That seems to be a rather simplistic view of "foreigners". Why do they make it poor and run down? Have you looked at Mayfair recently? Also the use of "close" tends to suggest you are looking at it from a Scottish viewpoint?
I read a comment once "why are you so scared of becoming a minority in your own country, do you think minorities are treated badly here?". And I think it rings true of the comment (the hypothetical opinion within it, not the poster) you're replying to. A group of people living in an area didn't make it rough, they lived there because it was rough (and they were poor and it was cheap) and therefore when they move somewhere else the prejudice that it'll make the new area rough as well follows them.
Unfortunately it often ends up with "not you, you're alright, it's the others" rather than people confronting their own prejudices. Which is I suspect the origin's of the Braverman, Badenoch and Yusuf's of the world.
This was a top target and if they don't win these sorts of seats their chances of being a serious GE contender have to be limited. They've won 1/5 by-elections since the GE, and while they might claim tactical voting boosted votes in target areas it is a legitimate tactic, saying that we don't want their politics and we'll do what it takes to defeat it.
On the one hand byelections are typically an opportunity to give the party in power a beating, and Labour are in power.
On the other hand, Andy Burnham isn't in power, and is equally an opportunity to give Keir Starmer a political bloody nose.
And would a Reform candidate have been given as much scrutiny in a GE? Look at the number of paper candidates (and even a dead one) that got elected in the local elections with zero campaigning and therefore zero scrutiny. I'd propose the worrying hypothesis that if you'd somehow done the vote immediately and not had a campaign, Reform would have done better.
I’ve been looking out for Nigel on the media condemning the marauding knife and axe attack by a white gut against Muslim targets in Edinburgh. Absolutely shocked that Nige has been silent on this…..
Or indeed of certain posters on here labelling anti-muslim hate as some new form of cultural expression of patriotism
Nigel doesn't do well in Edinburgh. He's probably blocked it from his world view.
im sure those rumours if farage being unwell are just wishcasting, but he definitely seems to have lost his touch a bit
now honest bob appears to be sticking the knife in
Yep, going for a leadership challenge or getting ready for it. I don't think he will have whatever Farage has that appeals to people though so good if he can get Farage out as will damage Reform.
Yep, going for a leadership challenge or getting ready for it. I don't think he will have whatever Farage has that appeals to people though so good if he can get Farage out as will damage Reform.
That was my hope, but I doubt the Personality Cult of Reform will go for it.
Yep, going for a leadership challenge or getting ready for it. I don't think he will have whatever Farage has that appeals to people though so good if he can get Farage out as will damage Reform.
I don't believe that Reform's structure allows a meaningful leadership challenge. Farage will be leader until he decides not to be.
I'd make them fight it out with hammers in a shipping container.
Maybe he will eff off to the other lot.
but he definitely seems to have lost his touch a bit
It's difficult to play your 'man of the people' schtick when you just got a 5 million quid bung, and that's just the one we know about. But then he never expected this to become public knowledge. Everything Farage has ever done has been set up to be as opaque as possible and controlled entirely by him. He's not used to this kind of scrutiny and he doesn't like it one bit. He doesn't think that anyone has the right to look into his (dodgy) financial affairs or hold him to account in any way, shape or form.
As someone (I think it was Victoria Derbyshire) commented to him in an interview, to most of the voters he's courting 5 million quid is a lottery win. Thats the only way they can conceive of that kind of figure. So its not going to go down well when he then gets all tetchy and says he could have earned far that and more if he'd have stayed in the City and anyway he doesn't have to justify it to anyone and he can spend it all on Ferrari's if he likes.
The mask has most definitely slipped since the whole 5 million quid 'gift' was exposed
I think there's a very serious possibility that Reform won't even exist by the next general election as Nige will have blown it up and had a massive flounce. Or it'll only exist as an irrelevant zombie party like UKIP
im sure those rumours if farage being unwell are just wishcasting, but he definitely seems to have lost his touch a bit
I dont think he has. If you look at previous interviews he gets asked a hard question and responds with "none of your business/biased media/whatever" and that was the end of that line of questioning.
The difference now is he gets asked a follow up and he just cant handle it.
now honest bob appears to be sticking the knife in
Well thats him out the door then. Will he join restore or will he form "Revival" or maybe "Reclaim"?
There was a quote attributed to a Tory veteran the other day -
"We are watching the slow puncture of the Reform balloon. They had a 10 point lead over Labour in the polls and won every seat in Makerfield at the locals but Reform have lost yet again. Farage is ducking press conferences to avoid answering questions about his 5m crypto bung. Zia Yusuf is too chicken to stand as a candidate. It's now surely only a matter of time before tired Nigel picks up his ball and goes home, leaving a bunch of hopeless nobodies to squabble over the remains of a turquoise travesty."
