I thought the Handmaids Tale was fiction!!!

Maremia

'Love thy neighbour as thyself' is a Christian concept/command.

Just done a uick google search and also used AI and the answer I get is that almost all religions exhort their followers to 'love their neighbour as thyself ' although it is only Jews and Christians who use those exact words.

Maremia

'Love thy neighbour as thyself' is a Christian concept/command.

Sure but look at how many self proclaimed Christians fail at that simple command?

'Love thy neighbour as thyself' is a Christian concept/command.

I am in agreement with Wyllow, Esmay, M0nica etc al. What we need to do is work together to outlaw the extreme members of each of our faith groups who prefer to promote hatred and discord.

I fully agree with keepingquiet,MOnica and Wyllow3.
We are all worshipping the same God ,but in different ways .

Yes. I am a member of local interfaith groups. we find much commonality.

keepingquiet

I agree that these people are disingenuous in claiming to promote Christianity. They are without doubt purely anti-Islamic.

A lot of people don't know that Islam, Judaism and Christianity are all Abrahamic faiths and so cannot be opposed to each other in this way, rather they should work together to establish common ground they all share, instead of promoting division and intolerence.

Hear, hear.

I agree that these people are disingenuous in claiming to promote Christianity. They are without doubt purely anti-Islamic.

A lot of people don't know that Islam, Judaism and Christianity are all Abrahamic faiths and so cannot be opposed to each other in this way, rather they should work together to establish common ground they all share, instead of promoting division and intolerence.

It’s all part of the relentless anti-Islam agenda.

There are over 40,000 Christian church buildings in the UK. There are fewer than 3000 mosques and dedicated Muslim prayer spaces which includes, say, the small room set aside for Muslim prayer at our local hospital.

Reform's Yusuf said he had received regular emails from “anxious residents” across the UK about plans to convert churches into mosques that are going through planning permission.

I’d like to see evidence of those emails that are not a version of the fake “granny letters” used by Reform in the by-election in Caerphilly and now in Gorton & Denton .

Yusuf, said he would like to see more people attend church but accepted it would be beyond the remit of a Home Secretary.

As an unelected person who bought his position and shows no sign of standing for Parliament, quite how he would do the role is unclear although it isn’t unprecedented. We know Sunak brought Cameron back as Foreign Secretary in the dying months of the Tory government but the logistics are difficult. Yusuf would not be able to speak in the HoC so how would he present policy and answer questions from the Shadow Home Secretary and other MPs? It shows the dearth of talent in the Reform pool that this man is used as a regular media spokesperson.

According to the 2021 census only 46% of people in the England and Wales now identify as Christian, some 27 million. Fewer than 4 million identified as Muslim.

Proportionately that means a lot of near empty Christian church buildings.

I live close to a huge cathedral and while I have no faith, I do enjoy sacred choral music. I often go to Sunday evensong just to hear the music. The attendance is always poor. Obviously, there are regular services but the building is far more popular for secular events. The Cathedral Roll numbers fewer than 600 people from a population of around 200,000.

I can't see that pushing a fervidly pro-Christianity agenda is going to win Rupert Lowe any votes to be honest, and it may well lose him some.
It was always said that Reform (& now Restore) have no stated policies besides getting rid of immigrants, & if this is an example of what they come up with when they're grabbing for some, they're probably better leaving them unsaid. How exactly will this help our economy, our efforts to keep children safe, the environment, the many problems in social care, education and health, or even our national pride?

M0nica

keepingquiet

Robin202

Has anyone looked at Rupert Lowe and his newly formed Restore Britain party? They are rapidly gaining thousands of supporters and Farage & Co are rightly becoming jittery, resorting to retaliatory tactics.

Oh dear- they have a high social media presence but are not gaining thousands of supporters.

Restore Britain? To what? An empire? Men working in steel works, docks and in coal mines earning enough money so their women can stay at home?

