presence in the election, which he might not).
There are a quarter of a million Europeans leaving every year now too. A huge loss of skilled workers. The mass of new arrivals from Asia and Africa are being expected to do an awful lot with much less rights, less freedoms and few protections. It's going to be an utter shitshow. But maybe that's what happens when people elect populists who are too lazy to formulate a coherent plan. Change costs money. And Starmer is going to force the jilted generation of underfed kids from the landlord owned estates to work into care homes instead? Jesus. What a time to get old. No doctors. Pharmacies empty. Care-homes at the heart of a political battleground in a society where the over-65's are the largest cohort and the most influential at election time - but they don't know what they want and there are simply not enough skilled, caring kids to wipe their arses. It's a mess.
Let's be honest, campaigning on "we will only let in 400% more people as many as we campaigned to let in last time" isn't exactly as wonderful as they seem to think.
It seems people have finally started to see through the Conservatives when it comes to immigration. I've been saying this for years on both immigration and crime: the Tories might claim to want to be tough on both, but they're not interested in sorting either. High immigration and crime create a problem they can claim to want to fix to win over sections of the electorate that have their eyes closed. Now, I'm not going to claim to agree with people on this subreddit. I'm a lefty and argue that the above should be sorted, not by concentration camps or by letting people drown (as some here have genuinely argued), but by the get it at the root approach we used to have. Crime is best prevented (and the prosecution service should be efficient), and immigration is best processed. Starving both of these of resources, as we have for the last decade and a half is hardly conducive to sorting anything.
The Tories are pro-mass immigration for the same reasons they always have been: it saturates the labour market so big business can increase profits while upping the demand side of the housing market, increasing profits there too. They just claim to be against it to appeal to their voter base. Labour used to be against it as they recognised it damages the interest of the working class and the unions they pretend to represent, but now they’re not. Now we’re in this room. Not sure what people expected to be honest.
Both can be, and are, true, I think. I remember Lindybeige, of all people, making this point years ago (probably well over a decade ago now), using immigration as an example to illustrate that the professed politics and interests of the left and right in the political arena are really malleable and the labels themselves are a bit pants. It's like Brexit. Have had many conversations with weak-left Europeans who can't see why the British left is wary of the EU. Brexit was definitely a shot in the foot fo the UK, but there are good ideological reasons one might be a leftist and against it. I with Corbyn had gone full leaver, really. He doesn't and never did like the EU. Might have won if he'd refused to be tempered by his party.
If there was a way of generating cash (say private border security or private policing), they would be all over it like a tory mo on a rent boy.
> and we have no idea about their candidates and activists, many of whom will be mad. I've noticed their social media game seems t be on point, probably a load of Cambridge Analytica again. I've had a barrage of "Reform UK - " posts on Facebook
All farage had campaigned for regarding immigration is an Australian style points system. A perfectly reasonable position.
We already have a points-based immigration system. Boris introduced it years ago.
Yes but it is clearly bullshit - walk around London and tell me that the people you see coming in are high skilled. The total opposite.
Why is it bullshit? People often cite "an Australian system" and somehow never clock... Australia does actually have a higher rate of immigration than us... Bunch of nitwits are going to empower scum like him thinking the rich boy commodities broker isn't the exact same ilk as the Tories shoveling in as much cheap disposable labour they can for corporate profits. Christ Reform even label themselves as a fucking limited company, how are people so stupid they can't see whats going on?
No. He literally said the other day pro Palestine March attendees do not align with British values, an obvious veiled way to say brown and black people are not British.
I've been told many times by his ilk that I'm a "race traitor" for being anti-racist. Funny that
Normally I'm on Reddit posting apologism for Palestine but I am pretty sure the reason he said that is conflating support with Palestine with support for Hamas not that black and brown people cant be British. Now maybe he thinks that, I wouldn't be surprised, but I don't think we can ignore the whole intifada thing.
No you aren't meant to say that, you're meant to say he's a demonic reincarnation of Goebbels, or something.
It's not only the what, but the how. He surely is good at dog whistling (breaking point poster, etc). All he does is poisoning the well.
Honestly, I think the way to deal with Farage and his kind of people is to actually talk to them. Not the way they like to talk, though. I mean instead of letting them moan and piss and whine about what other people are doing, actually ask them what *their* plans are, and ask for details of how *they* would do things. After all, can anyone remember what Farage's brexit looked like? Anyone? Best you were getting was 'we'll be able to XYZ, because raaargh ABC bad!'. No path or detail on how to achieve XYZ. Just a man headbutting the air while angrily belching nonsense. And it works because it sounds nice and is full of 'the pope is catholic' type statements. So yeah. Give him something to actually *think* about, and he'll hate you for it, because thinking isn't his forte, while hating is. Scrutiny is, after all, the enemy of disinformation.
