And so it begins, Reform’s Britain

Understandable even.

growstuff

It's going to be an interesting few years. I've picked up that voters are unhappy about Labour's moves on WFA and PIP - and I understand that. Concerns which have been rumbling on for years is about social care and the long waiting lists to get children with special needs assessed - I understand that.

However, what I don't understand is what Reform is planning to do about the issues which bother people most. About 70-75% of county council's budgets is spent on social care, so what is Reform planning to do? Unless Council Tax is increased, even a 10% increase in the budget for social care would mean a cut of more than 25% in the remaining services provided by County Councils. Other major County Council responsibilities include education (including SEND transport), transport (including subsidised bus fares and the senior bus pass) and fire and public safety. Insisting that nobody works from home will involve increases in costs for heating and cleaning. Very little is actually spent on diversity and net zero initiatives, so savings in those areas won't compensate for shortages n other areas.

The people who have been hit hardest by the cut to WFA, changes to PIP and increase in bus fares are exactly the same people who will be affected by any cuts to County Councils' budgets.

I'm grateful my council didn't hold elections for another year, but it's going to be interesting to watch from the sidelines.

Your point about social care is very important, and is what we should be asking all potential politicians about, Reform included.
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It's all too easy to unite people against an outside threat, real or perceived, but unless they are ready to address existing issues with equal fervour, they are a waste of space.

Galaxy

Well maybe they think reform will see them as the deeply disadvantaged group they are rather than privileged because they won't be impacted by DEI cuts. Now that probably won't be the case but their vote is completely understand.

If Reform fail to deliver, do you think they will be angrier than ever? So far, I haven't seen anything which suggests the voters' situation will improve. Who will they vote for next?

Farage will come up against Employment Law (not to mention the unions)

Just run your eyes down this clutch of employment law and specifics for Local authority workers.

www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=employment+law+for+coucil+employees&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

Growstuff's point is really really important about DEI matters as in "the money doesn't just fund policies and staff, but actual programs to support people with severe learning difficulties and mental health issues" It helps some of them find paid work

And of course physical disabilities of all kinds!

This affects the very families who've voted Reform as much as any other, indeed helps more since more well off families have other ways to support disabilities.

But there are laws under the Equalities Act which obliges councils to make provision for support for disabled groups so Farage and co might soon end up in court for not meeting statutory obligations not to mention Disability organisations.

Not mentioned but relevant is Farages commitment to reducing resources for SEND children which also disproportionally affects children from poorer families. will that go down well.

Well if he ignores the Equality Act he probably had 15 years before anyone notices.

But will they actually stick around to do anything? Farage has a well known history of not turning up to meetings. Plenty of 'able' folk are against them, and so they will be under so much scrutiny and comment. Will be interesting to see how many manage to stay the course

I think it is dangerous to think Reform is a flash in the pan. I hope this result makes the main parties sort themselves out.

Galaxy

Well maybe they think reform will see them as the deeply disadvantaged group they are rather than privileged because they won't be impacted by DEI cuts. Now that probably won't be the case but their vote is completely understand.

What will Reform do for them though? What is Farage doing in his constituency to help disadvantaged people?

County Durham voted Leave despite receiving hundreds of millions of pounds of EU funding.

kittylester

I think it is dangerous to think Reform is a flash in the pan. I hope this result makes the main parties sort themselves out.

That is exactly my thought.

Galaxy

Well if he ignores the Equality Act he probably had 15 years before anyone notices.

It's not just about ignoring the Equality Act, but cuts to disability support programmes and SEND will have an immediate impact on families who can least afford to support themselves - I think they'll notice very quickly.

Do you think anybody thinks they only have potential to be a flash in the pan? I think it’s more that we just don’t know, because there are so many variables at play.

If I were a Reform supporter, one of my biggest fears would be that I think the party is totally Farage-centric. People put too much emphasis on charismatic leadership, and gloss over the things that really matter, that effect change. If his personal balloon bursts, Reform could easily end up rudderless, like the post-Boris Tories.

To be fair the other parties may in some way have lucked out, the system in relation to SEND is unsustainable, councils are already making significant cuts (I mentioned elsewhere that cuts to SEND transport have been happening in my authority for months - nothing to do with Reform) it may benefit the other parties to push the problem and the blame on to Reform.

Galaxy

To be fair the other parties may in some way have lucked out, the system in relation to SEND is unsustainable, councils are already making significant cuts (I mentioned elsewhere that cuts to SEND transport have been happening in my authority for months - nothing to do with Reform) it may benefit the other parties to push the problem and the blame on to Reform.

That's why I think if Labour is canny, it will spin it so that Reform takes the flak . Farage has been talking about more than cutting school transport.

Currently, they can't make cuts to actual provision because it's statutory, which is why they're going into debt and central government has bailed a few of them out. The only cuts councils can legally make is to post-16 transport.

The most astonishing thing to me is that a large swathe of the electorate haven't a clue what they were voting for.

I live in Kent so illegal immigration is a hot topic. Reform will now control Kent County Council which has been Tory run since 1997.

Kent groups on Fb today are full of people celebrating the Reform whitewash in the County and these people are apparently eagerly awaiting for Reform to "stop the boats" as well as putting a stop to concreting over the county with expensive new builds.

