Interesting reading, we shall see if Reform stutter in the polls whether Farage will be forced to change tack. I doubt he'll step down and I can't see how he can be made to.
Indeed. Musk is using his position and his wealth to pull levers, in the same way that Soros has done. That's not ideal. But democracy in the UK has already been subverted. Labour is destroying the nation very rapidly and, even if democracy is somehow miraculously restored in 2029, which I seriously doubt, there will be nothing much worth saving - the damage will have been done. I don't 100% trust Musk, or Trump, and it's very far from ideal that either should be meddling in British politics, but from where I'm standing, they seem to be a better option in these dire times than the current lot who have usurped democracy in the UK and are now effectively running the country (into the ground).
Unbelievable. Farage has accused TR of being violent towards women now, in a new rant against the man on LBC. His ex-wife has gone on the record to put the record straight for the benefit of their kids more than anything - Tommy has NEVER been violent towards her or any other woman. Farage is now a liability for Reform and it seems to me that, out of spite, having been called out by Musk to stand down in effect as leader of the party, he intends to take the party with him - just like he did with UKIP and then BXP. What a shit he has turned out to be. The Tories and Labour can't believe their luck I bet.
I've found myself in good company. Mark Steyn is one of those rare people whose judgement on any topic, delivered with supremely acerbic wit, you can rely upon 99.9% of the time. I think he's right yet again.
"But enough about all these raped girls: what matters is the need to "distance" oneself from Tommy Robinson. If Nigel were to distance himself any further, he'd be MP for the South Sandwich Islands: Mission accomplished.
My friend Kathy Gyngell, who has been one of Farage's most enthusiastic supporters in recent months and knows political realities in the British Isles far better than I do, did a bit of distancing herself over the weekend with regard to his party's rally:
There was something missing, though. Their commitment to a public enquiry on the grooming gangs is, if belated, of course right, but IMHO a golden opportunity was missed by both Yusuf and Farage. They could have taken the opportunity to make a principled point about freedom of speech and the total unacceptability of censorship, especially in the form it has taken over Tommy Robinson's solitary prison confinement – and don't forget this – for a civil offence.
Chances of that: zero per cent. It is always interesting to me which battles Nigel chooses. The war with Robinson is all one-way: as Kathy notes, Tommy is in solitary and can't participate - any more than I could participate when, two years ago, Farage took advantage of my confinement in a French intensive care unit to begin manoeuvring me out of GB News. He likewise made a conscious choice to respond to the defenestration of his colleagues Laurence Fox, Dan Wootton and Calvin Robinson by denouncing them as "not team players".
Which raises the question: what "team" are all these chaps supposed to be playing on? Why, Team Nigel, of course. He falls out with Tommy Robinson and he falls out with Ben Habib. The record speaks for itself. After a quarter-century of Euro-populism, Giorgia Meloni is Italy's prime minister, Marine Le Pen is France's leader of the opposition, Geert Wilders heads the largest party in the Netherlands' governing coalition ...and Nigel Farage is head of the latest iteration of the Nigel Farage One-Man Show."
I greatly appreciate comments here which support Farage's stance on TR and all this fuss may indeed be a sophisticated 'divide and conquer' operation aimed at Reform because of the threat it poses to the Uniparty. But the fact is, Farage could have maintained a safe distance from TR and his supporters simply by saying they are at odds with Reform and would not be welcome into the party. He went so much further though, denying that TR was a political prisoner, basically stating that he was serving a prison sentence in isolation for the civil offence of contempt of court, when it is fairly obvious to anyone who has half a brain and a shred of decency and compassion, that Tommy is being persecuted and tortured by the state for his political views and his refusal to comply with censure. That was a big mistake from Farage in my opinion, that and the fact that he neglected to give him any credit for exposing and campaigning against the Pakistani rape gangs. he has alienated a specific demographic, a voting demographic which, in my opinion, will expand considerably in the next months or years.
UKIP campaigned on the same child rape issues for years, under Farage's leadership. It's just that it was more at local councillor level, rather than leadership level posturing. Many of the voters that matter, in the areas concerned (mostly in Northern England) still have loyalty to Nigel.
