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Did anyone else spot this about Reform?

(240 Posts)
NotSpaghetti Mon 08-Jul-24 21:03:46

www.theguardian.com/politics/article/2024/jul/08/reform-uk-under-pressure-to-prove-all-its-candidates-were-real-people

Were they all real or were some just AI candidates?

Germanshepherdsmum Wed 10-Jul-24 09:59:11

I don’t trust Labour to take a tough line on immigration Cossy, nothing in their manifesto or that they have said to date inspires confidence. Therefore I want them to be under constant pressure to be tough. We’ve been hearing about growth, investment, planning but I have yet to hear a word about immigration.

Cossy Wed 10-Jul-24 09:43:28

Whitewavemark2

I assume if it is found that there were indeed votes cast for non-existent candidates, then Farage will be taken to court?

I very much doubt it, Johnson got away with quite a lot!

Cossy Wed 10-Jul-24 09:40:52

Germanshepherdsmum

Is he? I must have missed that.

I want him to keep pressure on Labour to stop uncontrolled immigration.

Why? Give LP a chance, after all Tories didn’t manage it in 14 years and wasted ££££m to France and Rwanda.

Cossy Wed 10-Jul-24 09:38:38

Both Southend West (mine) and Southend East (next door) had “real” candidates, but Southend East didn’t bother turning up for any meetings and was later “expelled” for awful posts about migrants, in fact two days prior to polling day.

mae13 Wed 10-Jul-24 09:30:36

Farage, in his first appearance in the commons, and he launched a snide and insulting attack on John Bercow. I'm not a fan of Bercow but it was uncalled for.
Is this a sign of the kind of behaviour we can expect from Reform - more yah boo politics?

Germanshepherdsmum Wed 10-Jul-24 09:29:52

Is he? I must have missed that.

I want him to keep pressure on Labour to stop uncontrolled immigration.

MayBee70 Wed 10-Jul-24 09:21:39

Namsnanny

OldFrill

Farage's intent, by any means, is to keep attention on him. He's succeeded once again, and he knew exactly what he was doing.

I agree

So does that make it right that he’s taking up parliamentary time by making rude spiteful unnecessary comments?

Whitewavemark2 Wed 10-Jul-24 09:17:33

I assume if it is found that there were indeed votes cast for non-existent candidates, then Farage will be taken to court?

Germanshepherdsmum Wed 10-Jul-24 08:55:32

MayBee70

For heavens sake, I just put breakfast tv on and, guess what, they’re talking about Reform again. Has a miniscule minority party ever been given so much air time before?

They might be a minuscule minority party but more people voted for them than for the Liberal Democrats. They received the third highest percentage share of the vote.

MayBee70 Wed 10-Jul-24 07:58:54

He wasn’t talking about this country. He was talking about crass remarks made by one of their prospective MP’s which he said was ‘a joke’. Since when has crack cocaine been something to laugh about?

Freya5 Wed 10-Jul-24 07:22:25

MayBee70

For heavens sake, I just put breakfast tv on and, guess what, they’re talking about Reform again. Has a miniscule minority party ever been given so much air time before?

I wonder why, when Reform concern is about this country. Unlike some other MPs whose only concern is an area thousands of miles away. Now that does bear being investigated. It won't be of course.

MayBee70 Wed 10-Jul-24 06:31:37

For heavens sake, I just put breakfast tv on and, guess what, they’re talking about Reform again. Has a miniscule minority party ever been given so much air time before?

Doodledog Wed 10-Jul-24 02:18:37

growstuff

The two look as much like each each other as I look like Debbie Harry!

😂😂

NotSpaghetti Wed 10-Jul-24 01:40:31

The trouble is, Blinko, the public have voted for them.

Namsnanny Wed 10-Jul-24 00:25:02

OldFrill

Farage's intent, by any means, is to keep attention on him. He's succeeded once again, and he knew exactly what he was doing.

I agree

Wyllow3 Wed 10-Jul-24 00:10:25

Namsnanny

.... A serial disruptor on the back benches who can say what he likes because of parliamentary privilege
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

MayBee you have to agree the irony is palpable.
What's sauce for the goose? ....

Back benchers needing control by the speaker is par for the course in the normal running of parliament - there are various guidelines and even discipline: Farage was deliberately attention seeking on a formal occasion:

how childish.

OldFrill Tue 09-Jul-24 23:39:33

Farage's intent, by any means, is to keep attention on him. He's succeeded once again, and he knew exactly what he was doing.

Namsnanny Tue 09-Jul-24 21:18:22

.... A serial disruptor on the back benches who can say what he likes because of parliamentary privilege
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

MayBee you have to agree the irony is palpable.
What's sauce for the goose? ....

Blinko Tue 09-Jul-24 20:34:31

I think Farage regards it all as a bit of a game tbh

I think too many of the last Government thought it was a game. There's a certain entitled cabal in Parliament who think it's all a bit of a laugh, and when it hits them that thing are getting d
serious, (like Covid) they can't deal with it.

There are are rather fewer of these people in power now.

Oreo Tue 09-Jul-24 20:15:35

MayBee70

DH tells me that Sky News interviewed Farage this evening but didn’t appear to interview any of the other opposition leaders. Why? I’m getting fed up of Sky News, especially after Beth Rigby kept asking Keir Starmer how he felt about being boring and unpopular. Just when our parliament seemed to have rediscovered it’s self respect we get a serial disrupter on the back benches who can say what he likes because of parliamentary privilege.

The cut and thrust of Parliament? When Jeremy Corbyn was on the back benches he always acted as he liked.Agree that today wasn’t the time tho for any score settling.

Whitewavemark2 Tue 09-Jul-24 20:08:21

Hopefully the speaker will forget to call him too often. We are trying to re-build the reputation of parliament not drag it back down into the gutter.

Wyllow3 Tue 09-Jul-24 20:01:26

👏

MayBee70 Tue 09-Jul-24 19:53:49

DH tells me that Sky News interviewed Farage this evening but didn’t appear to interview any of the other opposition leaders. Why? I’m getting fed up of Sky News, especially after Beth Rigby kept asking Keir Starmer how he felt about being boring and unpopular. Just when our parliament seemed to have rediscovered it’s self respect we get a serial disrupter on the back benches who can say what he likes because of parliamentary privilege.

Whitewavemark2 Tue 09-Jul-24 19:15:11

Casdon

LizzieDrip

That’s as may be BevSec but my point was that Farage made a critical comment about him at an inappropriate time.

Today was not the arena for criticism of past speakers. No other party leader felt the need to criticise any other individual politician at today’s ceremonial, traditional event.

My point was not about whether Bercow was ‘a horrible man’ or not!

He behaved like a plank. Colum Eastwood, the SDLP leader was on just before him, and his speech was full of humour, with no point scoring. It wasn’t the time or place.

Exactly so.

Cold Tue 09-Jul-24 19:07:45

Whitewavemark2

Apparently Farage didn’t turn up as his first day as an MP -

Of course he didn’t.

Is anyone truly surprised?

He had among the worst attendance records when he was a member of the European Parliament
bylinetimes.com/2019/04/11/the-worst-in-the-european-parliament-how-truant-brexit-meps-make-a-mockery-of-britain/

But he was still happy to take his £100,000+ salary, plus his £117,000 transitional grant when he stepped down from the EU plus his £70,000+ pension ... despite doing little work,

Although he did get docked £35,000 in an expenses scandal for misusing his MEP expenses
www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/jan/12/nigel-farage-eu-salary-docked-claim-misspent-public-funds

I think Farage regards it all as a bit of a game tbh