Good luck with all that then. Not knowing the difference between Local and General Elections has never been so pronounced.

Perhaps we should introduce a "Do You Know What You're Voting For" quiz on the door of polling stations. Score below 100% and you're refused entry!

Blooming heck. Farage can’t even do his job in Clacton and the sight of his grinning, triumphant face sickens me. He is all mouth and nothing else.

That's a bit harsh ferry. I think you could lower the pass mark and some still wouldn't qualify.

You could have a 20% pass mark and some wouldn’t pass, but we all know polititians don’t actually carry out promises so it’s all irrelevant anyway.
Council Tax, for my modest 3 bed I pay around £250 a month, if I was on a budget I would be asking “what do I get for that today”. In my case I live out of town all I get is the bins collected, ( not Birmingham) every other service I have used I have to pay for, there must be a lot of families struggling to pay the rent that feel the same way

David About half of your council tax goes towards social care - maybe you'll need it one day - and another huge chunk goes towards education and children's services (think of it as paying back the education you had as a child). A much smaller percentage pays for police and fire services - you might need them too.

I'm hoping that with this result we'll be able to actually start to understand what Reform's actual plans are, rather than headlines that they think people want to see.

The other main parties all have histories of bad decisions that get voters angry, whilst Reform have no real history at the moment.

Farage will need to pick some intelligent, strong performers from his party, and allow them to speak, rather than loving the limelight and saying what folk want to hear without needing to come up with the goods. He'll have to now, particularly as he reckons he'll be the next Prime Minister. I'll accept that he's certainly the most charismatic of the party leaders by far.

I also agree that folk need to understand the difference between Local and General Elections. I'm pleased to see that our hardworking longstanding Tory councillor has retained his seat despite the Council now being Reform.

Richard Tice was on Laura Kuenssberg’s programme covering the election results yesterday afternoon. She asked him how Reform are going to bring down council tax as they have promised and he waffled on about doing in depth studies on spending, no ideas with any substance. As for Farage’s claim that Reform are now the opposition they still only have 5 MPs. People will soon find out that reality is very different from Reform’s propaganda.

growstuff

David About half of your council tax goes towards social care - maybe you'll need it one day - and another huge chunk goes towards education and children's services (think of it as paying back the education you had as a child). A much smaller percentage pays for police and fire services - you might need them too.

I’m aware of what it’s spent on of course, most of us have to pay for any social care we receive, out of property value if needed. Only those with very low savings get free care, I certainly had good value out of ecucation, I’m not so sure I would today.

Reform policy on tackling child abuse indicates an increase in Social Services work in the field. Of course all the parties are saying that, but if Reform councils cut Social Services they are directly going against their own (very loudly shouted) policies in this field. Except none of them attended January debates in Parliament on violence against women and girls.

As regards paying for social care if you are elderly or disabled, Reform cant trim budgets without hitting the poorest, which is another self defeating prospect.

Durham has 4 small womens' refuges. Are these going to be kept?

Anniebach

Quote Oreo Fri 02-May-25 17:50:24
I’m not dismayed by any cutting of ‘diversity’ or ‘net zero’ jobs from Councils when there are pot holes to be mended and rubbish to be collected and gulleys to be cleared and all the many practical and useful jobs to be done.Councils have wasted money in lots of places on arty farty stuff.Look at the mess Birmingham are in.
It remains to be seen if Remain Councillors will be any better but at long as they try that’s something.

Surely success is something, you will settle for less ?

Sadly Anniebach, if Reform follows Trump, who Farage and the extreme Reformists seem to revere, any money saved, which will inevitably be little or none, will go to the already rich.

However, I'm not sure why I or anyone else bothers to say this as the Dunning-Kruger effect clearly tells us that we will yet again end up with all the confidence in the hard-right shattered and sad voices saying "nobody told us".

Reforms appears to have had a great deal of money from as yet unknown sources. The results are good for Reform - today. They wanted to show they are a growing party. They need this to get people to believe that that they can go from 5 seats in Parliament to over 320 in the next election so they can form a Goverment. This is incredibly unlikely but some belive that wanting it to happen will make it happen - they want a Trumpian government. They dont see any need to understand, just the need to believe.

There is an upside to this however. For the first time Farage has the actual power he has so far avoided. I won't list his general non-attendance to his tax-payer funded jobs as his ducking-out in these areas is well known. Reform now has, in a few areas, administrative political power. They will have it for long enough to be judged on actions not cultist rhetoric.

Some of the new councillors are old Tory councillors and some have no working knowledge at all. Where else have we seen the leader assume that incompetent loud-mouths could do the job? Who is benefiting under such extremists? Like Trump, Farage appears determined to retain overall control of his party and then wish upon the nearest shooting star that all goes well. And who have been on the receiving end of Trumps thuggery? Often those who voted for him and needed what they believed (not knew) he was promising. Farage is cut from exactly the same cloth.

kittylester

I think it is dangerous to think Reform is a flash in the pan. I hope this result makes the main parties sort themselves out.

It’ll do both Tories & Labour good to reflect this weekend on what anger is being projected at the ballot box.

why doesn't road tax pay for roads and potholes?