Far-right journalism will promote far-right politics. Reform are fascists, no different to Trump and MAGA. Heck, Elon has already been promoting MEGA. They want a world owned by oligarchs and the rest as slaves.
It's not Labour that will sink Farage, it's Trump/Musk. By the next GE the USA disaster will be apparent to all, and the buyer's-regret Brexiters will have no stomach for it. That, anyway, is my hope. Who really knows how low these masochists are prepared to go?
I am not sure, these lot have perfected the art of distraction and pointing blame at others. Labour must deliver on areas that people voted for - cleaner environment, better public services, less corruption political reforms, taxing the wealthy.
The reason is that fascists lie and no one holds them to account. Brexit was a lie that the Fourth Estate failed to denounce. We need the British Fourth Estate to keep reform from lying without accountability.
They're not nervous. We saw Starmer practically high-five Farage a few weeks back. The people behind the curtain want whichever wing of The Party can achieve its aims. Starmer's Labour is openly fascist, maintaining terrorist police actions, and its policies will bring death in the UK and elsewhere.
When you have Tory Newspapers spewing Ultranationalistic right wing propagandist nonsense. No wonder some people are going to reform. Do these ppl understand the Reform will stop your pension, stop you from protesting. Make you work longer for less pay. Reform work for themselves.
By seats but not votes... That also assumes it was the manifesto, and not the implausiblity of the then leader as acredible PM, and the ongoing Brexit farce that were the decisive factors in the result.
The tories are that desperate they will end up being the party championing rejoin, and it’ll be the charlatan himself Johnson who only used Brexit as his vehicle to be PM the first time to lead it.
I am worried too because time and again people had the tendency of sleepwalking into something that is out of their capacity to comprehend. They. therefore, often voted on a single issue rather than taking a more holistic view of all the issues that can affect the country, their neighbours..
.. and colleagues. A good example was the NHS workers who voted for Brexit without thinking what will happen to the EU doctors and nurses working alongside them at the time. I am sure most of them probably didn't realise they had effectively saying to them you are not welcome, so they left.
Surely this 'surge' is typical for any new incumbents especially after what the media has hyped as harsh policy decisions ie. Winter fuel allowance, Waspi women etc. Think maybe after 2+ years then it'd be time to start worrying
WFA was a bad move I agree. Labour had to settle the doctors strikes, teachers etc . If Tories had got back in strikes would have continued & there still wouldn’t be any money . Reform would still be gaining support blaming immigration & dictating to the Tories on the US.
If the Brits increase support for Reform, after the absolute clusterf*ck of Bo Jo’s corrupt gov and years of Tory destruction (not to mention the horrid legacy of Thatcherism), then they’d be just as bad, if not worse, than the Trumpanzees on Planet MAGA
In order to combat reform, we need some policies that offer an alternative, rejoin the EU, abolish the House of Lords, wealth tax for the seriously wealthy, incentives for entrepreneurs, nationalise utilities……..etc
Reform have nothing but I’m afraid neither do Labour.
I agree, the Heathrow plans are horrendous. I voted remain so would definitely be in favour of rejoining but I suspect I may not live long enough to see it happen
It's absolute madness when Alan Sugar and Jeremy Clarkson are arguing for rejoin but the govt refuse to even say anything that might be perceived as criticising brexit, even though it's obviously been terrible.
Sorry l don’t believe it. The more papers are saying this the more it will become true. It’s as if they are trying to manipulate this country. I wouldn’t even mention that fascist party or indeed that horrible man in charge. These YouGov surveys. Were they done in Norfolk Essex?
I guess Labour's better strategy for winning in 2029 would be to integrate closely with EU now and pit those approve it (60-70%) against those who will once again promise to take us back (40-30%). This strategy should help bring more of those progressive/rejoin voters back to Labour in 2029.
Don't alienate any more progressives on your left...there is no chance of clawing back support from far right. Labour's main issues will come from left/progressives staying home and not voting.
Labour are haemorrhaging more support from their left to the Greens/LD/Plaid/SNP than they are to Reform.
They'll end up in the same place as the Tories, bleeding support from their core & moderate base whilst chasing a fringe right wing vote for diminishing returns.