Reform must be aware, and I’m sure Farage knows this, that they are now target no.1 and as such will be attacked viciously. And one of the oldest tactics to destroy popular political movements is to sow division within the ranks. Stirring up the TR question now has all the hallmarks of being such an operation. Farage is savvy enough to work that out, and is thus not being drawn into this trap.
Reform has to keep its distance from TR for the same reason Vote Leave kept its distance from NF. Reform members are not typical of the electorate at large and it is the wider electorate that Reform has to convince if it is to stand any chance of long term success.
"The British don’t want another Parliamentary party badged with ‘Reform’, they want a truly representative and brutally honest party which will reject the existing party political system, lock, stock and two smoking barrels."
The members of the silent majority I've spoken to on the doorstep (probably over a thousand over the years) are fearful of radical change, and Nigel knows this. He doesn't want to scare the horses. It's not his style. The rate at which reform party membership is still growing, despite his put-down of TR, would indicate his long experience in wooing voters to his cause is paying off.
Errol Musk, who seems to have a strong influence on his son Elon's political opinions, thinks TR will become UK prime minister. Farage has spent 30 years at the UK political coal face, and now leads a party with 175K 'members' (actually, paying supporters at the moment). I know whose political judgment I trust.
What a giant mess, to state the obvious. It’s like the UK has a clown car full of hammers for its government. There’s no clear path to right the ship and the citizens are left with the incompetence and what is sure to follow, tyranny. I truly fear for your future.
Yet, I’d likely say this for the world at large. We in the States are not much better off as Trump still has to be inaugurated and not be assassinated (now or in future) but he isn’t perfect nor a magician. The past 5 years for the world has been devastating and it’s going to take far longer than that to undo the insane damage.
2025…still in its infancy and the storm has not abated. For me, Jesus is my savior and the best I can do is to pray daily for peace and miracles to deliver us from the evil doers.
I believe the same money behind Reform is behind Robinson. So we have an apparent ceremonial dance of opposing opinions on Robinson. Perhaps this explains the recent re-emergence of the rape gang dialogue that has been hitherto been quiescent for some time. Those pulling Reform’s strings want to sow division and Robinson always serves this end.
Farage wants to align chummily with the millionaires and the billionaires. That doesn't make him 'one of us', and he has been flaky, to say the least, with UKIP and Reform - in, out, in, out .... He had staying power up to the Brexit vote but I can't see him consistently leading any party. He has also rowed back entirely on immigration, which is the single main problem that UK people wish to see addressed. Not sure he's even IN the room, let alone reading it.
Your point is correct. Many don’t like Robinson and are too willing to not see how the justice system went after him. He has brought it on himself mind as he admits that. He’s no saint either. But his message was correct and that’s all Reform needed to acknowledge.
As for sucking it up we could say the same thing about immigrants, hurty words, Covid nonsense. That’s not an argument. The point is that someone you don’t like and don’t want to align with politically nevertheless was correct and there is an opportunity to finesse a message for Reform.
Interesting reading, we shall see if Reform stutter in the polls whether Farage will be forced to change tack. I doubt he'll step down and I can't see how he can be made to.
A Highly Recommended and relevant discussion....
https://youtu.be/jtdqyjEhOzc
Indeed. Musk is using his position and his wealth to pull levers, in the same way that Soros has done. That's not ideal. But democracy in the UK has already been subverted. Labour is destroying the nation very rapidly and, even if democracy is somehow miraculously restored in 2029, which I seriously doubt, there will be nothing much worth saving - the damage will have been done. I don't 100% trust Musk, or Trump, and it's very far from ideal that either should be meddling in British politics, but from where I'm standing, they seem to be a better option in these dire times than the current lot who have usurped democracy in the UK and are now effectively running the country (into the ground).
Unbelievable. Farage has accused TR of being violent towards women now, in a new rant against the man on LBC. His ex-wife has gone on the record to put the record straight for the benefit of their kids more than anything - Tommy has NEVER been violent towards her or any other woman. Farage is now a liability for Reform and it seems to me that, out of spite, having been called out by Musk to stand down in effect as leader of the party, he intends to take the party with him - just like he did with UKIP and then BXP. What a shit he has turned out to be. The Tories and Labour can't believe their luck I bet.
