As I said before I never have to moderate in the place as well, lets be honest, its a place of peace and quiet away from the rest of the digital world as everyone is well alright. Not saying anyone was getting annoyed or anything but you know what I mean (and it’s not aimed at you Lovehandles as I agree with you, you just happen to be the post above and likewise to Ian)… Anyway be nice to keep it mellow here and especially in this thread as (bar the football one) it’s the one place it really upsets everyone as to what is happening. Lets be honest this thread is sad reading and thats just indicative of how frightening the world is right now. Anyway crap effort of (unneeded) moderation over. Imagine how bad I am at discussing relationship stuff.
I drove from Nottingham to Dorset a few weeks ago, the flags were out all the way there, and got more conspicuous the further south we went.
This is a very interesting article which scarily suggests how social media, TikTok in particular, are influencing people. This is a massive subject and I’m thinking that in the UK switching from a manufacturing to services economy has left a lot of blue collar workers with little to no sense of community and little reason to vote for labour. In consequence letting in the populists.
I wonder what happens to these people if the worst happens and Farage does become PM. He’s totally unsuited to the job and the people around are Thatcherites on crack.
I work in the public sector in London (traditionally the home of the “lefty liberal”), and it’s quite disturbing how many people in my office now believe that Reform should be given a chance. The common vibe is that the Tories and now Labour have completely failed in the last 15 years, so a radical, smash everything up, start again, approach is needed (even though this will probably mean that most of them/us will be out of work). And this is from people who I previously regarded as sensibles.
Farage in number 10 is starting to feel inevitable.
My mate is fervently against Reform but his argument is that Reform should form the next Government because they’ll fuck it up so badly that they’ll be out of power for decades afterwards.
I was like yeah, because Brexit has been wonderful and also, that approach is working brilliantly in the US. For a second time…
FFS 
As i said before I think we’ve reached the tipping point now with there being enough noise/coverege etc that those without any critical thinking believe Reform are a viable option coupled with the interference from Trump , Musk, Putin, or whoever who would relish having the most biddable British leader in history. And that’s really saying something.
I also see today that our ex Con MP Maria Caulfield has joined Reform.
I’ve met her and taken her to task on a number of occasions, mainly about the language used around immigration and I can tell you that she is a mendacious, groveller who will say absolutely anything to try and keep herself in a position of power. If she is a bell weather of which party is likely to succeed at the next election we should be worried
We have entered an age of nihilism. People just want to smash things up, both voters and politicians. An inevitable consequence of the fragmentation of traditional economies, societies and the alignment to left/right politics. None of it makes sense to people any more. We have been cut loose from our moorings and are adrift.
um guys, come on this is a USA ELECTION thread.
(i’m just kidding).
Always wondered when it would start happening. Saw a map/graph one time that highlighted economic inflows and outflows of regions, ie if you live in an outflow region you’ve only got so long. It painted winners and losers. Then you supercharge the separation of winners and losers with globalisation and growing wealth inequality, and any safety net that might exist gets eaten away through inflation until it ceases to provide dignity… the shame, anger and confusion people find themselves in is going to boil over somehow.
I’m less pessimistic. The election is nearly four years away. Unless something changes dramatically, Starmer won’t be leading Labour into it. It’s unlikely Badenoch will be Tory leader. Trump won’t be President either, his term having ended January 2029. Who knows what America will look like then. The SDP were on 51 per cent in the polls two years after the 1979 election, Labour having imploded in opposition, the Tory govt deeply unpopular. Two years later the Tories won a majority of 140. Nothing in politics is inevitable. Cameron was 30 points ahead at points between 2005 and 2010 and failed to win a majority. If I was a betting man I’d still predict a Labour govt with a small majority or a Lab Lib 5 year coalition govt. The “boats” issue will almost certainly have improved, so will public services, the economy possibly. Labour will spend a year asking people if they want Farage in charge of their mortgage interest rates (they’re committed to scrapping Bank of England independence) and a host of other crazy policies that would disintegrate when confronted with reality.
I reckon you’re right and I wouldn’t be surprised at some kind of “progressive pact” with the Lib Dems as the likely scenario.
Add in first past the post which makes it really difficult for insurgent non-trad parties to win an election in the UK, also Farage may be in the media a lot but he’s not as popular as that would have us believe. He’s not even massively popular on the far right. The demographics will continue to shift and the older anti foreigner, UKIP-types will die off. Likewise, I’m optimistic that once people experience Reform councils and the party policies there will be much less enthusiasm.
None of which excuses the timidity of this Labour government with a majority of 174. They could have done what ever they wanted.
I think Farage has peaked too early personally. The Tories will ditch Bad Enoch, elect a posh boy White Male as leader and claw some ground back and the staunch trad media will round on Reform.
Farage will probably jettison Reform and create another new party.
Fuck knows. Let’s hope so. 
This is a very reassuring post to read so I am going to run with this as the future outcome.
Farage is behind both KS and Badenoch on Best PM question with YouGov. Reform in danger of just looking like a depository for the weirdest and worst Tories and are essentially a one man band. If any big scandal or health issue affects Farage, it falls like a house of cards. Ifs but not impossible.
I wish I had your optimism 
I see very little lessons being learned unfortunately. The Status quo is dead, yet is still being offered up as a genuine alternative. Neoclassical economics and its worldview are thoroughly embedded in the political system, despite being demonstrably utter nonsense.
Any meaningful deviation from this by any political party, or politician, has become a thing of the past. Liz Truss is an empty husk of a human. Her mini budget was a very expensive go at a satire, of a shite caricature, of a long dead Prime Minister.
That whole episode was a chilling reminder of the impotence of democratically elected politicians.
I am not as depressing as my post suggests 
My philosophy in spite of all that is to get off the internet, especially Social Media, and concentrate on my immediate space, and people. The very idea of Community has been Intentionally undermined, never mind the actual bricks, mortar and lives.
Also, Reform have won control of a few local councils which - wild speculation here - might not go amazingly well.
The house in Frinton issue is not going away.
Clearly he gave his partner the money to dodge paying stamp duty.