The reform party has agreed to continue the triple lock

GG13 - yes I do too, but we don't talk politics, I only know because I see posts on social media.
Surely it's best not to break up a friendship because of that, if people only meet others who think similarly on politics, that's dangerous in so many ways.

valdali totally agree, friendships are very precious

DaisyAnneReturns

Cossy

Allira

Any you know what they say about Liberals. Scratch a Liberal and you get a Fascist

Well, that's one I've never heard of!!
Sounds like a Reform soundbite rather than true.

🤣🤣🤣 Never heard such a nonsense expression in my life!

Especially given the widely used expressions “woke liberals” and “lefty liberals”

I felt like you but apparently we are wrong and that sentiment absolutely exists and has been said, but not as a single famous, traceable quote by one well-known person. It’s more of a political slogan/proverb that’s been used in different forms. Many sources trace its popularization to left-wing activist circles, especially the Black Panther Party in the 1960s–70s.

Even if that exact wording is modern-ish, the underlying idea is older. In 1925, David Lloyd George said: “If you scratch a Conservative, you find a Fascist.”

Every day's a school day!

Well, I never knew!!

I've voted Liberal or Lib-Dem several times (but not always).

GrannyGravy13

Do any of you have friends who have/intend to vote Reform?

Would it change your friendship?

I have, but, our friendship goes way back, and is far more important than an X on a ballot paper.

A BiL (not my side of the family).
When he went on about it I just smiled, said "Oh Yes" like that nodding dog and poured him another wine.

twaddle

Is calling people "Virtue Signaling Wokes" rude?

I think it’s very rude whilst at the same time being utter nonsense, so chose to ignore it!

GG13

I have certain friends & family members with whom I just don’t discuss politics, the remainder I know are a mix of Tories, Labour and Green.

“ If you scratch a conservative, you’ll find a fascist” kind of makes sense though, but the substitution of liberal for conservative makes no sense at all.

However, grateful to Allira for looking this up and I stand corrected

Reform constantly change direction, their election ‘pledges to the people’ had many tax pledges including increasing the personal allowance to £20,000 but recently they said this was not viable. Last May Farage said he was in favour of lifting the two child benefit cap now he is against the two child benefit cap. He alsomseems to be having a change of heart about Trump since Trump’s favourability rating has plummeted.

sixandahalf
I think it was rude of you to ask as you have no interest in that party, therefore me telling you what interests me about their manifesto is of no interest to you, apart from giving you a bone to bite on.

ronib, who is The Blob?

The Blob I think is broadly speaking the Civil Service, the Bank of England, net zero activists, basically groups who dominate social policy. Economists who don’t support economic growth but prefer the dominant economic model of high taxation and high borrowing. Liz Truss is particularly concerned about the influence of the Blob. JPB123

ruthiek

I would never vote for reform , but I think the triple lock is important, there are a lot of pensioners who are living way below the the national living wage, and we must never forget this is not a benefit , we paid in to it just like your private pension , we had a contract with the government . It shocks me that young people generally believe that all oap’s are well off and dont believe they should live a decent life .

You're on the wrong track. The State Pension IS a benefit, although you may not like the taste of that word in your mouth. The government classes it as a benefit and has always done so.
The payments pensioners receive far far exceed any monies they paid in NI and taxes. Retirees now receiving their SP are being funded by the workers of today, through their NI and tax contributions and paid by the government to you via the DWP according to your own NI record.
During your working life, your NI and taxes went towards the State Pensions of all retirees of that time.
That's how it works and if you Google the question, you'll get the same answer. It's a benefit. Today's workers are paying the SP of all those who are retired.

The payments pensioners receive far far exceed any monies they paid in NI and taxes.
That is entirely dependent upon how long they live after retirement age. Some of course, never reach retirement age despite paying NI and taxes all their lives, like my SiL's DB who died just two weeks before he retired.

No Casdon. That’s his only saving grace.

Allira

^The payments pensioners receive far far exceed any monies they paid in NI and taxes.^
That is entirely dependent upon how long they live after retirement age. Some of course, never reach retirement age despite paying NI and taxes all their lives, like my SiL's DB who died just two weeks before he retired.

Not only NI payments, we also cost the NHS far more in retirement than before retirement, so live longer than the working population can afford to pay for us.

GNs if you need proof of what Reform in power actually does please go back and read
Chocolatelovingran's
post.
Thanks for posting.

Pensioners do pay tax . Some pensioners pay more tax than you would expect.

But if Reform gets into power, we will have to start paying for our own
statins
blood pressure tablets
insulin
omeprozole
cancer drugs
Get the picture?

Says who? Maremia. Not a vote catcher?

A google search suggests that Reform wants to remove waiting lists for patients by using the private sector. Vouchers for private care will be given if a gp can’t be seen within 3 days. Also for seeing a consultant. Sounds good to me.

Sounds ridiculous to me ronib. The private sector is already used to cut NHS waiting lists., there is no magic bullet of untapped capacity. Most doctors who work privately are also contracted for the majority of their time to the NHS, and are working full time or more between their two roles.

Other countries have much shorter waiting lists for health treatment than here. There’s nothing remotely ridiculous about not having to wait months and months for treatment. Reform is going to get votes if it comes up with a plan to make the private sector even wealthier than it is now…..

The Reform plan will not work ronib, because there is not additional untapped capacity. It’s a systemic problem in the UK, which requires investment to increase the number of doctors and support services to meet demand, not a sticking plaster job.

I’m seeing a consultant five days after my gp referred me. I had the choice of waiting 18 weeks for an initial (nhs) appointment at our excellent local hospital, or 7 days to be seen at our local private hospital within seven days

The NHS has been using private hospitals in this way for years.

It’s a good sound bite. For all we know, private doctors might rush in to the country if the financial incentive is there. After all, let’s not forget that junior doctors are demanding 2008 wages and money is possibly the main motivation?