I really do hope he's right...
Will he join restore or will he form "Revival" or maybe "Reclaim"?
Revolt, Retch or Regurgitate?
True. But it also shows how big political actors outside parliament can more or less do whatever they want. He owned a political party while avoiding all scrutiny over his funding... which we still only know small details about. Who knows how much he pocketed?!? And then there's what happened during the Referendum...
It's difficult to play your 'man of the people' schtick
Given his tantrum when Coutts chucked him off the books, and he literally spent weeks on the telly demanding that they re-open his bank account at (checks notes) the same bank that the Queen used; didn't shift the dial one bit of his "man of the people" image, I doubt the £5M will either, sadly.
I doubt the £5M will either, sadly.
Kind of agree, people just want to punch the establishment in the face and farages outsider party is a good choice for that....... until another outsider party come along
Whats interesting is not that farage is a grifting scumbag , everyone knows this
Its that Murdoch is now after him
He’s buggered off to Merica for photo ops with Vance and missed the boat in clacton.
His Facebook has been pumping out crap in an attempt to keep the good ship Farage afloat.
I wouldn’t write him off yet but I do think it’s probably the biggest broadside he’s ever took and it looks like the canons are being prepped for further volleys.
Farage will be screwed too if he thinks he can perform miracles. If he tries to change things too quickly too soon, it will be a shock to the entire system and he will only become one term "cowboy PM". So far we have had many cowboy or cowgirl PMs. Another cowboy will really turn UK into a rodeo ride.
Are we heading in the direction of counting number of PM?
Theres plenty of weird funding of reform to go into.
Not just this weird one, but also his billionaire backer and his links to Russian/Iranian money laundering
Problem is most of the mainstream media is right wing, so getting this level of info into the public realm would prove difficult.
It'll be Jenrick etc that fire the last volley, once the rats turn on their king his time will be up.
It'll be Jenrick etc that fire the last volley, once the rats turn on their king his time will be up.
Jenrick was always in it for farages job, best case scenario is a messy civil war .
Unlikely farage will face a formal sanction and a potential recall petition & by-election, but if he did labour/restore would throw everything at it, br interesting to see what the voters of Clacton think of 5 houses nige, who once again is in the states sucking up to trump
Problem is most of the mainstream media is right wing, so getting this level of info into the public realm would prove difficult.
I think even they can now see the writing on the wall for the present iteration of Niges endless political merry go round.
This is the lead story in today’s Sunday Times
Revealed: Nigel Farage secretly funded by convicted criminal
When people live the Times turn on him it might actually be time up and things might actually stick.
I can't remember where I heard it but when the people of Clacton were asked most didn't know about the donations. I think they said they felt he had done nothing for Clacton but would still vote for Reform or maybe Restore.
I wonder if Nige is reflecting on the old adage ‘be careful what you wish for’? 8 attempts at becoming an MP and he doesn’t appear to be enjoying the increased scrutiny it brings, unearthing all the dodgy shit he’d previously kept hidden.
I suppose he’ll do his usual disappearing act (isn’t he in the States sucking up to Vance and Trump, anyway?) and leave his minions to go out and defend the indefensible for him.
Speaking of which… I read that the present polling in Honest Bobs constituency is showing that if there were an election tomorrow, he’d lose his seat to… the Tories
That could quite possibly be the funniest thing ever!! 😂
It'll be Jenrick etc that fire the last volley, once the rats turn on their king his time will be up.
Jenrick was always in it for farages job, best case scenario is a messy civil war .
Unlikely farage will face a formal sanction and a potential recall petition & by-election, but if he did labour/restore would throw everything at it, br interesting to see what the voters of Clacton think of 5 houses nige, who once again is in the states sucking up to trump
Dunno, It wouldn’t surprise me, it’s not his first offence 🙂
A watchdog has found that Reform UK leader Nigel Farage breached the MPs code of conduct 17 times by failing to register £384,000 in earnings.
report payments from Google and from GB News, where he presents a show, and for speaking engagements for US-based global consulting firm Imperial Independent Media.
It’s just such a crazy sum to just sit on and hide and the crypto lobbying.
The actual rules are:
https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201516/cmcode/1076/107604.htm
good thread here
https://bsky.app/profile/philbrickellmp.bsky.social/post/3mpvjazdrw22i
there are 3 more referrals to the standards committee been made against farage , mostly centred around this dodgy cotrell guy, who calls farage 'daddy'
The thing with him if as well he keeps saying it was before he was elected and wasn't working as a politician.
What have you been doing this last 10 plus years Nigel is not a politician?
The thing with him if as well he keeps saying it was before he was elected and wasn't working as a politician.
