Reform UK discussion

[deltic]

"Farage" and "credible" are not two words that go together. At least the Tories bother to turn up to Parliament.........

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 28 Aug 2025 ==

Turning up to Parliament does not win elections. Being seen as offering something different might.

 

[Bungle73]

Again, this part of it is largely irrelevant. Nobody bar the likes of Yaxley-Lennon (who can be ignored) would be complaining about her (rightful) arrest if the Police were still serving the general public, and they are not. ASB isn't dealt with. Petty theft isn't dealt with. Shoplifting isn't dealt with. Burglary isn't dealt with. As I said, the social contract is broken and it must - must! - be fixed.

I think you need to get real. Lucy Connolly admitted the crime as soon as she was arrested. She pled guilty in court. There was hardly any police work needed to get her into jail. And sending out the message that calling for people to be murdered on social media is ok is not something we should be doing.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I think you need to get real. Lucy Connolly admitted the crime as soon as she was arrested. She pled guilty in court. There was hardly any police work needed to get her into jail. And sending out the message that calling for people to be murdered on social media is ok is not something we should be doing.

Can you please quote exactly where in my message I said incitement to murder was OK? Because it absolutely is not, for avoidance of doubt.

Do you understand my point that the issue isn't this, but that the Police have near enough totally ceased serving the general public by dealing with crime they report properly, because they lack the funds to do so? You do not seem to be addressing this rather more important point.

 

[JamesT]

I think you need to get real. Lucy Connolly admitted the crime as soon as she was arrested. She pled guilty in court. There was hardly any police work needed to get her into jail. And sending out the message that calling for people to be murdered on social media is ok is not something we should be doing.

She was advised to do so by her solicitor as pleading not guilty would risk a harsher sentence if convicted. As we've seen, you can be filmed calling for throats to be slit and be acquitted, perhaps she should have tried taking it to court?

 

[deltic]

I think you need to get real. Lucy Connolly admitted the crime as soon as she was arrested. She pled guilty in court. There was hardly any police work needed to get her into jail. And sending out the message that calling for people to be murdered on social media is ok is not something we should be doing.

Its the sort of comment that is made in pubs up and down the country and no-one takes any notice of. The post was seen by relatively few people and its unlikely anyone took any notice of it either. A police caution would have been more than adequate. The public see open drug dealing in the street, shoplifting and mobile phones being snatched and no-one being held to account and then someone being sent to prison for something typed in the heat of the moment. Its no surprise people think there is two-tier justice and the likes of Farage and Reform reap the benefit.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Its the sort of comment that is made in pubs up and down the country and no-one takes any notice of. The post was seen by relatively few people and its unlikely anyone took any notice of it either. A police caution would have been more than adequate. The public see open drug dealing in the street, shoplifting and mobile phones being snatched and no-one being held to account and then someone being sent to prison for something typed in the heat of the moment. Its no surprise people think there is two-tier justice and the likes of Farage and Reform reap the benefit.

100% this.

I have no problem with her being arrested for incitement to murder, indeed I support that she was arrested. That is rightly a crime.

I also have a problem that the Police have pretty much stopped being able to serve the little guy - the core of their role.

The optics are terrible and this will be significantly contributory to a Reform win. It's like Brexit all over again, the Left (who I generally support) are utterly failing to get this and resolve it or at least speak honestly about why they can't or won't.

Again the problem isn't that she was arrested. The problem is that the other things aren't being dealt with. If I get my bike nicked or my phone snatched it isn't even worth reporting it because nothing will happen to the perpetrator. It astonishes me how Starmer and some people on here simply don't get how important this is.

Furthermore - I fear a slide into South African levels of crime if we don't get a handle on this quickly - it's important!

 

[Bungle73]

That's the exact attitude that led to Brexit.

It is not going to work to simply deride people who vote for a legitimate political party. Labour MUST listen to their concerns and address them or they won't win another election in the foreseeable.

I don't intend on voting for them - but I'm strongly of the view that enough will for a convincing majority if Labour don't start addressing these issues properly and honestly rather than just ignoring them and bleating about Reform's right wing nature.

"Legitimate party" composed of ex-Tories who like to pretend they are not the establishment. Composed of people who have a history of not actually doing the jobs they were elected to do. Composed of people who get themselves elected, then immediately resign, costing the taxpayer thousands. Composed of people who put people barely out of school in positions of extreme power affecting millions of lives. Composed of people who habitually lie. Composed of people who put out "policies" that don't make any logical or legal sense.

