Elon Musk giving Reform $100m

MaizieD

I think the UKCA has been quietly abandoned, David.

It was indeed scrapped by Starmer in August, there is still plenty more to be done

MaizieD

The aims in the manifesto sound as though they 'could' be helpful, but I don't see the EU treating us any differently from any other third country. And they don't give 'special' concessions to third countries.

Joining the Single Market and the CU would remove barriers to trade (because that is the whole point of the SM) but it also means accepting free movement. Why that should be a difficulty is beyond me, seeing that stopping it hasn't made an iota of difference to our net immigration figures.

The aims in the manifesto sound as though they 'could' be helpful, but I don't see the EU treating us any differently from any other third country. And they don't give 'special' concessions to third countries.

It was the refusal to give us any special concessions during the Brexit negotiations which - I believe - led some to accuse the EU of punishing us - for leaving and to act as a deterrent to other member countries who might be considering an exit.

... the period of "cakeism"

growstuff

I think you could be right LizzieDrip. My guess would be that the money would be spent on social media and slicker marketing of policies. It could be that Reform increases the number of MPs in the next election.

Nevertheless, it takes longer than four years to build a political party. Reform has a ragbag crew of MPs, who don't seem to have been properly vetted. It needs to build up teams who can work together towards a common goal, which they don't have at the moment. Everything is centred round Farage (and Tice) and whoever will form an alliance with them. They're always falling out - I suspect because there's a collision of egos.

Sooner or later, I think people will see that Reform is about people with strong ideologies who really don't care two hoots about the people they claim to represent. They're out for themselves. Votes for them are merely tools to achieve what they want. It will be interesting to see how Clacton votes in four years. Will they be convinced they have an MP who has fought hard for them and represented them in parliament?

I quite agree Growstuff, I think eventually people will see Reform etc for what they are. I think like Boris & Trump these people are very good at campaigning but people really don't like their policies, especially on the NHS.
Hopefully they will spend the next 4 yrs falling out and bringing themselves into disrepute. At least they divide the Tory vote