Most people don't read manifestos, read newspapers, or even follow current affairs. Their lives are crap and Farage just simply says it's the fault of others, vote for me and I'll stop them. Beat him at his own game. Tell them their lives are crap because of Brexit and let them decide who to blame.
Correct. Labour are insanely timid on brexit and that is grist to Fromage's mill. Starmer says he wants to make brexit work. That's impossible. Brexit will never work, it's a catastrophe and everyone knows it. Labour should pledge to reverse it. Fromage and his nazis can sod off.
The difficult bit is Brexit isn't salient enough yet. A £20 visa bill and a horrible form to fill in just for a fortnight in Marbella might be enough to tip people over the edge. A raft of "Thanks Nigel" memes and social media posts would lock in the anger.
Starmer should push towards a softer Brexit deal, similar to that of Norway or Switzerland.
Farage would be furious, but when the people notice they’re better off than they were, it will be a sucker punch to Reform Ltd
Labour need to determinedly reject the racist shit of the right and never move into their ground. We need to unite people, and that means working to help people who are joining the right to see that they are being conned.
Here's an absolutely crazy suggestion, bear with me... How about you just GOVERN THE BLOODY COUNTRY AS WELL AS YOU CAN FOR THE NEXT FOUR YEARS?!
You, know actually do good things that will actually help people.
To counter Reform, it’s vital to keep shining a light on them - yes on the racism and xenophobia, but also on who is bankrolling them, what’s in their registers of interest, what their actual policies are.
The very best way, however, is for Labour to get on with actually delivering the basics!
And how about stepping in to legislate donations to political parties? I believe it was Starmer who shot that down just last week. If/when Elon Musk pulls the strings of Reform and they take power, Starmer will be to blame for not removing money from our politics.
Farage/Reform are a threat in many ways - to the NHS, to parliamentary/public standards, to human rights. You don’t tackle a threat like that by being afraid of it though, and you absolutely don’t tackle it by trying to emulate it.
The scary thing is it didn’t work in the US, no amount of shining light on Trump,Vance and the tech bros problematic views, and project 2025 agenda had an impact in the end, it just desensitised voters.
That’s where the getting on with delivering the basics comes in.
Some will always buy the snake oil, and the will love the racism, no matter what, but many others are swayable if some of the little things are done, and done well.
I thought Biden had done reasonably well for the working people but if a loud enough voice and their social media mouthpiece bang on about how bad things are, then many swayable still buy it.
Yes, I agree. Many, I’m sure, recognise what a chancing PoS Farage is but they’ve adopted him and they don’t care. Didn’t Trump once boast he could walk down Broadway, shoot somebody, and nothing would happen to him (something like that anyway)? His re-election proved him more or less right.
Starmer needs to be braver. Sitting on the fence won’t cut it. So, join the PEM, strike youth EU visa deal, effectively highlight Labour’s positives. Stand up for international law, attack Farage as the author of a disastrous Brexit, compare him with Trump, tighten donor rules, block X in UK.
Part of me says, just let the hard of thinking Sun/Mail reading idiots vote these gas lighting clowns into power, and then sit back and watch the complete mess that unfolds. The public deserve what they get, it's just a shame the rest of us have to suffer as well because of their inability to think.
All those facebook and twitter bots and algorithms serve one goal: foster resentment and discontent in the general population. Whether it's earned or not. Deal with that, and see how well Reform does then.
"It needs a plan". What plan is that? The same one that Reform doesn't have? It's impossible to strategise against an opposition that has no real strategy of it's own other than "Get the immigrants out".
There's a real nervousness in CIF I notice when anyone makes the comparison between Farage's various parties & the likes of the NF or Britain First & the role of the press & media in making Farage's lot being more popular than the older right wing parties managed to be
I'm wary of the supposed 'surge', much of it being in the imaginations of the newspapers desperate for clicks & engagement. Even the Guardian/Observer is selling its soul by promoting Farage & undermining the Labour government to a ridiculous degree.
I really, really hope that Starmer and the people around him realise that they cannot be timid. They have to produce results for ordinary people, and fast.
