Bring it on Elon!

imaround

Why would I need to start my own post? I am being respectful and I am posting pertinent information regarding the OP.

What is happening in the US with Musk is real and it is coming to your shores. You all are in a unique position to be knowledgeable and stop it before it starts.

You are most welcome imaround, the post that appeared to be suggesting otherwise was corrected.

It does feel really important that we know about not just what policies Musk pursues - but also how he does it.

It's a basis for examining any policies that might emerge from Reform due to the closeness of Farage and Musk/Trump when we see how they play out in the US.

Chocolateloving gran Oh you mean Musk is just like Starmer = Labour=Lefties!

imaround

Why would I need to start my own post? I am being respectful and I am posting pertinent information regarding the OP.

What is happening in the US with Musk is real and it is coming to your shores. You all are in a unique position to be knowledgeable and stop it before it starts.

Apologies imaround for the confusion caused by my earlier post. It was because your post was so helpful and informative that I commented on it. I was trying to say I hope you might start another thread with it as this one was becoming a little heated and I was concerned your post would vanish if the thread was deleted. But my cold fingers slipped and I posted before I was finished 🙈

I don’t usually post on politics threads. Maybe I should stick to just reading them 😀

Nah, keep on posting 🙂 both. "Musk-watch".

In the meantime, the donation issue is being looked at.

Ie defining the sort of company more closely, that allow huge donations from foreign individuals or entities,

to be channelled to political parties (or political companies)

www.politico.eu/article/uk-election-watchdog-wants-new-donation-laws-to-counter-elon-musk-nigel-farage-reform-uk/

Sorry, just saw the second post that gave the reason. I am not starting a new thread because this discussion will move over to it.

While the young people (in the US) are more savvy on technology, they are not more savvy on being able to determine what information is accurate or not. They are less so than any previous generation. They are getting "news" from podcasters and influencers, not traditional news sources. They listen to the likes if Joe Rogan and Andrew Tate. It was reported that far right extremists have been infiltrating their video games, so they are hearing this stuff from a rather young age.

On the other hand, women aged 18-24 voted Harris. Because there are women dying from miscarriages now. There has been talk from Republicans that they want to repeal the 19th Amendment giving women the right to vote. It is that serious over here.

Reform may sound like exactly what is needed in the UK, and it may be, but once Musk gets involved he will mold Reform into what he wants it to be and the people who will lose are the citizens of the UK.

I post as a warning because you all have time to stop this. You just need to stop bickering and band together and keep him out.

It seems you all are seeing this as a Reform for UK topic when you need to be looking at this as a Musk against UK scenario. Reform is just the vehicle he chooses to use.

That is great Wyllow. Hopefully your government stops the infusion.

In the US, our compromised Supreme Court has ruled that corporations are citizens and as such have a right to free speech. And they consider that free speech to include donations to politics. So we can't stop the massive amounts of money billionaires are dumping into our races.

I will also say, protect your media. Right now in the US, the most unbiased and accurate information I have found about Trump and Musk is from the BBC and The Guardian. If that tells you anything.

I really don't know how many people want for us to end up like that whatever our politics.

We thought that too Wyllow. And here we are. Don't take anything you have for granted, because there are people waiting in the wings to tear it all down for their own personal enrichment.

Wyllow3

Pattypee

Admittedly I've not read all this thread- however apparently Musky predicted, around the time of the southport riots, that there would be a civil war in the UK. Personally I think he should look closer to home before he comments....
However I have been shocked by the support of Reform on GN - but now understand how Brexit happened and Boris got elected. I wonder if there is a connection?

Musk is already deep in civil problems as he attempts to stop paying some federal wages (he's coming up against the Senate) and he is already targeting government workers by name as he recommends mass firings www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/elon-musk-mass-firing-department-of-government-efficiency-b2653471.html

I think matters close to home will catch up with him soon and furthermore, it will give us in the UK a chance to see what Reform might come up with following Trump/Musk policies.

There are bound to be some Reform supporters on GN, statistically alone

Musk is already deep in civil problems as he attempts to stop paying some federal wages (he's coming up against the Senate) and he is already targeting government workers by name as he recommends mass firings

How can he stop any federal wages being paid? DOGE is only an advisory department.

I imagine he and the other chap will target any individual whose job title has the word "Diversity" / "Diversification" in it, which will undoubtedly please his admirers.

Whether it's wise to target them by name is another matter. But I suspect it's a deliberate rallying call.

It's almost amusing that he thought civil war was inevitable in the UK, I think it's far more likely in the USA - even if it's only 'patchy'. And they already have the weapons to hand.

Let Reform win, if they can, fair and square under our own systems. We wanted sovereignty, apparently...

imaround

Why would I need to start my own post? I am being respectful and I am posting pertinent information regarding the OP.

What is happening in the US with Musk is real and it is coming to your shores. You all are in a unique position to be knowledgeable and stop it before it starts.

I think it is a terrifying prospect.

Dickens, he can not stop it himself. What he did do is tell Trump and Congress to stop the funding bill from passing. Republicans have now stopped the bill from passing. Because Musk said so.

Once that happens, there is no funding for the government, which shuts it down completely. No one gets paychecks. Contracts do not get paid, so companies end up laying off workers. Small businesses will go under.

He is not an elected official yet holds all the power in the US right now because he is the richest man in the world.

Wyllow3

I really don't know how many people want for us to end up like that whatever our politics.

I truly think there are those among us (I don't mean specifically on GN, but in wider society) who think that the Left are the devil incarnate.

