Seconded. But the money isn't there. Trouble with the SDP is that they stand foursquare against both sides of our rotten establishment, and as such, no one with any money or influence has any interest in giving them the leg up they need.
All that can be done is to hang on in there and hope that someone in Reform is reading the SDP green papers for bedtime reading.
Excellent comments. It looks like the UK is going to limp on, without much progress, having to put up with sectarian politics and dysfunction. Australia where I live is not much better. In fact, policies in the UK look remarkably similar to those in Canada, New Zealand and Australia.
Excellent post and for my money we need Reform UK, albeit I'm NO fan of the charlatan Farage, to beat Burnham as it will pretty much guarantee Labour implodes and hopefully with the Greens be consigned to the dustbin of history.
Yes. Reform aren’t perfect by any means but they are the only vehicle to stop Burnham and crush the life out of Labour. Such a shame Lowe can’t see past revenge on Farage. Can someone tell him there’s plenty of time for that but NOT at Makerfield.
I'm not voting for Reform. I can't stand them, I despise most of their top team, their online followers are abusive scum and I think in government they'll be as bad as Labour in terms of national destruction. If they're the only game in town then I'll look for another game.
A few idea. Raise the VAT threshold. People think billing customers £85K is a lot, but by the time all expenses taxes and contractors are paid, the self-employed are lucky if they are taking home £2K a month. How is a day rate builder supposed to employee an apprentice from that?
Energy. Other than migration, it's the biggest problem. Give data centres licenses for gas turbines. Reopen the North Sea and change taxes to 35-40% cap gains. Regulatory Red Team nuclear.
Require direct standing to object to requests for planning permissions. This is a legal term. Standing means you have a plausible claim that planning permission granted would directly affect you.
On energy the Tories really have undergone a sea change and they've developed an in-depth strategy for change. Reform would need to steal their talent immediately. Kathryn Porter would be the obvious pick. We should ask Doomberg to remote work for us:)
Hire lawyers. Lots of lawyers. Now. Blair did a number on this country. He entangled his Fabian elite managerialism into every layer of the UKs legislation.
It appears the next general election is going to occur yesterday judging by Peters thoughts.
With Labour in disarray and unlikely to get anywhere near government next time around, I only see an election happening at the last possible moment.
That gives parties other than Reform time to organise and draw up solutions to Britains woes.
It also provides time to observe Reform in the glare of the spotlight for a considerable amount of time.
If they survive the coming examination they will do very well. If they don’t Restore and other political anti globalist parties will shove them out of the way.
Voters don’t accept political shenanigans anymore so whichever party is honest will succeed.
> Voters know what Farage is (a sleazy chancer) but they don’t care. They are not voting for Farage. They are voting to clear out the stables.
I'm not going to vote for Farage, even though i largely agree with him on immigration, because I think he's a deliberate conscious traitor who would happily sell us out to Putin and Trump. https://pontifex.substack.com/p/is-nigel-farage-a-traitor
First in to comment, good writing as ever. Incisive and insightful.
I think the elephant in the room is the Reform civil war that will come either just before the next election or is inevitable if they get into office. If their candidates are the barrel scrape they would appear to be and their vetting a quick phone call to confirm 'not racist are you?' then it's gonna be popcorn time when they get in.
Actually if Starmer wants to extend Labour's life support (and piss Burnham, Streeting et al right off) he should spite them by calling an immediate election and lose it. Let the Reform disaster happen and let them take the blame for Britain's IMF bailout in four or five years.
If he tries to stay the course I've got a funny feeling we'll end up with the monumental shock of a Conservative government in 2029. Possibly in a coalition with Restore Britain but we'll see. I'm also gonna get a cheeky tenner on the Greens winning Makerfield, so maybe there's something in the water up here.
I think of the outlier parties, Restore may cause the upset. They haven't the resources for a national campaign, but like in Great Yarmouth locals, they may just go head to head against Reform. I don't know if they'll win, but I see Lowe's straight talking just at the time the uniparty are nailing Farage for his £5m "tip" could appeal. A lot depends on who the Reform candidate is.
In this election, perhaps not. But longer term, I think Restore are the ones to watch. Reform’s leadership are clearly compromised, not just Farage. Reform’s rank and file are much more like Restore. I think many will jump ship.
I’m not sure simply calling a GE is in the gift of Starmer. The King orders the dissolution of parliament and he could rightly say, we are less than 2-years into a parliament, you have a 165 seat majority and I’m sure that if you can’t corral a majority with that number of MPs then someone else in your party can. I’ll speak with them. I don’t think he would take kindly in a PM trying to force a GE for no good reason especially if the plan is to lose it.
I agree about the SDP. I very much like the cut of Clouston’s jib. And as he himself says his party is basically where the British public is.
Left on the economy (too left for my tastes but he’d still get my vote), and quite right on culture and immigration.
They deserve to be doing better.
Seconded. But the money isn't there. Trouble with the SDP is that they stand foursquare against both sides of our rotten establishment, and as such, no one with any money or influence has any interest in giving them the leg up they need.
