Reform UK discussion

[Harpo]

If it was the Russians maybe he’d be the first person to have his bank account hacked and money deposited rather than withdrawn

Perhaps they also paid the appropriate UK tax on the ‘personal gift’ as the cherry on the cake?

 

[317 forever]

The only Reform/Tory deal I can see is a reverse takeover of the Tories by Reform. There's been too much aggro between the two for a deal, and Badenoch can't afford to be the leader who shrunk the Tories.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 20 May 2026 ==


You may be right, but that presumes that either has the humility to do anything of the sort. Lowe has always been highly divisive, while Farage has enough problems with acknowledged fascists to be seen to lift the bar on them - howwever ineffective it is right now given what's emerging from Makerfield

Except that in terms of having lost Councillors most notably County Councillors, she already is.

 

[35B]

Except that in terms of having lost Councillors most notably County Councillors, she already is.

Indeed - which is why she has so little room left

 

[TravelDream]

Indeed - which is why she has so little room left

There's the argument to made this isn't true.

Polls consistently put her ahead of the Tories in general.

Arguably the party would be doing even worse if another leader (like loser Jenrick from the leadership election) was leading the party. And there's nobody I or polls can see still in the Tory ranks to take the lead and do any better than her.

 

[35B]

There's the argument to made this isn't true.

Polls consistently put her ahead of the Tories in general.

Arguably the party would be doing even worse if another leader (like loser Jenrick from the leadership election) was leading the party. And there's nobody I or polls can see still in the Tory ranks to take the lead and do any better than her.

That may well be true but it doesn’t alter the risk to her if she’s the one who signs the end of 200+ years of party history.

 

[nw1]

In the following incident today Reform UK supporters come across as foul mouthed yobs. Why do they think this sort of behaviour will impress the majority of voters? Why does Farage think he will win votes by praising someone who uses foul language and is just abusive?

Nothing else illustrates more perfectly that while you might disagree with Conservatives, they are basically OK people, while Reform UK come across as dangerous yobs who should never get anywhere near government.

 

[AlterEgo]

Nothing else illustrates more perfectly that while you might disagree with Conservatives, they are basically OK people, while Reform UK come across as dangerous yobs who should never get anywhere near government

That seems like a lot of cope in order to steel yourself for a tactical Tory vote. A large number of Tory politicians and their voters are now Reform. The mask is simply off. Even many current Conservatives share many of the same values.

 

[nw1]

That seems like a lot of cope in order to steel yourself for a tactical Tory vote. A large number of Tory politicians and their voters are now Reform. The mask is simply off. Even many current Conservatives share many of the same values.

As it happens I am unlikely to tactically vote Tory unless I move - as my constituency is a straight Tory/Lib Dem marginal and is likely to stay that way - those two parties completely dominate local politics. So I'd be amazed if I voted anything other than Lib Dem. But, and despite being a lifelong Tory critic, I would tactically vote Tory to keep Reform out if I had to with absolutely no reservations. And if I would, I suspect a lot of other people left of centre, but less to the left than I am would do so also. Admittedly the politics of Badenoch do not fill me with confidence, but one gets the impression that at the very least the Tories would be concerned about keeping the economy on track, unlike (IMO) Reform.

But mostly I was mostly just contrasting the good manners and calm, measured approach of Stride and even Hannan with the apparent support of yobbish behaviour from Farage and Jenrick - the latter an ex-Tory admittedly.

 

[SuspectUsual]

Reform council to sing national anthem and say Lord's Prayer at meetings

Kent County Council amends its constitution, although opposition councillors objected to the change.

www.bbc.co.uk

Apologies if it’s been posted already, but this sort of performative nonsense really irritates me

(Link to BBC News article about Kent County Council - Reform led - voting to begin full council meetings with the Lord’s Prayer and end with the national anthem)

 

[Meole]

Reform council to sing national anthem and say Lord's Prayer at meetings

Kent County Council amends its constitution, although opposition councillors objected to the change.

www.bbc.co.uk

Apologies if it’s been posted already, but this sort of performative nonsense really irritates me

(Link to BBC News article about Kent County Council - Reform led - voting to begin full council meetings with the Lord’s Prayer and end with the national anthem)

Reducing the opposition time for response is arguably worse for democratic transparency.

 

[35B]

Reducing the opposition time for response is arguably worse for democratic transparency.

Absolutely. That strikes me as what was really the agenda, with scrutiny something Reform wish to remove and undermine.

