Is the country ready for a Farage government?

Casdon

StripeyGran

So if he isn't what are his selling points please? Because nobody has the guts to say so.

It’s his dashingly handsome looks, his lack of self promotion, and his compassion for the underprivileged and needy I expect StripeyGran.

Silly me, of course.

I think it's his integrity that does it.

StripeyGran

So if he isn't what are his selling points please? Because nobody has the guts to say so.

It’s his dashingly handsome looks, his lack of self promotion, and his compassion for the underprivileged and needy I expect StripeyGran.

So if he isn't what are his selling points please? Because nobody has the guts to say so.

Just read Lammy has apologised. We will see if Starmer apologises.

Lord Glasman, Labour Peer was on TV tonight making a personal apology (not a Political one) to Nigel Farage. He told NF that he knows he is not a racist and Starmer should not have said that.

What is there about Farage that you think is so good?

You've got no chance of getting an answer.

Primrose53

love0c

After hearing Starmer's speech and Lammy's remarks., Labour have sunk to a low never before reached.

Agreed. They spent more time talking about Nigel Farage than about their own plans. 🤣

Starmer saying that Farage does not like or love Britain was disgraceful and really scraping the barrel.

Imo Farage has turned this country into a place I hardly recognise and his politics just turn people against each other. What is there about Farage that you think is so good? The fact that some of us are constantly being accused of being unpatriotic unlike Reform supporters is a case in point.

love0c

After hearing Starmer's speech and Lammy's remarks., Labour have sunk to a low never before reached.

Agreed. They spent more time talking about Nigel Farage than about their own plans. 🤣

Starmer saying that Farage does not like or love Britain was disgraceful and really scraping the barrel.

FreedomAwaits

Well aware of his ratings. As a previous Conservative Party member, my view is Starmer is the best bet for the UK right now and Farage is very much the “emperor’s new clothes”.

The thought is horrific FreedomAwaits!! 😲

Well, I still haven't had a chance to listen to it, but the snippets I've read and heard sound fine so far.

Why does Farage get so much publicity? That's half the problem, he's everywhere!

I totally support the plain speakers here.
I like Vice Versa would like to say what I think of policies that scapegoat the vulnerable to appeal to those who want quick fixes.
Immigration is more of a positive than negative ( see ONS stats.)
Problems are varied but higher tax payers being shored up is not helpful.

I’m glad that Starmer mentioned that Farage said Jaguar Land Rover deserved to go bust simply because he didn’t like their latest advertisement which he deemed“woke”. What does NF care about job losses not only at JLR itself but in the supply chain?

AI Overview

If JLR were to fail, tens of thousands of jobs could be at risk, primarily within its extensive supply chain, which supports around 100,000 to 120,000 non-JLR jobs in the UK, and potentially a further 60,000 to 70,000 jobs from the spending of those workers. While JLR directly employs approximately 30,000 to 34,000 people in the UK, the failure of the company would have a devastating and irreversible impact on its vast network of suppliers, many of which are small businesses.

A company in trouble because of a cyber attack and Farage says they deserve to go bust?! Perhaps he would have liked to see M&S and the Co-op go bust too or indeed any employer whose systems are subject to a cyber attack.

Surely the point of the Jaguar ad was to be noticed. That’s what advertising is about. Trying to get noticed is something Reform do on a daily basis - say or do something controversial to keep in the news.

Is the country ready for a Farage government? Is it ready for a goverment that would be happy see huge job losses in any employer it considered woke?

JLR, albeit now owned by Tata, is still a manufacturer of iconic British brands with over 1.5 million cars exported abroad each year, a quarter of those to the USA. One wonders if Farage was also having a fit of pique because JLR halted exports to the USA due to his hero Trump’s tariffs.

www.theguardian.com/business/2025/aug/08/jaguar-land-rover-profits-dented-tariffs-drop-sales

How is it “saving our country”” to wish a company like JLR to fail?

Well aware of his ratings. As a previous Conservative Party member, my view is Starmer is the best bet for the UK right now and Farage is very much the “emperor’s new clothes”.

Casdon, MayBee & PaynesGrey 👏👏👏👏👏

I watched it live, Casdon. I thought it an excellent speech focusing on what has been achieved so far - there was a Gordon Brown moment there - and describing what a united society is rather than the divided society that Reform wants. He made no bones that this is difficult road, balancing what needs to be done with fiscal prudence.

I liked the emphasis on family, particularly the announcement of the shift in emphasis from university to vocational further education - to value people who work with their hands. It’s something we desperately need, to train the construction workers of the future to build the homes and infrastructure we need.

The tribute to Hillsborough campaigner Margaret Aspinall was very moving. I liked too how he named-checked young people who had and were doing things to help their communities rather than tear them down.

Apparently, I am not a decent person for liking the speech. Why the petty namecalling?

The David Lammy interview with the BBC afterwards was good too. It was clear that Vicki Young was trying to goad him into saying that Farage is a racist but he was adamant about playing the ball i.e the racist policy not the man in his criticism of Reform plans to deport people who have indefinite leave to remain who have worked and contributed to this country for years.

I am heartened too to hear the news that the government is set to lift the two-child UC cap in the budget, a key demand of Labour MPs and child poverty campaigners, with officials exploring options of a new tapered system.

www.theguardian.com/society/2025/sep/30/rachel-reeves-lift-two-child-benefit-cap-november-budget

love0c

Casdon any decent person woulld not like it, IMO!

You still haven’t told me what it was he said that was so awful…

Then your idea of what a decent person is skewed love0c, because you must be unable to see beyond politics to what peoples personal qualities are. We are all so much more than our political beliefs.

Casdon any decent person woulld not like it, IMO!

Starmer’s speech has admirably served its purpose I think, which was to rally the Labour troops and rattle Reform. Of course people who don’t want him as PM and don’t like Labour didn’t like it - but that is a mark of its success as a speech. Ed Davey’s was equally powerful. I’m looking forward to hearing Kemi Badenoch next week, I really hope she can do similar.

love0c

After hearing Starmer's speech and Lammy's remarks., Labour have sunk to a low never before reached.

I only half listened to it ( will listen to it properly later) but can you tell me what it was in his speech that makes you think they have sunk to a new low? What I did hear sounded pretty good.

After hearing Starmer's speech and Lammy's remarks., Labour have sunk to a low never before reached.

Well, I missed Starmer's speech as I was out; hope it is worth listening to as DH has recorded it for me!

FranP

So another smooth talking, reasonable sounding politician started his rise by knocking the immigrants, suggesting this was the cause of his country's ills; then he started on the state of the economy (it was a recession).

His name was Adolf Hitler

That is an erroneous statement if you are meaning the Jewish people in Germany in the 1930s.
Jewish people had lived in Germany for over a thousand years, spoke German, were German. They were persecuted there over the centuries too.

Hitler was an immigrant - he was from Austria.

Makes sense, Freedom Awaits. It took a long time for this mess to happen . Righting it can't happen overnight.

Cheap

So another smooth talking, reasonable sounding politician started his rise by knocking the immigrants, suggesting this was the cause of his country's ills; then he started on the state of the economy (it was a recession).

His name was Adolf Hitler