This really doesn’t work, partly because Farage can just bluster, and partly because Reform voters only care about migration, they are not voting for Reform as a programme of government or to run the country. And it is trivial to run a migration system with much lower migration, we did it for hundreds of years before about 1995. In fact we had two thirds lower migration five years ago.
Considering the type of migration they're always yapping about is already illegal, banning it won't do anything. So how does Farage propose to 'stop the boats'? The Tory answer to this is to try to remove *my* human rights, and that's partly why they're getting annihilated next month. Anything that threatens the rights and freedoms of British people is not up for debate at all. And let's face it, the only people who will lose any rights that way is us. See how leaving the EU affected the freedom of movement of all those other citizens of the union... not even slightly. Only ours. As for the asylum system, the way to deal with that is to actually process people's asylum claims. Leaving them on the bench being fed on taxpayers' money indefinitely while not getting them a quick decision on whether they stay or go... that's what's expensive. Get them decided and kicked out (or accepted) quick. If accepted, they enter our normal systems where if you want money you have to work and pay tax. But you know, I honestly think Labour might try that one. It's a no-brainer. It's not much they differ from the Tories on, but they were doing this perfectly fine before 2010, I don't have a reason to doubt they'd go back to that.
It's why they're called "REFORM" too, it's a nice fluffy word about how they're "getting rid of the westminster elite". By electing a man who's spent his life around politics and the fucking city
Reform gives me so much Dutch PVV vibes. The same rhetoric, the same non-existent policies and the same kind of leader who claims to represent the people but hasn’t worked a day outside politics in his life. Oh, and isn’t Reform a party without members too? In the Netherlands a party needs at least two members, so the PVV has as first member Geert Wilders, and as second ‘member’ a foundation called ‘Friends of Geert Wilders’ with a single board member called Geert Wilders. Talk about taking the piss.
This is literally how the BNP was destroyed
UKIP was just BNP in Savillle Row suits, while BNP was just National Front in a George @ Asda suit. (They only had one, they had to share it) And that followed with Nick Griffin too, he was incapable of not saying the quiet part out loud. Why bother with the "No blacks can be in the BNP" when you know that they're not wanting to in the first place!
Pretty much. Unless a hell of a lot has changed in media in 13 years, the BNP was destroyed by UKIP, which itself was destroyed by Brexit/Reform. Because I sure as hell don't remember politicians being much more held to explain their workings back then as they are now. We had Paxman, but he was alone and on the way out already.
Farage is not a serious politician, none of his policy propositions are based in any kind of serious reality, so the idea he will do any more than vapid sloganeering while allowing the border system to fall into even more chaos because he doesn't have the faintest clue about or interest in actually governing is a lot of fun to me. But people will vote for him because he says the things that makes their peepee go a little hard with a wee little hate-boner for the forrins.
People voted UKIP in the EU as a "Protest vote" and now want to vote REFUK, which is just same shit, new name. Thinking they're now "doing proper politics". Are they dumb. I thought Nigey's whole "hiding in the shadow" thing was pretty genius. The sheer amount of people I spoke to who didn't realise it was his latest iteration was mind boggling. But now he's out and proud. So we'll see
Yeah but some Tory doner makes a packet from putting them up in cheap hotels, so…
People on the streets are thinking immigration needs to go down drastically. Not halted or anything, just massively reduced. The problem is that Reform is the only party suggesting this. OK, the Tories do too but they’ve proven they can’t or won’t do it. It’s that simple.
It’s unfortunate in a sense, but also this election needs to be about immigration and the NHS - and both parties were just skirting around the issues. The Tories have been absolutely terrible on both fronts. It’s actually hard to think of one net benefit they’ve brought. Ooooh, inflation’s down. Inflation that was by and large guaranteed to fall anyway - and which was caused by largely unnecessary lockdowns in the first place. But Labour have energised precisely nobody. They’re at 40-odd percent because people hate the Tories and haven’t got to know Starmer yet. People want to feel like they’re living in the world’s fifth largest economy. They want *something* in return for having the highest tax burden on record. Instead, we have unaffordable housing, a dangerously lacklustre jobs market, abysmal public services and a broken healthcare system. If the boomers had any sense, they’d realise that if *they* - probably the luckiest generation in history - are complaining about things, the younger generations might well have it a lot worse. Then we could potentially band together in some kind of coherent group and demand change that works for everyone. Instead we’re kept artificially divided along stupid lines that make zero fucking real sense. At least by standing, he’s ensuring immigration is part of the conversation, which is almost undeniably what needs to happen.