They, such individuals, don't distinguish - they assume the Left is an homogenous group, and they blame it for all the ills of modern society, and I don't think they care two hoots whether their voices are silenced. As far as they are concerned, the Left is a quagmire, a morass that needs to be destroyed, and I also think they would happily see voices like The Guardian silenced permanently.

I am not surprised people voted trump, I listen to Joe Rogan now and again, I dont agree with him at times and agree with him on some issues. To put him in the same category as Andrew Tate is ridiculous. If Harris had bothered to go on Joe Rogan instead of thinking the avengers were going to help her win she might have had better results.

Wyllow3

Let Reform win, if they can, fair and square under our own systems. We wanted sovereignty, apparently...

Yes, we voted for sovereignty so that we wouldnt be bound by EU rules and the so called elite could carry on making up their own rules. Which is exactly what will happen if Reform help the right wing Tories get back into power.

Wasn't BREXIT about removing foreign interference in our politics? And now Farage is courting a foreigner, to support his party. Hypocrite or what?

Galaxy

I am not surprised people voted trump, I listen to Joe Rogan now and again, I dont agree with him at times and agree with him on some issues. To put him in the same category as Andrew Tate is ridiculous. If Harris had bothered to go on Joe Rogan instead of thinking the avengers were going to help her win she might have had better results.

I wasn’t surprised either. I bet on trump the first time round and again in this election. Not because I support Trump but listening to the man in the street.
Millions of voters said they were far better off financially when Trump was last in power.
Americans love successful people whichever way they make that money.
Millions of the black and Latino voters were angry that their vote is taken as a given by the democrats.
And then they had Kamala. What exactly did she say she was going to do. 🤷‍♀️

Haven't read the whole thread yet so mea culpa, if this has already been answered, What is Farage's policy on the NHS? Would he go full USA, and then everyone undergoing cancer treatment will have the lifestyle choice to go bancrupt?

Maremia

Haven't read the whole thread yet so mea culpa, if this has already been answered, What is Farage's policy on the NHS? Would he go full USA, and then everyone undergoing cancer treatment will have the lifestyle choice to go bancrupt?

These are the type of silliness we see all the time in our politics. Where has Farage said that he would like a USA type of health service.
When I looked at his manifesto at the last election he said he wanted a European insurance based system that works fine when I have lived abroad over the times

I talk to loads of different people on my travels from cheap pubs to high end hotels and I feel that Reform will do well in the next election.

Ohhowwelaughed

Maremia

Haven't read the whole thread yet so mea culpa, if this has already been answered, What is Farage's policy on the NHS? Would he go full USA, and then everyone undergoing cancer treatment will have the lifestyle choice to go bancrupt?

These are the type of silliness we see all the time in our politics. Where has Farage said that he would like a USA type of health service.
When I looked at his manifesto at the last election he said he wanted a European insurance based system that works fine when I have lived abroad over the times

I talk to loads of different people on my travels from cheap pubs to high end hotels and I feel that Reform will do well in the next election.

When I looked at his manifesto at the last election he said he wanted a European insurance based system...

Thanks for that information.

I understood he proposed an insurance-based system, but I couldn't find anything (at the time) that specified which type.

There's a world of difference between the European model and the USA one.

I will try to find that manifesto. Not that I have any intention of voting for NF, but I do like to see factual information rather than hype / misinformation - which is always counter-productive and just muddies the already muddied waters even more.

Social media is alive and thriving with mis-information, speculation, and downright lies, at times. I want to separate fact from fiction, and opinion. Regardless of who we are discussing.

Maremia

Haven't read the whole thread yet so mea culpa, if this has already been answered, What is Farage's policy on the NHS? Would he go full USA, and then everyone undergoing cancer treatment will have the lifestyle choice to go bancrupt?

Farage also likes the French health system which is a mix of private and public but I don't think that is what he actually wants. Probably more like the American system.

Personally I think that the French system is good and could work well in the UK, if people can understand it.

A comparison between two.

Three years ago now I had an emergency operation for an umbilcal hernia. My aftercare was excellent - a nurse came in every day for two weeks to give me an injection and to change the dressing. At the end of that period the visits were reduced to every other day and the stitches were removed.

On Saturday a friend in the UK was taken to hospital to have a tumour removed from his stomach. He went home on Tuesday. He has to inject himself and he has to go back to hospital for the stitches to be removed.

You could say that his treatment is acceptable and he can deal with the jabs. I deal with jab for asthma - not a problem. But, as one ages, it is good to know that the nurses will come to one's home rather than us having to wait in a doctor's surgery or at a hospital.

I do not support any party as I do not think any run the country this is ran via the Civil service.

How much is done with the average person in mind? Let's take electric cars as an example since I use one. We are told the government want to go all electric cars by 2030.
Now I can travel to an electric charge point and low and behold the space is filled with a petrol car. The government forgot to make a little law to make it nationally illegal to park in a charge point when non electric.

When was the last time the minimum size car park bays were altered?

There are loads of these examples that could easily be put in place to help everyday people but governments of all colours only focus on the bigger things.

Dinahmo

Farage also likes the French health system which is a mix of private and public but I don't think that is what he actually wants. Probably more like the American system

... that's what worries me.

Earlier in the thread I asked what are the actual policies as otherwise it is speculation as in different understandings above.

But if people say Reform is best thing since sliced bread (and it will have the Musk millions to make the Reform Party the force it wants to be) we need at least broad brush visions because they claim "total overhaul".

In the meantime I'll just be glad if we can set boundaries to this kind of pernicious "gifting".