Turning up to Parliament does not win elections. Being seen as offering something different might.

So people don't have a clue what they are voting for...............

She was advised to do so by her solicitor as pleading not guilty would risk a harsher sentence if convicted. As we've seen, you can be filmed calling for throats to be slit and be acquitted, perhaps she should have tried taking it to court?

Wrong. As I already she said, she admitted the crime on arrest, before consulting a lawyer. As a result she had no defence at trial.

 

[Bletchleyite]

"Legitimate party" composed of ex-Tories who like to pretend they are not the establishment. Composed of people who have a history of not actually doing the jobs they were elected to do. Composed of people who get themselves elected, then immediately resign, costing the taxpayer thousands. Composed of people who put people barely out of school in positions of extreme power affecting millions of lives. Composed of people who habitually lie. Composed of people who put out "policies" that don't make any logical or legal sense.

You don't like them. I don't particularly like them either, I don't trust Farage as far as I could throw him, and I couldn't throw him very far.

But they are a legal, legitimate party and unless they were to be banned they cannot be ignored.

So people don't have a clue what they are voting for...............

Did they ever?

Wrong. As I already she said, she admitted the crime on arrest, before consulting a lawyer. As a result she had no defence at trial.

This is really an aside to the actual problems I've pointed out which are what is really driving a Reform vote among non-racists. (There is the old adage - all racists vote Reform, but not all Reform voters are racist).

 

[JamesT]

Wrong. As I already she said, she admitted the crime on arrest, before consulting a lawyer. As a result she had no defence at trial.

She admitted writing the tweet when arrested, she didn't plead guilty until the hearing. Part of her appeal against her sentence was whether she had been properly advised before making her plea.

 

[Lewisham2221]

Because families being murdered is nothing worth bothering about..................

And anyone who uses the phrase "hurty words" in relation to threats of violence and harm, which is a crime, and has been for at least 40 years, is not worth listening to.

The people using the phrase "hurty words" are part of the electorate. They might not be "worth listening to" but their vote at a general election is worth just as much as the next person's. So any political party that wants to get their vote absolutely needs to listen to them.

Had Lucy Connolly been non-white and followed a non-christian ethos to advocate death to other folk, nobody would dream of calling them ‘hurty words’ or be calling her a ‘political prisoner’.

Agreed. I should probably clarify, I absolutely don't support Lucy Connolly, Reform or Nigel Farage etc.

The fact that anyone would ever dream of putting a man like Farage in a position of power, is the REAL problem in this country, not anything else

Agreed. But people very much are dreaming of that. Whilst there are absolutely undoubtedly people supporting Reform who are just out and out racist and will support any party which pledges to deport immigrants, I have no doubt that most people supporting Reform for immigration reasons are doing so because Farage and Co have convinced them that the country's social and economic problems are all caused by immigration. If successive governments - including the current one - had listened to "the people" and actually addressed the problems, rather than constantly blaming the other party and looking after their own egos and own pockets, there's a good chance we wouldn't be in this mess.

Turning up to Parliament does not win elections. Being seen as offering something different might.

Precisely this. People just see that Labour and the Conservatives have not delivered what they want, year after year after year. They're fed up and want to see change. Unfortunately the only party making any significant "noise" about any significant "change" is Reform.

I think you need to get real. Lucy Connolly admitted the crime as soon as she was arrested. She pled guilty in court. There was hardly any police work needed to get her into jail. And sending out the message that calling for people to be murdered on social media is ok is not something we should be doing.

That's not the point. There are people who are direct victims of crime - theft, assault, antisocial behaviour etc. who feel that the police (and wider justice system) are letting them down and failing to bring justice. Meanwhile they see people being prosecuted for what they perceive as victimless crimes - whether that be social media posts (Connolly's post itself didn't physically harm anyone...) or even traffic offenses (Think along the lines of "but my speeding/mobile phone use/not wearing a seatbelt didn't actually kill or injure anyone...)

100% this.

I have no problem with her being arrested for incitement to murder, indeed I support that she was arrested. That is rightly a crime.

Totally agree.

I also have a problem that the Police have pretty much stopped serving the little guy - the core of their role.

Spot on. So much policing these days seems to take place in the background, focusing on things like county lines, organised crime, online/financial/fraud type crimes. I'm absolutely not saying that these things don't need dealing with - they obviously do - but it definitely seems that the focus is so much on these areas that police no longer have the resources to deal with "everyday" crime and making people feel safe.