Yes, but we're in some very deep shit at the moment. The debt to GDP ratio hasn't been this high since the 1960s, debt repayment rates are spiking, there's multiple crises in public services.. 2028 is not that far away.
Labour have to move fast, they've got a huge majority and they need to use it.
Maybe Labour could stop being the Tory-lite Party and take some inspiration from it's socialist roots rather than trying to recapture the vibe of the last couple years of the Blair government.
Completely agree. The big mistake of left and centre right worldwide is running after fra-right agenda trying to do similar things.
1- it makes people believe that those agendas are legitimate
2- if people want those things they’ll vote the original not an half baked copy
Starmer won big because of the weird FPTP system. Also they were living off the failures and shambles of the opposition. Many who voted them did because they could not find themselves to vote Tory anymore and Reform was fairly new. keep running after them and you’ll put them on the steering wheel
Maybe if you printed more of what farrage has to say instead of forcing feeding us the click bait we'd realise he doesn't say all that much. If you aplify racist sound bites, people think you think he's a problem, and if people don't like you, they will follow him.
The collapse of the tory party has created a vacuum that the guardian seems to be trying to fill with wall-to-wall coverage of the frog-faced moron herder, I presume for clickbaity reasons. Would that you gave equal time to the leader of the Green Party, who enjoyed similar election day success.
None of their policies will ever be as popular as blaming all the woes on the Other...and that won't sell newspapers. It's like being told to sit up straight, eat your vegetables and get to bed at a sensible time; it's much easier to say "I'm overworked and society is to blame"
They've been monetising FUD with the Tory party for years; Ed Davey isn't giving them anything to work themselves into a lather over. However The Farrago is great for readership and therefore ad revenue, but even polemic puts him into the spotlight when he should be denied the oxygen of publicity.
It should make all decent human beings nervous. Fascist parties are never positive. Reform lies. Demonstrate their lies. Live up to being part of the Fourth Estate. Keep them out of power by keeping people informed of their manipulation.
Comments
Even if they dobsee the news they dismiss it as false.
It's sad but true.
labour need to reverse several of their policies if they want me to even consider voting for them.
as it stands im voting green. idgaf if that means reform win.
A couple of £hundred extra in your pocket still doesn’t mean that you can buy a house or afford to have kids
It’s all just various flavours of right wing
The response that Kid Starver will do: fascism.
Reform have nothing but I’m afraid neither do Labour.
They'll end up in the same place as the Tories, bleeding support from their core & moderate base whilst chasing a fringe right wing vote for diminishing returns.
Get rid of the ridiculous red lines & move the UK closer to the EU with CU & SM
Sort out the NHS & make it 100% Govt not allowing Corporations to profit even though it is free at point of entry
Stop the £££ donations to political parties
Sadly though, that seems to be what it tries to do...
Farage would be furious, but when the people notice they’re better off than they were, it will be a sucker punch to Reform Ltd
You, know actually do good things that will actually help people.
https://bylinetimes.com/2025/01/24/what-the-government-has-been-doing/
The very best way, however, is for Labour to get on with actually delivering the basics!
Farage/Reform are a threat in many ways - to the NHS, to parliamentary/public standards, to human rights. You don’t tackle a threat like that by being afraid of it though, and you absolutely don’t tackle it by trying to emulate it.
Some will always buy the snake oil, and the will love the racism, no matter what, but many others are swayable if some of the little things are done, and done well.
The UK can change course this easily:
1. Nationalize all property purchased with laundered money. That’s entire empty blocks in London.
2. Rent them out and put the money into healthcare.
Why is Labour worried
We need an Atlee not a Callahan
Are British people now so hateful that they will really vote for hate? If so, I think it's time to jump ship.
Second order of business: tackle social media.
All those facebook and twitter bots and algorithms serve one goal: foster resentment and discontent in the general population. Whether it's earned or not. Deal with that, and see how well Reform does then.
Labour have to move fast, they've got a huge majority and they need to use it.
1- it makes people believe that those agendas are legitimate
2- if people want those things they’ll vote the original not an half baked copy
No matter how bad the Tories were there has to be a credible alternative and he was.