 

[nw1]

Reform council to sing national anthem and say Lord's Prayer at meetings

Kent County Council amends its constitution, although opposition councillors objected to the change.

www.bbc.co.uk

Apologies if it’s been posted already, but this sort of performative nonsense really irritates me

(Link to BBC News article about Kent County Council - Reform led - voting to begin full council meetings with the Lord’s Prayer and end with the national anthem)

Firstly, what do you do if you are a councillor of another faith? I'd imagine there could be an equality case to be had here.

Secondly, to my mind Reform UK are the antithesis of what I understand Christianity to be about anyway. But then again so are the likes of Mike Johnson and Pete Hegseth.

 

[Harpo]

Absolutely. That strikes me as what was really the agenda, with scrutiny something Reform wish to remove and undermine.

I strongly suspect that the BBC would be another source of scrutiny at risk under Reform.

 

[SuspectUsual]

Reducing the opposition time for response is arguably worse for democratic transparency.

Yes, you’re right, and that may have been the underlying reason but that means crediting Reform with a degree of intelligence.

 

[35B]

Yes, you’re right, and that may have been the underlying reason but that means crediting Reform with a degree of intelligence.

I do. And we should.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 27 May 2026 ==

Firstly, what do you do if you are a councillor of another faith? I'd imagine there could be an equality case to be had here.

Secondly, to my mind Reform UK are the antithesis of what I understand Christianity to be about anyway. But then again so are the likes of Mike Johnson and Pete Hegseth.

The politics around "western civilisation" or being a "Christian nation" have nothing to do with Christianity, and everything to do with using it as a nationalist cloak.

It's happened around all faiths and nations at times - versions of it are or have recently been dominant in Russia, the US, Burma, Sri Lanka and many other places.

 

[greatkingrat]

Firstly, what do you do if you are a councillor of another faith? I'd imagine there could be an equality case to be had here.

The House of Commons has always started with prayers without causing any issues.

 

[35B]

The House of Commons has always started with prayers without causing any issues.

Attempts have been made to remove them. The use of the Lords Prayer is interesting though - I think “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us” is a line that might trip a number up. If their brains are on

 

[AlterEgo]

The House of Commons has always started with prayers without causing any issues.

Yes, I think people are forgetting we live in a country with an established religion and not an officially secular one.

Broadly Christian daily collective worship is still a legal requirement in most schools which are unaffiliated to another religion.

 

[nw1]

Apparently (and this is old news) Reform want to ban EU nationals with settled status from claiming benefits:

No - those with EU settled status are not in scope of the policy. However, your entitlement to benefits will change under a Reform Government. Foreign nationals will no longer be eligible for welfare payments.

(source: https://www.reformparty.uk/)

I don't understand why they claim they are not far-right. To me, this is blatantly a far-right policy. Someone who has lived here since 1973 when we joined the EEC being denied benefits due to this bunch of people. Or even you came here in let's say 1993 as a 25-year old, you work continuously in a professional and respectable job, then in 2029 you lose your job. Plus, your children were all born here. "Sorry, no benefits, you're foreign, we don't like you sponging off the British people". Perhaps the intention is to "encourage" EU citizens to return home by making life here difficult. The excuse their proponents always give is that they are only bothered about illegal immigration. Wrong, this policy clearly shows they have a problem with legal migrants, including those who are long-term residents.

Starmer seen as worse than Farage? Good grief, however less-than-ideal Starmer is, you'd have to be crazy IMO to think he's worse than Farage. No previous PM since WWII was anything like as bad as Farage, end of - even Maggie. People these days appear to prefer listening to shouty social media "influencers" more than respectable and measured voices.

I hope if they get into power and try to implement this, the EU take them to the cleaners.

 

[Railwaycat]

Yes, you’re right, and that may have been the underlying reason but that means crediting Reform with a degree of intelligence.

That was my first thought!

 

[brad465]

Oh so Farage has now finally seen the light on the Russian threat???

Farage under mounting pressure to prove Russian hack claim

Reform UK leader claims ‘counter-espionage experts’ suggest state-sponsored hackers are behind disclosure of £5m gift

www.theguardian.com

Latest update - Labour have now decided to follow-through on a threat to report this hack claim to the police:

Labour reports Nigel Farage's alleged Russian phone hack to police

On Sunday, Reform sources claimed to a newspaper that their leader's phone may have been hacked.

