If you want to understand the techniques Farage uses ...

I'm still waiting to hear about the Act of Parliament which makes flying the Union flag illegal..

RSALLAN2002

Crisis - broken political system (authoritarian government with huge majority from 27% of electorate); self serving politicians; we're all getting poorer; crime out of control (knife crime, shoplifting, no response to burglaries and vehicle crime, ASB); struggling NHS; unaffordable welfare; uncontrolled immigration; climate change; polluted waterways; inadequate defence and threats from Russia and China. Apart from all that, everything's fine.

For accuracy, the Labour Party won 33.7 percent of the vote in the UK general election of 2024, compared with the Conservatives who won 23.7 percent.

I don’t think anybody is denying that there are a huge range of issues facing the UK, and Western countries more broadly. I can understand disillusionment with politicians and recent governments as we look into the abyss of issues too.

What I can’t understand is why, knowing how immensely complex it all is, rather than accepting the challenge, knowing we face tough times as a country, and as individuals ahead, people instead look to find a saviour, jump on bandwagons, and fall for superficial gloss, without ever questioning the how. I can guarantee Reform is not the solution, because there isn’t one. We are in for very tough times ahead regardless of who the government is.

Koalama

Just reading and catching up with this post. Oh dear here we go again anyone else think its hilarious that the leftys think we're gullable because we support/ follow Farage. Seriously listen to yourselfs and think about what you support or follow, if gullable is to be thrown around 'me thinks it stinks of being a tad scared of a new party getting bigger everyday. Lots of gullable people in this country now then eh. But wait I suppose its a typical lefty thing that all brexiters believe we believed in the NHS money bus too, as why else could/would we have ever wanted to leave Europe. So the narrative of gullable is thrown around again hilarious!!

Excellent post, spot on! I do wonder why we are considered gullible fools for supporting someone who only wants the best for this country.

Can somebody please explain to me what a Reform government is going to do to make this country a better place. What are their plans for the NHS, education, social care etc etc?

Apparently they are making a good fist of Kent County Council from what I have read, saving a lot of money and running it efficiently. I live in Kent and am so pleased they got in.

Is that from scrapping Net Zero amongst other things?

Can somebody please explain to me what a Reform government is going to do to make this country a better place. What are their plans for the NHS, education, social care etc etc?

Can’t you just google ‘reform uk manifesto’
I mean, It’s not difficult to find these things out, as you well know.

Teazel2

Apparently they are making a good fist of Kent County Council from what I have read, saving a lot of money and running it efficiently. I live in Kent and am so pleased they got in.

Well Teazel2, here’s a summary of what has been happening in Kent County Council since Reform was elected. Gransnetters can judge for themselves whether or not they agree with your assessment.
www.kentonline.co.uk/kent/news/controversial-vocal-but-as-expected-100-days-of-refor-328346/

Kandinsky

*Can somebody please explain to me what a Reform government is going to do to make this country a better place. What are their plans for the NHS, education, social care etc etc?*

Can’t you just google ‘reform uk manifesto’
I mean, It’s not difficult to find these things out, as you well know.

Have you read it Kandinsky? If so, tell us Muggles the answers, because they can only be written between the lines - do you have the sleuthing powers of Hermione Granger?

I can't read it, Casdon because I won't disable my ad blocker.

Kandinsky

*Can somebody please explain to me what a Reform government is going to do to make this country a better place. What are their plans for the NHS, education, social care etc etc?*

Can’t you just google ‘reform uk manifesto’
I mean, It’s not difficult to find these things out, as you well know.

My ex has read it in depth. He says it’s quite good when chatting to Reform supporters in the pub. Surely those people on here that revere them can just tell me what their plans for the country are? They must know them.

Well tbh if I'm just looking at what I observe daily when we want to engage new staff, or when I'm out walking in my neighbourhood, or watching reality TV, chatting on Facebook or buying a £20k kitchen along with many many others, I really don't see crisis.
There are things wrong, the number of young people who don't feel able to work being probably number one in my eyes. And leading to the view, if we have a lot of young people this neurotic, maybe we need an influx of people with the guts to get on a boat at high risk of drowning in order to find a better life.

PoliticsNerd

Of course everyone you speak to thinks as you do. We all tend to associate with people like ourselves, Teasle2. It up to us, not others, to work out why we chose to believe what we believe and whether it's the right thing to do.

Let me ask you a question. We all know how Hitler turned the Jews into the "enemy of the state". Do you now, after decades of learning about the history of that terrible period in Europe, believe that all or anything that was said about the Jews to make them the enemy of the state was true?. Did they actually deserve what was basically retribution for the very difficult problems Germany faced. Did focusing on them solve those problems as easily and simply as promised - or at all? Did the people of Germany feel vindicated at the end of it all?

well said politics nerd

StoneofDestiny

Watched it and not surprised by any of it. Classic advertising technique / tell people they have a problem (smelly settee), show them a solution to the problem (a smelly spray to out smell the smelly settee), show how the product you are selling is the only product that can de smell your settee quickly. Give it a short quirky name and catchy tune - and yay - it’s embedded in the minds of the smelly settee brigade.

Easy sell to gullible people, just like Farages populist politics. People see him waving the Union Flag denouncing migrants and giving it large about ‘Put Britain First’ . His supporters forget he wanted to work with Trump in the USA - that fell through when had a fall out with Musk! They fail to see he is never in his own Constituency - has done nothing for them, yet the gullible think he can run the country. Farage is a chancer who appeals to the politically naive. He stirs the pot by agitating people, identifying scapegoats for them to focus their discontent on and then stands back and watches while the trouble starts. Classic.