No people of colour opening take-aways on the High Street?

What a load of rubbish. Might as well appoint Dr Who as PM and take us all back in time in the Tardis...

I struggled through Rupert Lowes 'manifesto' and was fascinated by his obsession with bringing back Christianity and making us again a Christian country.

Christianity is a religious belief . How do you turn a population, the majority of whom do not claim to have any religious affiliation at all, back to believing in one specific religion because their ancestors ascribed to it in the past?

I too was bemused by this restoring the past. Over the last 40 years we have gone through a technical revolution as mould breaking as the industrial revolution that turned us froman agricultural to industrial country. The information revolution and the technology that comes with it has transformes society. We cannot go back to what we were without going back to the age of pen and paper, newspapers as the main news media, and medical, educational and business practices that would cut us off from communicating with the rest of the world.

I think the man is bonkers to be honest, and I am a Christian!

I was very surprised to see a friend commenting in a positive way on one of his posts-(for a while I was getting regular posts from him on Facebook till I got sick of seeing them and blocked him). I just think some people are very naive when it comes to cultural appropriation.

It's all nonsense.

Galaxy

They are clearly saying that they won't abide by the supreme court ruling relating to the Equality Act, and Reform of all people said they would.
It is not reform policy to ban abortion. I don't like the way this is used to frighten women, i have seen that tactic before.

Professor James Orr was appointed Senior Advisor to Farage in October 2025, these are his views on abortion.

“Ideological Position: Professor Orr, who has been described as a "British sherpa" for U.S. Vice President JD Vance, opposes abortion even in cases of rape, incest, or serious risk to health. He has publicly criticized British abortion laws, describing them as "extreme" and comparing them to those in North Korea and China.
Reform UK's Stance: While Reform UK has officially stated it has no intention of changing current abortion laws, the party has been described as becoming a "safe haven" for anti-abortion views. Nigel Farage himself has recently called the current 24-week limit "utterly ludicrous" and suggested that it is "out of date," advocating for a debate on lowering it.”

You are correct in saying it is not Reform’s policy to ban abortion but Reform’s policies change on a regular basis, last May Farage was advocating lifting the two child benefit cap and now he wants to put it in place again. Then we have Matt Godwin’s views on women:

www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/feb/13/reform-matt-goodwin-fertility-comments-outcry-handmaids-tale

There are many more red flags on Reform Supporters’ attitudes to women and there are several instances of Farage talking down to women interviewers, he called Emma Barnett “a low grade presenter” for example. Far from trying to frighten anybody, I am genuinely concerned for my two granddaughters.

keepingquiet

Robin202

Has anyone looked at Rupert Lowe and his newly formed Restore Britain party? They are rapidly gaining thousands of supporters and Farage & Co are rightly becoming jittery, resorting to retaliatory tactics.

Oh dear- they have a high social media presence but are not gaining thousands of supporters.

Restore Britain? To what? An empire? Men working in steel works, docks and in coal mines earning enough money so their women can stay at home?

No people of colour opening take-aways on the High Street?

What a load of rubbish. Might as well appoint Dr Who as PM and take us all back in time in the Tardis...

I struggled through Rupert Lowes 'manifesto' and was fascinated by his obsession with bringing back Christianity and making us again a Christian country.

Christianity is a religious belief . How do you turn a population, the majority of whom do not claim to have any religious affiliation at all, back to believing in one specific religion because their ancestors ascribed to it in the past?

I too was bemused by this restoring the past. Over the last 40 years we have gone through a technical revolution as mould breaking as the industrial revolution that turned us froman agricultural to industrial country. The information revolution and the technology that comes with it has transformes society. We cannot go back to what we were without going back to the age of pen and paper, newspapers as the main news media, and medical, educational and business practices that would cut us off from communicating with the rest of the world.