It is pretty hilarious that this is the defence. "Well yes I took this huge bribe but I wasn't wasn't working as a politician at the time, in fact the bribe arrived and then purely coincidentally I returned to politics 10 seconds later"
When people live the Times turn on him it might actually be time up and things might actually stick.
I wonder if the Murdochs of this world would prefer to have the Tories in who they have some leverage over, rather than a wildcard like Farage or Lowe, with their murkier financial backers pulling the strings.
This "switch" is in their interest, not ours.
When people live the Times turn on him it might actually be time up and things might actually stick.
I wonder if the Murdochs of this world would prefer to have the Tories in who they have some leverage over, rather than a wildcard like Farage or Lowe, with their murkier financial backers pulling the strings.
This "switch" is in their interest, not ours.
Completely agree. Murdoch isn’t having a go at farage out of some sense of civil duty or press morality, if that exists. This all about Murdoch not being able to buy and control farage like he can the Tories
I’m sure the editors of murdochs papers have plenty of dirt stashed away regarding Farage and his shenanigans over the years, wife’s, girlfriend’s, mistresses and the shit he got up to in Europe will be sitting on the editors desk, just waiting for the right moment to publish
And here’s Peter jukes of the byline times who have been talking about Farages money grift for a few years now
https://bsky.app/profile/peterjukes.bsky.social/post/3mpufdxutds2a
The thing with him if as well he keeps saying it was before he was elected and wasn't working as a politician.
What have you been doing this last 10 plus years Nigel is not a politician?
I always thought it was a weird thing as he’s been an MEP for 21 years and will be able collect his pension soon (that was part of the piles of money paid to settle up for Brexit)a piffling £73k year. Which would be more than enough for him to retire in Spain on an NLV without any issues at all (your state ones not enough anymore)
I suppose the argument is it didn’t count as not U.K. but he’s literally been doing the role of a politician and pretty much knows what it entails for years it’s only now that the inability to declare stuff happens.
I’m not sure I’ve ever known him being anything other than a politician, with his smiley face on the telly banging on about bad EU then bad immigrants and sort of vaguely owning a political party or perhaps he’s just a tv celebrity 🙂
One of the local Reform councillors is struggling on FB at the moment, every time he posts the bot supporting replies are being drowned by by coherently written and thought out take downs. Farage and Jenricks pages are going the same way, and the local raise the colours bellends.
Seems to be more confidence calling out their bollocks.
Farage has made a career out of portraying himself as an outsider and railing against the ‘Westminster Elite’. He’s got away with this blatant bollocks - he’s the living embodiment of ‘the Establishment after all - because he’s never been held up to any proper scrutiny.
With him becoming an MP, that’s now changed. The trouble for him is that he’s now being exposed as being exactly the same as the Tories - for sale to whoever’s paying - where most of their voters (and MPs) have migrated/defected from.
So his USP is now gone. I think the gig is up and he knows it. Who knows many more dodgy ‘friends’ giving bungs there are yet to be revealed? I reckon he’ll soon tire of the scrutiny and throw his toys out of the pram and resign as an (aledged) MP, leaving Reform to quietly implode in his absence, like UKIP did
Let’s hope the Labour Party aren’t stupid enough to give him an early election before the game is up.
I think the gig is up and he knows it.
I think you are being way too optimistic.
Look across the pond. There is an orange embodiment of an appalling human being in power who takes every awful trait and act of Farage's and squares it. Yet the people voted for him. Twice. The problem isn't Farage - it's the people that enable him to have power - the voting public. I have zero faith that the UK public have any more ability than the US public to see him for what he is and will instead 'forgive' or ignore his 'minor misdemeanours'.
And the worst part - he knows it. He can lie in a way that everyone knows it's a lie; he can shrug it off; he can say "so what?" and the festering ****nuckles will still vote for the turd.
Being arrested for criminality that barred him from office, death by natural causes or assassination are the only paths for him not having a better than 50/50 at the next GE whenever it comes. Or another pandemic that dropped the average voter age by about 10 years.
But there is always restore for an evening more authentic fascist experience.
The problem isn't Farage - it's the people that enable him to have power - the voting public. I have zero faith that the UK public have any more ability than the US public to see him for what he is and will instead 'forgive' or ignore his 'minor misdemeanours'.
I'm not quite so pessimistic. Our weird FPTP voting system may help or hinder, the way the US college system twists their votes.
Voter apathy may be a bigger risk - not enough voting against him, rather than too many voting for him. The result may be the same though.
What is needed is a party/coalition offering a vision of hope for ordinary working people and also pulling no punches on Farages/Reforms lies and rule breaking. The vision/alternative must come first though, or it just reinforces his persecution complex
