Changed my mind about voting for Reform uk

You lost me "I was consdering voting for the Reform Party."

Agreed.

^Despite receiving more than £10 million pounds in donations over the past four years, Reform Treasurer and Secretary, Mehrtash A’Zami, stated at the end of 2022 that Reform had net liabilities of more than £1 million, “a significant percentage of which comes from Director’s loans”.

Those loans were from Tice.

Fifteen months is a long time in politics and none of the backers are strapped for cash.

In the taped conversation of Anderson speaking at Cambridge Rugby Club last November, when he was lambasting Reform, he was of the opinion that Reform want Labour to win the next GE, to bring in PR so that Reform (should it survive) can have more influence in the future.

As M0nica said, they are more damaging to the Tory vote than Labour. I see Reform as a disruptor rather than any serious contender for power.

I think the Byline Times article is a little bit out of date. I have read recently (but can't remember where) that Tice has said that Reform will be fielding a candidate in all constituencies.

Though it's a mystery as to how they could possibly afford to do this...

Also, people might like to read this January 2024 Russell Jackson article from Byline Times about the people and money behind Reform:

Reform UK Limited: The Political Business Brought to You by Billionaires

bylinetimes.com/2024/01/18/reform-uk-limited-the-political-business-brought-to-you-by-billionaires/

Summing up:

Empty Threats?

Tice, like Farage before him, has repeatedly pledged to field Reform candidates in every constituency at the next general election.

But given Reform’s current financial position, this seems like another empty threat designed to drag the Tories even further right and to encourage the Tories to adopt policies which the Tory Right, Reform’s donors, GB News’s funders, and the billionaire owners of the Mail, Sun, Telegraph, Metro, Times and Spectator would all welcome.

Following Brexit on 31st January 2020, Farage opportunistically reoriented Reform by opposing lockdowns and Net Zero, paralleling global right-wing populist anti-lockdown and anti-climate science sentiments.

Reform company documents reveal a unique structure for a UK political Party which gives almost total control to its leader, Tice. The structure has been criticised for not providing the party’s more than 115,000 paying registered supporters with any voting power to influence policy. Perhaps the party’s funders and shareholders have more say.

ronib

I thought Reform had lost credibility when Anderson was announced as the first Reform Mp. Obviously not voted in on the Reform manifesto but why let petty details stand in the way?

Yes, indeed. I was reading about the attempts via private member’s bills to force a recall and a by-election when someone changes parties mid-government.

The last was introduced as a Ten Minute Bill by Anthony Mangnall (Con Totnes) in 2020. He proposed that anyone changing parties be subject to the recall process and by-election if 10% of eligible electors have signed that petition.

You can read it here.

www.parallelparliament.co.uk/debate/2020-09-02/commons/commons-chamber/recall-of-mps-change-of-party-affiliation

Key text:

Owing to the Representation of the People Act 1969, our electorates are greeted in every voting booth across the country with our names, our party names and our party logos. In short, we benefit significantly from the role that the party plays in each and every one of our elections.

Parties are therefore often more visible than the candidate, from their leaders to their Cabinets and their manifestos. They act as a magnet to either attract or repel voters to or from to their cause. So when a candidate who has campaigned using those logos, promoting that manifesto and supporting that leader, switches sides, they are doing so against everything they told the thousands of voters they connected with during the election. This is not promoting democracy; it is degrading it.

Like most private member’s bills, althought it passed its first reading and was scheduled for a second, it then stalled. Most Ten Minute Bills do as they are given very low priority in the Parliamentary process and Goverment usually opposes them on second reading.

If you click on the Ayes in favour of the bill you will see Lee Anderson’s name there.

The bill may not have got very far but there’s a principle here. Anderson effectively agreed that he should be subject to the recall process. He should serve as an Independent until the next election.

nanna8

M0nica

nanna8 Reform is a far right party. Labour will be one of its biggest supporters, the more people vote for Reform the more seats they win.

Thanks M0nica. I heard that man Garage, Farage talking about it on Utube. As always, some of it sounds ok but most of it - nah. Appealing to patriotism in the old fashioned way. As did a well known German in the 1930s. Garage seems to have a friendship with Trump, how surprising 🤮

When Trump won in 2016 Farage was one of the first to rush across the atlantic to be photographed with him...

(Mind you, Michael Gove wasn't far behind him...)

M0nica

nanna8 Reform is a far right party. Labour will be one of its biggest supporters, the more people vote for Reform the more seats they win.