The optics are terrible and this will be significantly contributory to a Reform win. It's like Brexit all over again, the Left (who I generally support) are utterly failing to get this and resolve it or at least speak honestly about why they can't or won't.

Unfortunately, it seems like far too many politicians are just so far out of touch with "real life". And if course, Farage and Co are capitalising on that.

Again the problem isn't that she was arrested. The problem is that the other things aren't being dealt with. If I get my bike nicked or my phone snatched it isn't even worth reporting it because nothing will happen to the perpetrator. It astonishes me how Starmer and some people on here simply don't get how important this is.

100%

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 28 Aug 2025 ==

"Legitimate party" composed of ex-Tories who like to pretend they are not the establishment. Composed of people who have a history of not actually doing the jobs they were elected to do. Composed of people who get themselves elected, then immediately resign, costing the taxpayer thousands. Composed of people who put people barely out of school in positions of extreme power affecting millions of lives. Composed of people who habitually lie. Composed of people who put out "policies" that don't make any logical or legal sense.

Care to point me in the direction of the "legitimate party" that it 100% comprised of 100% honest, reliable, hard working, down to earth and genuinely committed to serving the best interests of their constituents?

So people don't have a clue what they are voting for...............

Have you been living under a rock? Brexit happened because enough people didn't have a clue what they were voting for. Yet neither LAB or CON seem to have taken on board any of the reasons why so many people voted to leave. So we just bumble on, worse off than we were before.

 

[jon0844]

Again, this part of it is largely irrelevant. Nobody bar the likes of Yaxley-Lennon (who can be ignored) would be complaining about her (rightful) arrest if the Police were still serving the general public, and they are not. ASB isn't dealt with. Petty theft isn't dealt with. Shoplifting isn't dealt with. Burglary isn't dealt with. As I said, the social contract is broken and it must - must! - be fixed.

I've seen police arresting shoplifters since the guidance was changed to do away with a minimum value, and trains have even been delayed as police halt the service to drag them off and their goods.

There have been many arrests of e-motorcycle phone thieves (which requires a lot of resources), many more e-scooters and illegal bikes taken off the streets, with many high profile stings on delivery drivers.

When I saw someone with a torch peering into cars (it later transpired he'd broken into at least two cars) in the middle of the night, they sent five cars. Clearly it was treated like that as a crime in progress and I wouldn't expect the same response if they discovered the crime the next morning. They'd struggle to go door to door asking if anyone saw anything, especially when people would be at work, school etc.

Perhaps Labour needs to inform more people of what changes have taken place and how it will slowly help change attitudes hopefully.

Plus aren't we mixing up the police with the judicial system? The police arrest lots of people but the legal system often does very little after that. In the case of Lucy, she pleaded guilty (it was partly why her appeal failed).

I think the police actually do quite a lot, but a lot of people make assumptions. This Government is at least attempting to focus the police on these types of crime, but it won't be easy to change people's behaviour which is a society problem that spans 2 or 3 decades.

Isn't it ironic that the people vandalising signs now (they've gone beyond the paint on the road) think they shouldn't get into trouble? They're so entitled that while they'd be calling for the death penalty if someone put a Palestinian flag on a lamppost, it's fine to express patriotism by covering street furniture with red paint?

 

[Bletchleyite]

Isn't it ironic that the people vandalising signs now (they've gone beyond the paint on the road) think they shouldn't get into trouble? They're so entitled that while they'd be calling for the death penalty if someone put a Palestinian flag on a lamppost, it's fine to express patriotism by covering street furniture with red paint?

It's graffiti - criminal damage - and I would agree it should be prosecuted.

 

[jon0844]

Reform certainly do know how to find the most anti-woke candidates...

Farage party picked a dead woman to run for Croydon Mayor

EXCLUSIVE: Sharon Carby, aged 70, from Bradford, sadly died in July 2024. But that didn’t stop Reform UK six months later picking her as their Croydon mayoral candidate. By our Political Edit…

insidecroydon.com

EXCLUSIVE: Sharon Carby, aged 70, from Bradford, sadly died in July 2024. But that didn’t stop Reform UK six months later picking her as their Croydon mayoral candidate.

 

[SuspectUsual]

Nobody bar the likes of Yaxley-Lennon (who can be ignored) would be complaining about her (rightful) arrest if the Police were still serving the general public, and they are not. ASB isn't dealt with. Petty theft isn't dealt with. Shoplifting isn't dealt with. Burglary isn't dealt with

Two examples.