All that can be done is to hang on in there and hope that someone in Reform is reading the SDP green papers for bedtime reading.
I like much of SDPs offering but unless he has a radical answer to mass migration, I can’t see their popularity rising.
Kemi endorsing attack on Free Speech was the last straw
Excellent comments. It looks like the UK is going to limp on, without much progress, having to put up with sectarian politics and dysfunction. Australia where I live is not much better. In fact, policies in the UK look remarkably similar to those in Canada, New Zealand and Australia.
Excellent post and for my money we need Reform UK, albeit I'm NO fan of the charlatan Farage, to beat Burnham as it will pretty much guarantee Labour implodes and hopefully with the Greens be consigned to the dustbin of history.
Yes. Reform aren’t perfect by any means but they are the only vehicle to stop Burnham and crush the life out of Labour. Such a shame Lowe can’t see past revenge on Farage. Can someone tell him there’s plenty of time for that but NOT at Makerfield.
I'm not voting for Reform. I can't stand them, I despise most of their top team, their online followers are abusive scum and I think in government they'll be as bad as Labour in terms of national destruction. If they're the only game in town then I'll look for another game.
A few idea. Raise the VAT threshold. People think billing customers £85K is a lot, but by the time all expenses taxes and contractors are paid, the self-employed are lucky if they are taking home £2K a month. How is a day rate builder supposed to employee an apprentice from that?
Energy. Other than migration, it's the biggest problem. Give data centres licenses for gas turbines. Reopen the North Sea and change taxes to 35-40% cap gains. Regulatory Red Team nuclear.
Require direct standing to object to requests for planning permissions. This is a legal term. Standing means you have a plausible claim that planning permission granted would directly affect you.
On energy the Tories really have undergone a sea change and they've developed an in-depth strategy for change. Reform would need to steal their talent immediately. Kathryn Porter would be the obvious pick. We should ask Doomberg to remote work for us:)
Hire lawyers. Lots of lawyers. Now. Blair did a number on this country. He entangled his Fabian elite managerialism into every layer of the UKs legislation.
It appears the next general election is going to occur yesterday judging by Peters thoughts.
With Labour in disarray and unlikely to get anywhere near government next time around, I only see an election happening at the last possible moment.
That gives parties other than Reform time to organise and draw up solutions to Britains woes.
It also provides time to observe Reform in the glare of the spotlight for a considerable amount of time.
If they survive the coming examination they will do very well. If they don’t Restore and other political anti globalist parties will shove them out of the way.
Voters don’t accept political shenanigans anymore so whichever party is honest will succeed.
How honest is Reform?
> Voters know what Farage is (a sleazy chancer) but they don’t care. They are not voting for Farage. They are voting to clear out the stables.
I'm not going to vote for Farage, even though i largely agree with him on immigration, because I think he's a deliberate conscious traitor who would happily sell us out to Putin and Trump. https://pontifex.substack.com/p/is-nigel-farage-a-traitor
Andrew Bridgen thinks he’s received a message, obey the globalist agenda or get knocked off.
He’s had 2 accidents, one a car crash, the other a plane crash. He’s fortunate to be alive and he knows it.
It's not obvious to me what your comment has to do with mine.
It’s not Farage anyone is voting for, it’s his handlers and they direct him under the globalist agenda.
First in to comment, good writing as ever. Incisive and insightful.
I think the elephant in the room is the Reform civil war that will come either just before the next election or is inevitable if they get into office. If their candidates are the barrel scrape they would appear to be and their vetting a quick phone call to confirm 'not racist are you?' then it's gonna be popcorn time when they get in.
Actually if Starmer wants to extend Labour's life support (and piss Burnham, Streeting et al right off) he should spite them by calling an immediate election and lose it. Let the Reform disaster happen and let them take the blame for Britain's IMF bailout in four or five years.
If he tries to stay the course I've got a funny feeling we'll end up with the monumental shock of a Conservative government in 2029. Possibly in a coalition with Restore Britain but we'll see. I'm also gonna get a cheeky tenner on the Greens winning Makerfield, so maybe there's something in the water up here.
I think of the outlier parties, Restore may cause the upset. They haven't the resources for a national campaign, but like in Great Yarmouth locals, they may just go head to head against Reform. I don't know if they'll win, but I see Lowe's straight talking just at the time the uniparty are nailing Farage for his £5m "tip" could appeal. A lot depends on who the Reform candidate is.
In this election, perhaps not. But longer term, I think Restore are the ones to watch. Reform’s leadership are clearly compromised, not just Farage. Reform’s rank and file are much more like Restore. I think many will jump ship.
I’m not sure simply calling a GE is in the gift of Starmer. The King orders the dissolution of parliament and he could rightly say, we are less than 2-years into a parliament, you have a 165 seat majority and I’m sure that if you can’t corral a majority with that number of MPs then someone else in your party can. I’ll speak with them. I don’t think he would take kindly in a PM trying to force a GE for no good reason especially if the plan is to lose it.
The Greens definitely won't win Makerfield. Save your money.