He should not have as much TV coverage as he does - the number of mp’s he has does not justify the attention the media give him. I

well said

Farage has stated publicly that he wants to replace the NHS with an insurance based system. That’s a good enough reason never to vote for him or his company.

MayBee70

Is that from scrapping Net Zero amongst other things?

Yes and that is a good idea.

!!! The Labour govt are clobbering the private small medium businesses that pay taxes that keep the civil service and the NHS etc running so that there won't be any money because they Labour are killing off the businesses!!!

Additional costs due to the illegals haven't you realised?

StoneofDestiny

Watched it and not surprised by any of it. Classic advertising technique / tell people they have a problem (smelly settee), show them a solution to the problem (a smelly spray to out smell the smelly settee), show how the product you are selling is the only product that can de smell your settee quickly. Give it a short quirky name and catchy tune - and yay - it’s embedded in the minds of the smelly settee brigade.

Easy sell to gullible people, just like Farages populist politics. People see him waving the Union Flag denouncing migrants and giving it large about ‘Put Britain First’ . His supporters forget he wanted to work with Trump in the USA - that fell through when had a fall out with Musk! They fail to see he is never in his own Constituency - has done nothing for them, yet the gullible think he can run the country. Farage is a chancer who appeals to the politically naive. He stirs the pot by agitating people, identifying scapegoats for them to focus their discontent on and then stands back and watches while the trouble starts. Classic.

He should not have as much TV coverage as he does - the number of mp’s he has does not justify the attention the media give him. I

Oh, like Snake Oil salesman?

Teazel2

MayBee70

Is that from scrapping Net Zero amongst other things?

Yes and that is a good idea.

Why?

Mouse

Farage has stated publicly that he wants to replace the NHS with an insurance based system. That’s a good enough reason never to vote for him or his company.

This has been mentioned on GN fairly regularly, but I've never seen any responses on the issue... no debate about it.

I find that odd because as we age, we become more susceptible to illness and diseases - chronic illnesses, too, and private health insurance is not designed to cover chronic conditions. Nor pre-existing ones.

Also, unless you have considerable disposable income, choosing an insurance package may limit you to the very basics and, as none of us know what's round the corner, the level of cover you get for a particular disease may mean that you end up having to pay out-of-pocket.

Private health insurance is really for short-term, acute illness - uncomplicated and easy to treat.

I have witnessed an American family go from 'riches' to 'rags' because 3 family members were unfortunate enough to contract cancer; in the two males, it was hereditary, and the female family member was diagnosed with breast cancer. They lost their business, and ultimately, they lost their home, even though, initially, they had comprehensive cover.

Personally, I don't believe he would 'get rid' of the NHS - he couldn't, because even he must be aware that the impoverished sick have to be cared for, as they are in the US via Medicaid and Medicare - for which you have to qualify, but which might still leave you with significant medical bills.

I can only assume that Farage's supporters have weighed this up and come to the conclusion that it's worth it.

I don't fetishise the NHS as a 'sacred cow' - having spent two separate periods of 3-month stays in a hospital bed, I saw lots of waste, ill-thought-through 'rituals', nonsensical rules, and came into contact with nurses who were less than supportive, but I do believe in universal health-care. I believe a government should invest in its people because, ultimately, it is the people who will be the backbone of a successful economy.

I'd like to hear Farage expand on his plans for the NHS, and for private insurance. Not that I intend to vote for Reform, I believe they are a single-issue party focusing on 'the boats' and thereby simplifying the complex political landscape. A landscape that has, IMO, emerged since the Thatcher 'revolution' in the late 70s.

Watching that documentary ‘Shifty’ has reminded me of so many of the things that Thatcher did that I’d forgotten but I’ve also learned a lot of things about that era that I didn’t actually know.

Mouse

Farage has stated publicly that he wants to replace the NHS with an insurance based system. That’s a good enough reason never to vote for him or his company.

Of course he has U turned in this and said it will be ‘free at the point of use’, whatever that means. He has also said he wants an American based system which is enough to make me wary of him, having experienced 10 days in an American hospital 20 years ago I know how catastrophic the cost would be for some people who don’t have adequate insurance.

Excellent post Dickens.

The idea of an insurance based health system really concerns me.

Perhaps Farage’s supporters believe they have enough money to weather any medical storm!

Surely people know how disastrous this sort of system is in the USA.

I should really not be suprised that none of those who shout loudly about identifiable groups, could bring themselves to directly answer this:

Let me ask you a question. We all know how Hitler turned the Jews into the "enemy of the state". Do you now, after decades of learning about the history of that terrible period in Europe, believe that all or anything that was said about the Jews to make them the enemy of the state was true?. Did they actually deserve what was basically retribution for the very difficult problems Germany faced. Did focusing on them solve those problems as easily and simply as promised - or at all? Did the people of Germany feel vindicated at the end of it all?

Surely the answer from us all, particularly the older ones amongst us must be Of course I don't believe that the "Third Reich" propoganda making the Jews, and others, the enemy was anything other than the propoganda some wanted to believe; an easy answer to complex and difficult problems. I am horrified to see another, easily identifiable group (except when those in power get it wrong as in 1930/40s Germany and Trump's America) used as a model for feeding discontent in this way.

Did any of them come close to this? Did I miss something? Or is the far-right now part of the group who think civil liberty, the laws established for the sake of the community, no longer matter as long as the people hurt are assumed to be part of the identified group.

Perhaps the question was too long. Perhaps it should just have been Was what happened in Germany to the Jews and other groups identified in 1930/40s Germany by popular rhetoric, right or wrong and should we be using the same methods today?

It only needs a one word answer.