My car broken into outside my house. Went to the police station in it the following day to report it. Copper took some notes and got up to come and have a look. Got to the doorway and saw it was a nearly new Audi. Asked if it was a company car. I said yes. He stopped in his tracks, and said come inside I’ll give you your crime number.

Locked mountain bike stolen from the racks at a station. Three or four others went at the same time. Went into the station and found out yes it’s covered by CCTV. Rang plod to report it, gave all the details. Heard nothing at all. Rang them a few weeks later, nothing they can do there’s no CCTV. Absolute flat out lie.

But yes as you say, until stuff like this is fixed the other stuff will continue to attract all the attention, good and bad. But can it be fixed? Will it be fixed? I am very, very doubtful about that

 

[Bletchleyite]

But can it be fixed? Will it be fixed? I am very, very doubtful about that

It clearly can be fixed, but I have my doubts that it will, and as a result we will continue our slide towards crime being more like South Africa where houses need barbed wire and walking the streets isn't safe even in small towns - oh, and Reform will win the next election.

It's like Labour just aren't interested in providing the funding and direction.

 

[AlterEgo]

Labour do need to fix these things, though. It is the expectation of a citizen who complies with the law etc that if they get their bicycle nicked or their house broken into, the police will assist them in apprehending and punishing the offender. Instead it's doing other things which almost nobody thinks are a priority. This IS a problem.

When will the mainstream parties realise that to fight Reform they will have to fix these basics or properly justify why they do not or cannot?

Like Brexit it is this wilful ignorance of the priorities of the man in the street that is killing the vote for the mainstream parties.

Spot on. The major factor across all this is a declining quality of life, and a visible decline in the capacity of the State to fix issues. Asylum hotels are a mark of a visible problem not being dealt with to *anyone's* satisfaction, left or right. And the withdrawal of the police from investigating petty crime is very corrosive for as long as it is noticeable.

 

[52290]

.

Isn't it ironic that the people vandalising signs now (they've gone beyond the paint on the road) think they shouldn't get into trouble? They're so entitled that while they'd be calling for the death penalty if someone put a Palestinian flag on a lamppost, it's fine to express patriotism by covering street furniture with red paint?

I wonder if the people promoting St George and his flag realize that he was born in Turkey and lived for a long time in Palestine and couldn't speak English? Since being canonized he has been the patron saint of Moscow and other places. He would probably be arrested if he came here.

 

[jon0844]

The same for Jesus if he came back and dared enter the US.

 

[brad465]

Spot on. The major factor across all this is a declining quality of life, and a visible decline in the capacity of the State to fix issues. Asylum hotels are a mark of a visible problem not being dealt with to *anyone's* satisfaction, left or right. And the withdrawal of the police from investigating petty crime is very corrosive for as long as it is noticeable.

There are things being done about these issues, but big problems will not be fixed overnight and people are impatient. This is where critical effective communication with the public is essential, to inform them of progress and explain why certain action is necessary. Unfortunately, Labour's comms are so bad, they could improve them by hiring Prince Andrew.

 

[YorkshireBear]

It's graffiti - criminal damage - and I would agree it should be prosecuted.

Really sensible posts throughout here, not quoting all of them. The lack of any willingness to engage is like you say, what happened with Brexit. They are wrong and stupid so that's the end of that.

I agree I dislike everything about them, but if we don't engage they will form government.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 28 Aug 2025 ==

There are things being done about these issues, but big problems will not be fixed overnight and people are impatient. This is where critical effective communication with the public is essential, to inform them of progress and explain why certain action is necessary. Unfortunately, Labour's comms are so bad, they could improve them by hiring Prince Andrew.

Yep, their Comms is awful, and they don't seem to pay attention to the optics as much as I would hope they would.

 

[Yew]

There are things being done about these issues, but big problems will not be fixed overnight and people are impatient. This is where critical effective communication with the public is essential, to inform them of progress and explain why certain action is necessary. Unfortunately, Labour's comms are so bad, they could improve them by hiring Prince Andrew.

It doesn't matter how good or bad their communications are, when the papers are mostly owned by right-wing billionaires that use them as a mouthpiece for their economic best interest.

 

[Harpo]

It doesn't matter how good or bad their communications are, when the papers are mostly owned by right-wing billionaires that use them as a mouthpiece for their economic best interest.