Thanks M0nica. I heard that man Garage, Farage talking about it on Utube. As always, some of it sounds ok but most of it - nah. Appealing to patriotism in the old fashioned way. As did a well known German in the 1930s. Garage seems to have a friendship with Trump, how surprising 🤮

nanna8 Reform is a far right party. Labour will be one of its biggest supporters, the more people vote for Reform the more seats they win.

More than one intelligent poster has said they will vote for Reform. Have they read and considered what passes as their ‘manifesto’ or are they swayed by the rhetoric?

Dinahmo

I think that many people are considering Reform because the name suggests change which most of us want at the moment. But, as one commentator said this morning (on Trevor Philips I think) Reform is just another Tory party. Slightly different but possibly worse.

Richard Tice has been doing the rounds of the chat shows recently and he comes over as being quite decent, which his policies aren't.

The trouble is if one has charisma it’s quite easy to come across as a “quite decent” person and some people get sucked in and forget we are meant to be voting on a political party’s manifesto, policy and beliefs not any one individual person, who aside from anything else, as we are only too aware, can disappear literally overnight!

I think that many people are considering Reform because the name suggests change which most of us want at the moment. But, as one commentator said this morning (on Trevor Philips I think) Reform is just another Tory party. Slightly different but possibly worse.

Richard Tice has been doing the rounds of the chat shows recently and he comes over as being quite decent, which his policies aren't.

There is an Animal Justice Party here! They don’t get many votes, unfortunately. I’ve voted for them in the past.

I feel exactly the same, Curtaintwitcher. It does make it difficult to find a party to vote for. I'd say I was more right wing when it comes to people, but left wing when it comes to animals. And there is no political party that caters for my preferences!

Can anyone tell me where Reform stands on the NHS and Private health care? Do they intend to reduce the NHS in favour of private health care insurance?

I am on a 64-week waiting list, and sadly, I cannot afford to pay for private care.

I am concerned about any party whose policies would add further to the NHS waiting lists

I would be grateful to hear from anyone who has read Reforms Manifesto.

I suppose that party , which I don’t know much about, might act as a bit of a wake-up call to the 2 big parties. Maybe it might be useful for that. Both the major parties will join in making sure any new one won’t have a cat in hell’s chance of getting anywhere near government. That is how they work, isn’t it and that is why there are only 2 major parties both in the UK and where I live.

I agree with Whitewave … I wish more people would read manifestos in the build-up to a GE!

MaizieD very true. Although hearing Tice proclaim that Reform now had its first MP made me think all kinds of things and any previous sympathies evaporated on the spot. Definitely not Reforming here.

ronib

I thought Reform had lost credibility when Anderson was announced as the first Reform Mp. Obviously not voted in on the Reform manifesto but why let petty details stand in the way?

No MP who crosses the floor does the honourable thing these days.

I thought Reform had lost credibility when Anderson was announced as the first Reform Mp. Obviously not voted in on the Reform manifesto but why let petty details stand in the way?

M0nica

How typically British, animals before humans.

Well M0nica, as Gandhi famously said.

"The greatest of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated".

You might as well not bother to vote Urms.

I started to read their ‘manifesto’ and it was so poorly written and full of grammatical errors, I didn’t get far. I had no intention of voting for them but wanted to be informed. Hopeless. Although I always vote Conservative and will do so again, if their manifesto indicated an intention to legalise hunting again I simply wouldn’t vote. Yes MOnica, animals (who can’t speak for themselves) before humans (who can).

M0nica

How typically British, animals before humans.

killing animals for sport shows what sort of human you are. Just as bad are those who agree with it.

Well they’re never going to form a government so I’m going to vote Reform. I can’t vote for the Tories and Labour’s front bench and Shadow Ministers don’t inspire confidence. Dawn Butler, Lammy, Jonathan Ashworth, Angela Rayner. No!

The manifesto is vague on this as it in on most things.

Under Agriculture, it says:

Protect Country sports. These increase investment in conservation of our environment. They boost rural jobs, communities and local economies.

www.reformparty.uk/our-contract-contents

It doesn't call explicitly for a repeal of the ban on fox hunting, badger baiting etc but it could be used to lobby for repeal.

Note too that under Reclaiming Britain it says: Replace the 2010 Equalities Act.

No doubt this is part of the party's bullish "anti-woke" agenda but never forget this is a vital law that protects everybody including people who are old and disabled and gives maternity rights to women.

They always have ignored