Its genuinely hilarious to me theres still this massive undercurrent of "we can't vote for Labour because they'll increase immigration" coming from types who've now voted Tory multiple times and seen the "anti-immigration" folks somehow create an even more lenient system than Blair's "rub the right's nose in diversity" open borders policy. Absolute clown world.
I’m not sure that exists for ordinary people, GB News voters are breaking for Labour for example. What they’re not going to do is vote in large numbers for the Tories because there is no point to the Tories. I don’t expect there would be much difference between the Tories and Labour on migration, the Tories will strike a hard line in the press but I expect both will end up ay 350-400k.
>If we want far right or hard right parties to go away, the mainstream parties must represent the public. This is exactly it. Mainstream parties are so out of touch with what most of the country actually wants and thinks is important that there is no alternative for them at the ballot box bar parties like Reform. It just amazes me that virtually nobody in Westminster wants to acknowledge this.
Idiots want stupid unrealistic things. I want a pot of gold, so I'll vote for anyone who says they will give me a pot of gold. But after the election when I don't get my pot of gold that was promised it's suddenly outrageous that the politicians aren't delivering? Reform are grifters. They just promise whatever people want to hear. They will get elected on impossible statements because the voting public are idiots with no capacity for critical thinking. Don't blame reform, blame our failed education system.
The current polling seems to suggest they won’t do well at all… with a predicted 0 seats currently.
> The Tory party was elected promising to reduce net migration from 250k to below 100k, What your average voter cannot understand is that it cannot happen under a party who relies on donations from big companies. Those big companies rely on depressed wages to to generate high income and that can only happen reliably with a high supply of workers
>"Richard Tice probably does want me to replace him. But do I want to be an MP? Do I want to spend every Friday for the next five years in Clacton?" NIGEL FARAGE, THE TIMES, 1 1/02/2024
if he gets elected as an MP, he isn't going to spend every Friday there for the next five years.
Going by his record as an MEP I think you're right
He used to drive to Brussels in his trusty British Volvo to collect his wages though. He was featured in a C4 doc (I think it was C4) where he openly waved a wad of cash at the camera gloating.
And yet I bet if you asked his supporters how they feel about people who don't work taking money from the government.....
I live within spitting distance of ol' Clackers, and I can definitely see that lot voting for him - there's only like 100 young people left in the town, and everyone else is *old* and *miserable*. The voter turnout is almost always a procession of ornery pensioners with nowt better to do than fuck the country with a wasted vote. We usually refer to Clacton as 'hell's waiting room' for a bloody good reason - it's a conservative cesspool packed to the gills with every kind of stupid the rest of Essex wanted rid of. Hence, I suppose, why that *Frog-faced French fuck* is now sliming his way into their good graces. I hope Clacton sees sense, but honestly, I feel like that'd be a first! :p
This post should be top comment.
I'm from there, I still have no idea why ukip and reform does well because all the problems of the place stem from the right wing in the first place.
Their voting demographic is pensioners, they believe GBnews , Daily Mail that everything would be perfect without the ‘ boat men ‘. Really they want Britain to return to the time of their youth, no trans people , few Muslims , obviously not all pensioners, I am basing it on my 77 year old Mums friends .
"Bring back the good old days when there was barely any crime and you could leave your door unlocked" "I remember the times your Uncle Jimmy would be dragged home by the Police Man because he was caught doing criminal things" Somehow those statements correlate according to my nan...
Yeah but that wasn't *proper* crime, that was just a laugh innit.
Exactly. They have the oppurtunity to stick an actual right wing MP into parliament, it's like asking Brighton not to vote for the greens.
Both words you've spelt incorrectly are in the title, how can you fuck it up?
Rage posting
I feel sorry for the piles of political junkmail every resident of Clacton is about to receive...
And open hoops.
"Politicians don't care about us they just turn up somewhere they're not from and expect us to vote for them" "OOOOOO Farage is standing in my seat, I'm going to vote for him"
I mean that’s why he decided to stand there after all. There’s a small chance they see it for what it is though and choose to vote differently…
If he manages to balls this up it would be funnier than the rest of his electoral losses combined.
