The fact that the so-called Left (I'd challenge whether much of this stuff actually come from the Left though) has been shit at ridicule, doesn't rule out ridicule as a tool.
All this talk of polls and numbers of people on the ground…
You did all just see what happened in the USA, yeah
The Reform threat is very, very real. The world is marching ever further towards right wing populism. Anyone thinking Farage hasn’t got a shot of being PM in 4.5 years time is in total denial of a glaringly obvious reality.
Yebbut, don't start writing the vermin's obituary yet; even in this 'high-water mark' (so far) refUKer polling, the tories projected seat tally was 222 compared to their 121 in July's GE. And, though it's hard to argue that the refUKers are on the rise, and quickly gaining ground, it may be that we're seeing them quickly peak at a point that is far too early in the Parliamentary cycle. Finally, one thing that even the best MRP polling projection struggles with is the 'joker' of tactical voting change; who knows how LD/Green voters etc. might react if faced with a Falangist victory in their constituency.
Do they?
Also what myself and some others are saying is that the hard right challenge is more likely to come from within the Tory party than outside it. Just as with Trump in the US. It's odd that people seem to forget he wss the Republican candidate. I think the electoral collage and the FPTP system both favour the established parties and makes it less likely for the hard righ to come into power with new party.
Enviable ability to translate some of the most difficult and nuanced socio-political issues into easily understood nuggets...
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See brogdale 's post - there is already a good deal of bad blood on both sides and if the two parties are increasingly fighting over the same ground those tensions are likely to grow.
The Man of The PayPal will never be willing to play second fiddle to anyone.
One of our local, very vocal, Reform cheerleaders has long maintained that Johnson is a socialist. He also thinks Hitler was (National Socialist innit?). Starmer is left wing. Global warming is a scam. So too the Covid virus and vaccine. The British Empire was the best thing since sliced bread. Once you decide that logic no longer matters, that facts are completely malleable, that the world is controlled by multiple conspiracies - if you think all that then you can believe all manner of contradictory claptrap.
No, he - whoever he is - believes Johnson “unleashed a Molotov cocktail of communism and open borders”. Which means he thinks Boris’ Brexit settlement wasn’t Brexity enough. Not “the Brexit we voted for”.
Yep, those credulous folk persuaded that Brexit was some act of nationalist independence were always going to feel betrayed by the reality. Of course, these folk form a key component of the support herded by Farage.
He's the Reform chair. Tommy Robinson and others shat their pants about him because he's Muslim.
Well there you go. You get all sorts of reactionaries. It’s not the preserve of middle aged white men.
They're pretty much hostage to fortune as far as Reform-as-rivals is concerned. Farage's offering is heavily based on reducing immigration, which is entirely dependent on global events. They may be significantly helped, or hindered, by the fall of Assad, for example. We're seeing this to a degree with the far-right parties which have risen and falled thus far - whatever they say about "getting tough" the reality is their levers are limited unless they want to go fully murderous, which none of them quite feel able to do (as yet).