www.bbc.co.uk

Labour has reported the alleged hacking of Nigel Farage's phone and bank accounts by Russia to the Metropolitan Police and the security services.
On Sunday, Reform sources claimed to a newspaper that their leader's phone may have been hacked by Russian spies to obtain details of a £5m gift he received from a crypto-billionaire.
Labour has repeatedly urged Reform to provide evidence to back up its claim and now Labour chair Anna Turley has written to the Met Police and National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) to ask whether they are investigating the alleged hack.
Reform said it had reported the alleged incident to the "relevant authorities" but that is not thought to include the Met Police.
In a statement, Reform said it would "be inappropriate to comment further while investigations are ongoing".
Reform sources told the Mail on Sunday, external Farage had become "intensely suspicious" that he had been compromised by "foreign state actors" after reports emerged of the £5m gift from businessman Christopher Harborne.
"Only four people in the world knew about the gift, and so Nigel decided to submit his mobile phone for forensic analysis by counter-espionage experts.
"They concluded that hostile state actors, almost certainly linked to Moscow, had used 'spear phishing' tactics to compromise his phone, email and bank accounts."
Spear phishing is when hackers send personalised messages to individuals to trick them into installing malware or revealing sensitive information.
Farage told the newspaper: "These actions by Russia are deeply concerning and highlight the threat they pose to British security."
Labour and the Conservatives have called on Reform to hand any evidence they have to the UK's security services.
In a letter to Farage on Friday, Anna Turley said: "The alleged crime is an incredibly serious one with potential wider implications for Britain's national security, the integrity of our politics and public confidence in our democratic system.
"It is therefore essential that any evidence of hostile-state hacking or foreign interference is placed in the hands of the proper authorities for thorough and independent investigation."
In a letter to the Met and the NCSC, she says: "If Reform UK have not reported this to you, please treat this letter as a formal report of what appears, on the basis of media reports, to be an allegation of a serious crime."
The Labour chair stresses that her party "is not asserting that the alleged compromise did or did not take place".
A spokesman for the NCSC said: "We stand ready to support with any suspected cyber incident that is reported to us."
It follows controversy over the £5m gift given to Farage by Christopher Harborne in April 2024, two months before he announced he would stand in that year's general election.
Parliamentary rules state that new MPs "must register all their current financial interests, and any registrable benefits (other than earnings) received in the 12 months before their election within one month of their election".
The rules say "purely personal gifts or benefits" from family or commercial loans would not normally have to be registered.
But the rules say "both the possible motive of the giver and the use to which the gift is to be put should be considered", adding "if there is any doubt, the benefit should be registered".
The payment did not appear on Farage's declaration of interests and only became public knowledge after being reported by the Guardian newspaper last month.
The Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards has launched an investigation into whether Farage broke any rules.
Earlier this month, Farage said the £5m gift was "purely private" and "wasn't political in any sense at all".
He added that Reform had studied the rules "from every angle" and "there is no obligation to declare something that is an unconditional, non-political, personal gift."
In April, Harborne told The Telegraph, external he "wasn't expecting anything in return apart from ensuring his safety" when referring to the gift.
Harborne also said he gave the money to Farage "because of my great admiration for the decades of work he had done to achieve Brexit".

 

[weeklycommuter]

Apparently (and this is old news) Reform want to ban EU nationals with settled status from claiming benefits:

I am not sure of the details of the Reform UK policy. However, under EU/EEA freedom of movement rules, EEA nationals living in other EEA countries must be working, studying or financially self-sufficient. They are not entitled to claim publicly funded benefits unless they have paid for them or been resident for a number of years. This has been tested and confirmed in court cases in EU countries.

EU/EEA countries are entitled to require a minimum period of residence before anyone can claim publicly funded benefits. This would include virtually all UK benefits including universal credit and child benefit.

When in the EU, the UK did not impose any such minimum period of residence and paid these benefits to other EEA nationals from day one of their residence in the UK. However, the UK was not required to do this under EU/EEA freedom of movement rules. Such minimum period of residence restrictions on benefits have long been the policy in other European countries and the UK is very unusual in not requiring a minimum period of residence before paying publicly funded benefits.

Not paying public funded benefits to people from other countries is the norm in other European countries so it is a mainstream policy, not a far right policy.

 

[Welly]

Reform council to sing national anthem and say Lord's Prayer at meetings

Kent County Council amends its constitution, although opposition councillors objected to the change.

www.bbc.co.uk

Apologies if it’s been posted already, but this sort of performative nonsense really irritates me

(Link to BBC News article about Kent County Council - Reform led - voting to begin full council meetings with the Lord’s Prayer and end with the national anthem)

That is how the Lord's Prayer will go in Kent CC meetings:

Our Farage, who ain't in Clacton,
hollowed be thy name;
thy kingdom come;
we will be done;
on earth as it is in Clacton.
Give us this day our daily lie.
And forget us our travails,
as we forget those who travail against us.
And lead us into temptation;
but deliver us to evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
the power and the glory,
for ever and ever.
Amen.