If he loses it'll just be proof of the deep state/EU/immigrants/conservatives\* conspiring against him \*delete as applicable Otherwise NewsThump just being a bit too accurate to be parody anymore :-)
I’m no fan of Farage by any means, but it is true the Tories broke electoral spending rules in Thanet to keep him out.
As long as Reform get a large share of the vote around the country, Farage will be able to 'declare victory'. He doesn't have to win the seat, and he's [never been successful before](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electoral_history_of_Nigel_Farage) but still able to claim he's winning
I DEMAND A PARTICIPATION TROPHY! -- Nigel
I would gladly accept a Conservative win in Clacton if it meant Farage lost for an 8th time. He will be even more insufferable if he becomes and MP.
I don’t think he will, honestly. I’m not sure he can. He can literally campaign on the single line of cutting immigration and a seriously sizeable chunk of people will vote for him.
John Bercow and that dolphin should stand in that seat again
Hello LFC friend
We were given that chance in 2016 and gave him the biggest victory he could've possibly imagined Never really able to forgive or forget the country buying into this Jingoistic snake oil salesman.
51/49% majority is hardly the “biggest victory he could’ve imagine”. Granted he achieved the impossible, which putting things aside is actually incredibly impressive
I think you'll find that 51/49 is the most absolute cast-iron majority possible, which can never be questioned and totally licence to implement the hardest possible version of what was voted for.
It's the only seat where Labour voters should probably tactically vote Conservative.
Agreed, it's utterly wild that this would probably be the best vote for the country. Farage in power, or even as an MP is not what the country needs
No, Labour should vote for Labour. Hopefully the fuckwits will split their votes between the Conservatives and Reform.
That seat was won by the tories with over 70% votes. Labour or the rest of parties have no agency there
As part of that 30% this is sadly true - I'm fully expecting that fuck wit to be my next mp
You'll probably have the leader of the Conservative party as your MP in 6 months.
But we know there's gonna be a huge swing to Labour in this election. It might easily be 40% labour, 50% tory atm. With that tory vote being split, labour could come through the middle.
The swing comes from marginal seats rather than safe ones changing sides, though. Farage has chosen Clacton for a reason. It's like a little world of its own, untroubled by reason and logic.
https://x.com/YouGov/status/1797662463845978564 > [before Farage's announcement] Reform are currently third in that seat on 20%, with Labour on 42% and the Tories on 27%
But a huge amount of the Tory votes will now go to Reform, because of his name power. Plus a decent amount of Labour as well. Only needs to take 5% of Labour voters I reckon.
Its actually tories on 42
That’s just brilliant. Get the posters made
Interesting hahaha, although I can’t see any Labour supporters doing that!
Everyone should just vote for a random pet cat.
I still propose we get a Middle Eastern comedian to play 'Faisal Naraj', the original character upon which Nigel Farage is based. A Muslim cleric with 'deep concerns' about the amount of infidels and white people clogging up the arteries of Kabul. I just think that when you have a parody version of Faisal showing up on the BBC every 5 minutes, it's a good idea to let people see the man himself. Or maybe the original Faisal could be played by an actor, with a team of comedians writing the material. I think you'd have to include Omid Jalili and Joe Lycett, right off the bat.
This is a great idea, make it happen!
> I just think that when you have a parody version of Faisal showing up on the BBC every 5 minutes, it's a good idea to let people see the man himself. Why would we bother when the BBC platform Nigel every time he farts. They gave him a fucking live feed for his announcement. What next, he'll be presenting the weather? Oh wait they did that one too
I despise the frog faced prick, but he is a very important figure in modern British politics
> but he is a very important figure Because the BBC gave him so much god damn airtime. He is actually a nobody, and always was. He just got thrust in our faces constantly. 37 or something fucking times on QT
The BBC is terrified of being called biased by the Tories because they know the Tories would try and dismantle them (because they've been trying it quietly for ages), so they overcompensate by bending over backwards for the right wing
"Plz Mr Fascist, Don't kill me, I did everything you said!" "LOL Nope"
That actually sounds like a great idea. Tell me more
It seems that very few people on social media know the reality of the electorate of Clacton. Clacton voted in the first UKIP MP ever! They love Farage!
You are right few people on social media do, it isn't necessarily that they love Farage, Douglas Carswell (the UKIP MP) was a well liked Tory MP who left and joined UKIP, he didn't have to have a by-election but did, won the vote by about 12,000. In 2015, the next general election, he only held on by 3,500 votes, and didn't run in 2017, where the UKIP candidate came 3rd, with less actual votes than Douglas had won by.