As evidenced by the press trolling Labour since the day of the election result and long before Labour started discharging 12 bores into their own feet.

 

[oldman]

the papers are mostly owned by right-wing billionaires that use them as a mouthpiece for their economic best interest.

... and tend to set the agenda for the broadcast media including the BBC. If nearly all the papers are saying something is a big story, it must be. Every day they have a section showing the headlines of the national papers - Mail, Express, Telegraph, Times, Sun, Metro vs. Mirror and Guardian, giving us a finely balanced picture of the news.

 

[SteveP29]

Where did I say she shouldn't? It is not either or.

The problem is not that she was arrested for a crime she indeed did commit. It is that the Police do not serve the general public any more. This is a huge problem. It has destroyed the social contract of policing.

If I'm the victim of a crime such as cycle theft or burglary I expect Police assistance and punishment of the perpetrator. This is, by and large, not happening, or at least is perceived not to be happening.

This plays straight into Reform's hands.

How will voting Farage into power change this then?
Throw out another thousand immigrants and blame it on them and say problem solved?
But then when it continues to happen, what next? another thousand?

 

[Bletchleyite]

How will voting Farage into power change this then?
Throw out another thousand immigrants and blame it on them and say problem solved?
But then when it continues to happen, what next? another thousand?

It won't, which is why I have no intention of voting for Reform.

But people are thinking emotionally, not rationally. That's how humans work, and it can't be ignored. Brexit was another example. Reform getting in would in my view be very bad just like Brexit has been, but unless the mainstream parties deal with the issues that the public are raising - whether they are justified in doing so or not - the result will be a Reform win, and a big one at that.

 

[SteveP29]

being sent to prison for something typed in the heat of the moment

Apparently, from looking at social media history, it was anything but the heat of the moment

 

[Gloster]

If you Google ’ lucy connolly offence ‘ the first result is Lucy Connolly-v-The-King, which concerns her appeal. You can read the relevant tweet and also about some other things that she had tweeted or said.

EDIT: ‘tweet‘ added as I forgot the word.

 

[ainsworth74]

If you Google ’ lucy connolly offence ‘ the first result is Lucy Connolly-v-The-King, which concerns her appeal. You can read the relevant and also about some other things that she had tweeted or said.

Yes it might be worth just pausing for a moment to remember exactly what it is that she said:

Mass deportation now. Set fire to all the f**king hotels full of the bastards for all I care. While you’re at it, take the treacherous government and politicians with them. I feel physically sick knowing what these families will now have to endure. If that makes me racist, so be it.

That was posted around 2030 on 29 July 2024 (the evening of the Southport murders and the day before the riot outside the Southport mosque). The message was viewed over 300,000 times on Twitter before it was deleted a few hours after posting. Heat of the moment or not you cannot expect to say something like that and not face some sort of repercussion. And as noted, this was not the first message that she had posted of a nature to suggest she held, if I'm being extremely charitable, xenophobic views.

She might be a darling of the right-wing media and politicians as being some sort of political prisoner, a "victim of two-tier Keir" and free speech warrior but that's just a reflection of how lost the right-wing media and politicians have become.

She was investigated by an independent police force, she was charged and prosecuted by the independent Crown Prosecution Service, she was arraigned in front of an independent judge, she pleaded guilty, she had access to legal council throughout the process from arrest to sentencing (including an explanation of what her guilty plea would mean), and she was able to appeal that sentence to another independent court to ensure it was legally correct. I would also note that she was guilty of an offence that was promulgated in 1986 under a Conservative Government lead by Margaret Thatcher, that well known left-wing agitator...

She isn't a victim, she isn't a political prisoner (a comparison which is frankly disgusting), she's, seemingly, a xenophobe (again being charitable) who was found out when her online posting came back to haunt her in the real world rather than just being confined the online echo chamber she was no doubt usually stuck in.

 

[JGurney]

She isn't a victim, she isn't a political prisoner (a comparison which is frankly disgusting), she's, seemingly, a xenophobe (again being charitable) who was found out

Seconded.

 

[AlterEgo]

Yes it might be worth just pausing for a moment to remember exactly what it is that she said

Well quite.

Now I do feel the sliders on our free speech aren't liberal enough, but inciting arson and murder is rightly illegal. That is the illegal part of the communication; the problem with social media is it is seen by enough people to fill Wembley Stadium a few times over.

People can be as offensive and vile as they like in my view. But incitement to cause harm cannot ever pass.