 

[Krokodil]

EEA nationals living in other EEA countries must be working, studying or financially self-sufficient. They are not entitled to claim publicly funded benefits unless they have paid for them or been resident for a number of years.

Surely if they had "settled status" they must have been resident for a number of years

 

[Purple Train]

There's a council by-election fairly shortly in my area. Labour, the Lib Dems, and the Greens have all sent through leaflets about their candidate and promises specific to the ward. (Nothing from the Tories, who held the seat previously.) Indeed, the Labour candidate came to the door to drop the leaflet off.

I've just had two letters about their national record from Nigel Farage and Robert Jenrick with no mention of the candidate, area, or any specific plans. Just blaring on about "immigrants" and "waste" and no doubt a cut and paste from every single other by-election.

At least the other parties tend to sound vaguely piteous when reduced to vague soundbites, as if they're ashamed of their ineptitude. (Note the "tend to".) With Reform it's their default, confident bombast. They know no other way apart from making it all about the head honcho. Their candidate could even be a fundamentally honest, decent local and I wouldn't know!

I love collecting records and have kept the other campaign leaflets, but this one made me angry enough that they're both in the bin. For balance, the same would apply if Your Parties had decided on a candidate!

 

[nw1]

I am not sure of the details of the Reform UK policy. However, under EU/EEA freedom of movement rules, EEA nationals living in other EEA countries must be working, studying or financially self-sufficient. They are not entitled to claim publicly funded benefits unless they have paid for them or been resident for a number of years. This has been tested and confirmed in court cases in EU countries.

EU/EEA countries are entitled to require a minimum period of residence before anyone can claim publicly funded benefits. This would include virtually all UK benefits including universal credit and child benefit.

When in the EU, the UK did not impose any such minimum period of residence and paid these benefits to other EEA nationals from day one of their residence in the UK. However, the UK was not required to do this under EU/EEA freedom of movement rules. Such minimum period of residence restrictions on benefits have long been the policy in other European countries and the UK is very unusual in not requiring a minimum period of residence before paying publicly funded benefits.

Not paying public funded benefits to people from other countries is the norm in other European countries so it is a mainstream policy, not a far right policy.

So if someone's been working here since 1993, they'll have been resident, and working, for well over 30 years by the time a theoretical Reform government might get to power. Yet they'll be apparently denied benefits if the quoted wording is accurate.

In fact, all EU citizens who have been in the UK under FoM rules will have been here for almost 10 years by 2029. So I don't think that argument holds water. Can't Farage get it into his thick head that most EU citizens resident in the UK are decent law-abiding people?

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 30 May 2026 ==

Surely if they had "settled status" they must have been resident for a number of years

At least five. And possibly fifty.

 

[Gloster]

So if someone's been working here since 1993, they'll have been resident, and working, for well over 30 years by the time a theoretical Reform government might get to power. Yet they'll be apparently denied benefits.

In fact, all EU citizens who have been in the UK under FoM rules will have been here for almost 10 years by 2029. So I don't think that argument holds water. Can't Farage get it into his thick head that most EU citizens resident in the UK are decent law-abiding people?

Do you really think a Reform government would pay a jot of notice to common decency, the European Human Rights Act, international agreements or even the law of the land, which they can change, when it involves staving off the effects of the inherent faults in their policies towards ‘forrins’? They will only be interested in satisfying the hatred of their most extreme supporters while they slip tax and other changes that help their richest supporters through unnoticed. They are forrins, so we can do what we like as they aren’t going to support us.

 

[AlterEgo]

It's still not a far right policy. If people want all of the protections and benefits of the state and they've been here over 5 years they can apply to be a citizen. They would be more than welcome to. (If Reform propose banning that, that would be more problematic in my view).

 

[nw1]

It's still not a far right policy. If people want all of the protections and benefits of the state and they've been here over 5 years they can apply to be a citizen. They would be more than welcome to. (If Reform propose banning that, that would be more problematic in my view).

Why should they though? Why are Reform proposing to do this, other to court the votes of xenophobes?

Citizenship costs money, with no guarantee of success.

 

[Krokodil]

It's still not a far right policy. If people want all of the protections and benefits of the state and they've been here over 5 years they can apply to be a citizen. They would be more than welcome to. (If Reform propose banning that, that would be more problematic in my view).

Not all countries offer dual citizenship though (Germany only started recently), I can understand why some people are reluctant to renounce their birth citizenship.