Puberty blockers were stopped because of the utterly brave men and women who raised the alarm. The whistleblowers at the tavistock, the feminist campaigners, the women of MN etc.
In the future we will look back at what we did to children with utter horror. The government were pressing ahead with a trial of Puberty blockers, but yesterday it was paused over safety concerns, the same safety concerns that we have been talking about for years.

Puberty blockers for children UK : parental consent is a necessity, this year 2026 the NHS has stopped routinely prescribing puberty suppressing hormones for children- Labour Party in Government. give consent Absurd to suggest the "left"/Labour government is dismantling parents' freedom to protect their children.

The police determine and lead investigations into grooming gangs- not individual UK citizens. It's absurd to suggest the left/Labour Party has "dismantled freedoms" of the police to carry out such investigations.....

Undines 21/2/26 11.50: "While so many people are flapping about concerning so-called 'far right' movements, the far left are quietly dismantling many of the freedoms we took for granted, including our right to be called women and mothers, our right to free speech (just be careful what you post on social media or you might get a visit from the police at 11.30pm) our right to have due investigation into horrendous criminal gangs (I refer to 'grooming gangs') our right to protect our children and not have them offered puberty-blockers, our right to spend our taxes on our own nationals, not on hotels for 'asylum seekers' - I could go on and on. I'm not bothered about what some crackpot says (and of course let's involve Farage!) - I'm bothered about what is ACTUALLY going on, underneath our noses, and we ignore it because we call it something else".

Nobody is ignoring anyhting- you have no foundation for that assertion. Much if not most of of what you is simply not true. or absurd.
1) Who or what is the far left that has "taken away the freedom to be called women and mothers or legal right to freedom of speech as set out in law?"- No one that I am aware of.
2) Uk citizens current legal right to "Freedom of speech" is a qualified right legally protected under article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights ( ECHR). It is the right wing Reform UK and Conservative parties that are seeking to do away with ECHR- not the Labour Party.
3) British citizens thus have a legal right to express opinions as long as balanced against public safety, national security and preventing disorder and crime. There are laws against expressing views that constitute harassment, hate speech and national security, for obvious reasons- covered by Acts relevant to those issues.
3) Individuals do not have the right to dictate how a government spends taxes- that is an absurd comment. It is the democratically elected government of the day that decides how taxes are spent. Conservatives were the first government to spend large sums on housing asylum seekers in hotels.

What concerns, if any, do you have about Reform proposing to repeal the Equality Act day one in government?

Graphite: 21/2/26 10.59 " None at all. Whatever the increasingly unhinged Braverman says, no one minister can repeal primary legislation.

Repealing primary legislation in the UK requires passing a new Act of Parliament through the full legislative process (First/Second Reading, Committee, Report, Third Reading) in both the Commons and Lords, followed by Royal Assent.

So even if Reform had a substantial HoC majority, they would could still have to stuff the HoL with hundreds of peers - and get them past HoLAC in the first place."

However it won't be one sole minister seeking to repeal the Equality Act ( although Barverman as Equality spokesperson may lead the process) - it would be the party, Reform UK actually seeking the appeal if and when elected into government. Nigel Frage has said the changes (ie repealing the E Act) would involve "getting rid of the pernicious, divisive notion of protected characteristics"

The characteristics that protect people from discrimination currently, as set out in the E Act are age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage/civil partnership, pregnancy/maternity, race, religion/belief. sex and sexual orientation.

If and when Reform are elected- this is what the party proposes will necessarily have to go through the usual Appeal process. Reform's plan to do so clearly signposts its ideology and values and what they are likely to change to reduce the rights of people with those protected characteristics, notwithstanding the appeal process.

Look around the world. It's far from fiction.

Robin202

Has anyone looked at Rupert Lowe and his newly formed Restore Britain party? They are rapidly gaining thousands of supporters and Farage & Co are rightly becoming jittery, resorting to retaliatory tactics.

Oh dear- they have a high social media presence but are not gaining thousands of supporters.