That's exactly why he picked that. Funny how the venn diagram that would complain about an MP not "caring about the area" would then jump at the chance to get the immigrant in
That UKIP MP was a popular incumbent from a different party though, he'd even been named Parliamentarian of the Year by The Spectator
Remember how Clacton felt the EU was out to get them? Mate, the EU couldn't find Clacton on a map.
Neither could I to be fair!
That's probably the issue. They felt the EU didn't care about them or want to help them.
*stands on plaque celebrating the EU development fund* "WHATS THE EU EVER DONE FOR US!"
Case from Cornwall were someone was stood outside a university building saying that. I live deep in brexitland and every town square has a little blue plaque.
> Mate, the EU couldn't find Clacton on a map. That's why we should vote leave! Duh!
Clacton and the surrounding area was a big deal in the fishing industry, which was a big reason why many of the locals weren’t too fond of the EU.
Maybe if a fearless MEP could have sat on the fisheries committee and represented British interests. If only i could remember who that was
Good documentary on Clacton https://youtu.be/QUej2pWLUUc?si=cc460Nqpf6mbEhlU
Skimmed through it but that looks depressing. Is everyone in Clacton overweight, on mobility scooters, have dementia. I thought my city was a sh*thole but everyone in Clacton seems to have that inbred look... At least from that video
Places like Clacton are where austerity-stripped London councils ship vulnerable and disadvantaged families out to because they're the few places remaining that has any available social housing. We create these sad fucking slums with no commerce or infrastructure and fill them full of all our poor, hopeless uneducated problem cases, and then deride them for the sad state of their lot and lack of bootstraps. Good luck convincing any of them not to vote for the racist isolationist rabble-rouser when that's their life situation. We deserve the terrible future that these poor desperate bastards are voting for.
That's usually true but Clacton was always a shithole. FFS, a German pilot crash landed there in 1940 and they treated him like a celebrity. It hasn't been nice since the 60s, which is long before London councils moved people there.
Clacton was relatively decent until the 70s, much like the other resort towns like Blackpool, Lowestoft and Scarborough when the package holiday destroyed them
They were singing "One German Bomber in the air" at the time it happened
I'm sure farage will feel a strong connection with these people and do his best to protect their interests as an MP...
Just watched it, what an absolute clachole. They'll vote reform, no question.
Really good film, depressing as anything, but really good composition and really gives a feel for the place. I wish Clacton and our other failing turnaround and feel alive again.
So, Mr Garage, what exactly can you do for Jaywick? I'll leave the autofuckrekt.
Nuke it from space. It's the only way to be sure.
But nobody would be able to tell the difference. Except the people who live there and that would be sad because all in all they seem to be decent folk in a bad situation.
I can’t believe I’m saying this but the labour supporters of Clacton need to vote Tory. It’s the only way to stop that slimy frog faced weasel from becoming an MP. Lord please forgive me.
Labour are actually polling first in Clacton I believe?
It might be a good thing if he gets in. It might jolt the other parties into being slightly less terrible and start to actually address certain issues they’ve been avoiding.
If the people of Clacton want a hard working MP who will fight to improve their local community and deeply cares about their issues, Farage ain’t it. Good luck to them if they decide otherwise. He’s a grifter and nothing more. The amount of air time the mainstream media have given this failed politician is staggering.
>Failed politician >>12% of the popular vote
Also MEP for 25 years Also the pivotal figure behind the most important referendum victory in the UK in decades. But yeh, failed politician for sure…
And how is that going for us all?? Inarguably quality of life has got worse since the Brexit vote, denying that is pure delusion! And did Nigel stick around and actually help the Uk transition?? No of course not he went off to the States to join the lucrative right wing speaker circuit.
Being mildly popular isn’t the same as failing to get elected seven times in an election though. I never disputed the popularity of Nigel. I rightly pointed out he’s a lying grifter who’s managed to dupe a not insignificant minority of the population!
Denying his obvious political achievements is childish.
So failing to be elected seven times in a parliamentary election is success in your eyes? That’s interesting!
Yknow, the "Make Britain Great Again" slogan thing really does make me wonder if the Reform lot do genuinely think the "great" in "Great Britain" means really, really, really good.
It’s been the country’s slogan for a decade now. All over airports and international ports.