Restore Britain? To what? An empire? Men working in steel works, docks and in coal mines earning enough money so their women can stay at home?

No people of colour opening take-aways on the High Street?

What a load of rubbish. Might as well appoint Dr Who as PM and take us all back in time in the Tardis...

AGAA4

Reform are bringing those ideas here to the UK.
Some of their policies are biased against women and want women back in the kitchen.
They want to tear up the equalities act and give preference to white males in employment.
I do find it worrying that those extreme ideas from the US are finding their way here.

I don't doubt that such social opinions exist in USA, nor that Farage will jump on any passing bandwagon to attract voters.

However, it's just not true that this is new in the UK; I've encountered it off and on, my entire adult life , among native Brit women in Wales England and Scotland (and their menfolk, of course).

The one thing held in common, was membership of (assorted) religious cult breakaways from Christianity. In which "scriptures" are interpreted by men to assert their superiority/authority over the women and offspring they control.

Andrew Tate ( who claims to be " a force for good" and "acting under the instruction of God to do good things")
is a modern version of a chauvinist misogyny that has never gone away. He's just more overt than many of the outwardly "respectable" older men hiding in full sight, who share his views and practise them at home.

MaizieD

M0nica

If we were to have 'family' salaries and wages for family, I would expect husband and wife to be on an equal footing when deciding who goes to work and who stays at home!

Ha! Wages for Housework!

Does anyone remember that call in the 1970s?

Or, (though none of us were really aware at the time) the use of Kinder, Küche, Kirche in 1930s Germany?

Wasn’t ’Kinder, Kirche, Kuche’, still a Thing even a couple of decades later in Switzerland?

undines, many people post on social media without visitors from the constabulary.
I feel that it is important that we look critically at what is listed online, and prosecute those who use it to threaten others.
Posting images of a partner, or former partner, in states of undress, or in a sexually explicit state is an offense.
Posting that you will be calling at someone's house with a machete because they have displeased you is an offense.
Posting that Person X, with whom you are in dispute, is a paedophile, is an offense.
Would you prefer these to go on unchecked? All of them could, of course be labelled free speech, but I do not think that they should be free of repurcussions.
And, laws regarding the prosecution of such was passed by a majority some time ago - nothing to do with the " far left".

While so many people are flapping about concerning so-called 'far right' movements, the far left are quietly dismantling many of the freedoms we took for granted, including our right to be called women and mothers, our right to free speech (just be careful what you post on social media or you might get a visit from the police at 11.30pm) our right to have due investigation into horrendous criminal gangs (I refer to 'grooming gangs') our right to protect our children and not have them offered puberty-blockers, our right to spend our taxes on our own nationals, not on hotels for 'asylum seekers' - I could go on and on. I'm not bothered about what some crackpot says (and of course let's involve Farage!) - I'm bothered about what is ACTUALLY going on, underneath our noses, and we ignore it because we call it something else.

What concerns, if any, do you have about Reform proposing to repeal the Equality Act day one in government?

None at all.

Whatever the increasingly unhinged Braverman says, no one minister can repeal primary legislation.

Repealing primary legislation in the UK requires passing a new Act of Parliament through the full legislative process (First/Second Reading, Committee, Report, Third Reading) in both the Commons and Lords, followed by Royal Assent.

So even if Reform had a substantial HoC majority, they would could still have to stuff the HoL with hundreds of peers - and get them past HoLAC in the first place.

For someone who swore her oath of office on a sacred Buddhist scripture, Braverman has a lot of hatred in her.

www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/feb/15/new-attorney-general-suella-braverman-in-controversial-buddhist-sect

The protected category is sex, so the rights that apply to women ( other than obvious ones such as pregnancy discrimination) also apply to men. I know a man who used its protections in discussions around employment. They made the ridiculous error of saying they would favour a female applicant ( not in a category of work that would be exempt say the provision of personal care), they obviously reverse ferreted as soon as they were challenged.