It's weird because they're also usually the types to find Little Britain absolutely hilarious.
Come on Clacton. Nige is your man. We love you Nigel, we do…
Trumps a busted flush and now he wants to be one too.
Thursday 23rd May, Farage won’t stand in UK election because Trump is higher priority Thursday 30th May, Trump’s a convicted felon Friday 31st May, Farage compared the American judicial system to a 'third world country' and said he has 'no respect' for the system Monday 1st June, Farage standing as an MP
Trump will walk the election. Are you not paying attention?
Am perplexed by all of the anti Farage comments, but none of responders presenting an answer to the fact that the Tories have allowed uncontrolled immigration and Labour Will do the same. Labour also have zero plan re boat crossings.
The two arent mutually exclusive. You can find more than one party 'a bit crap'. When your choices are: - The same people who've been screwing the country up for 14 years - The bloke who lied and made a bunch of false promises of the benefits of Brexit, only for it to turn out to have very little upside and a lot of cost. - Labour who've not been in charge for 14 years, might still be a bit shit but at least it's someone different who havent got the brain drain of the current government. Regarding the boats, the conservatives don't exactly have a plan either. Rwanda was an utterly stupid idea from the start and as history has shown, it does not work as a deterrant in any way, shape or form, especially when anyone forced to go there is free to leave immediately.
Anyone who lives near Claiton knows that he will get in. Trust me, the Clacton majority have all forgotten about Farage’s false promises and lies he spun them from Brexit and instead recognise his recent stint on I’m a celeb which will be their main reason for voting
They possibly realise that false promises and lies doesn’t differentiate him from the other parties
What is it about these deprived SE towns like Clacton that are obsessed with immigration? The town is 96% white and has barely any immigration at all. It’s deprived, run down, has no job opportunities and has been hammered by conservative policies and austerity and what it really needs is regeneration, huge investment and social spending. Yet the people there think the solution is to get angrier about immigrants, embrace even harder economic conservatism and hammer the poor harder. They’re like those red state backwater towns in the US in Alabama and Mississippi that always rank worst in poverty, deprivation, infant mortality, drug abuse, education, healthcare access that just keep voting for Republicans to give tax cuts to the rich and take away their healthcare. Very sad state of affairs.
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No-one is immediately getting handed a free house when they land at Kent, so lying doesn’t help your argument btw. People on boats aren’t the reason why Clacton is a run down dump with no prospects or investment. If the boats stopped tomorrow it would make no material difference to the town and it would still be beset by the same fundamental economic issues. Tbh, it’s the great right wing populist con we see all over the world atm. The facade is protecting you from scary foreigners whilst by stealth they’re cutting taxes for the wealthy, slashing welfare, removing workers rights and handing power to big corporations.
In theory, this is the perfect seat for Farage to potentially finally get a win. Huge Leave vote, socially conservative, previous UKIP representation. The current Tory MP is also a rather strange fit for the seat; definitely not on the right of the party and a Remainer. It will be close.
A reminder that a few years ago when Clacton voted in a UKIP representative, Banksy came and made a piece of art on the beach. The council then pressure washed it away the next day. Ooops.
Just a general point. The Tories are between a rock and a hard place at this point. Any move rightwards makes it very plausible that the Blue Wall crumbles further. Any move to try and give crumbs to traditional One Nation Tories gives room to Farage. It does however look possible that they will get squeezed at both ends.
Gets my vote, fuck this biased post and subreddit honestly. Why: - They plan to reduce student loan interest - Plans to reduce tax for hard workers - Scrap IR35 so it’s worth earning money again - Focus on nuclear energy List goes on, prefer the party over the main 2. No way I’d ever be able to vote Starmer since he’s been supporting wars abroad and plans to kill a ton of jobs. (removing zero hour contracts)
It would be great if he got elected but obviously seems unlikely. If we had PR he’d get a seat.
i think the people will tell all you wallies to shove your two party state up your hoop
It's not really a historic opportunity considering he's already ran for parliament 7 times and lost on every occasion.
I frequently remember and enjoy the idea that I’ll outlive Farage
More than any other contest, I hope Green, Lib Dem & Other voters ebrace tactical voting and vote joyously for Labour.
"if you can't be a good example at least be a terrible warning"
English vs US English is a whole different language: "hoop" ? It's like "loo". All words related to our natural needs have to "o"s.
The man may be an absolute arsehole but he does have his uses. His party will take away vital tory votes and hopefully send the tories into a political death spiral they’ll never recover from.