I've found myself in good company. Mark Steyn is one of those rare people whose judgement on any topic, delivered with supremely acerbic wit, you can rely upon 99.9% of the time. I think he's right yet again.
"But enough about all these raped girls: what matters is the need to "distance" oneself from Tommy Robinson. If Nigel were to distance himself any further, he'd be MP for the South Sandwich Islands: Mission accomplished.
My friend Kathy Gyngell, who has been one of Farage's most enthusiastic supporters in recent months and knows political realities in the British Isles far better than I do, did a bit of distancing herself over the weekend with regard to his party's rally:
There was something missing, though. Their commitment to a public enquiry on the grooming gangs is, if belated, of course right, but IMHO a golden opportunity was missed by both Yusuf and Farage. They could have taken the opportunity to make a principled point about freedom of speech and the total unacceptability of censorship, especially in the form it has taken over Tommy Robinson's solitary prison confinement – and don't forget this – for a civil offence.
Chances of that: zero per cent. It is always interesting to me which battles Nigel chooses. The war with Robinson is all one-way: as Kathy notes, Tommy is in solitary and can't participate - any more than I could participate when, two years ago, Farage took advantage of my confinement in a French intensive care unit to begin manoeuvring me out of GB News. He likewise made a conscious choice to respond to the defenestration of his colleagues Laurence Fox, Dan Wootton and Calvin Robinson by denouncing them as "not team players".
Which raises the question: what "team" are all these chaps supposed to be playing on? Why, Team Nigel, of course. He falls out with Tommy Robinson and he falls out with Ben Habib. The record speaks for itself. After a quarter-century of Euro-populism, Giorgia Meloni is Italy's prime minister, Marine Le Pen is France's leader of the opposition, Geert Wilders heads the largest party in the Netherlands' governing coalition ...and Nigel Farage is head of the latest iteration of the Nigel Farage One-Man Show."
https://www.steynonline.com/14898/the-gatekeeper
I greatly appreciate comments here which support Farage's stance on TR and all this fuss may indeed be a sophisticated 'divide and conquer' operation aimed at Reform because of the threat it poses to the Uniparty. But the fact is, Farage could have maintained a safe distance from TR and his supporters simply by saying they are at odds with Reform and would not be welcome into the party. He went so much further though, denying that TR was a political prisoner, basically stating that he was serving a prison sentence in isolation for the civil offence of contempt of court, when it is fairly obvious to anyone who has half a brain and a shred of decency and compassion, that Tommy is being persecuted and tortured by the state for his political views and his refusal to comply with censure. That was a big mistake from Farage in my opinion, that and the fact that he neglected to give him any credit for exposing and campaigning against the Pakistani rape gangs. he has alienated a specific demographic, a voting demographic which, in my opinion, will expand considerably in the next months or years.
UKIP campaigned on the same child rape issues for years, under Farage's leadership. It's just that it was more at local councillor level, rather than leadership level posturing. Many of the voters that matter, in the areas concerned (mostly in Northern England) still have loyalty to Nigel.
Reform must be aware, and I’m sure Farage knows this, that they are now target no.1 and as such will be attacked viciously. And one of the oldest tactics to destroy popular political movements is to sow division within the ranks. Stirring up the TR question now has all the hallmarks of being such an operation. Farage is savvy enough to work that out, and is thus not being drawn into this trap.
Reform has to keep its distance from TR for the same reason Vote Leave kept its distance from NF. Reform members are not typical of the electorate at large and it is the wider electorate that Reform has to convince if it is to stand any chance of long term success.
Scrap ythe lot and start again.
"The British don’t want another Parliamentary party badged with ‘Reform’, they want a truly representative and brutally honest party which will reject the existing party political system, lock, stock and two smoking barrels."
The members of the silent majority I've spoken to on the doorstep (probably over a thousand over the years) are fearful of radical change, and Nigel knows this. He doesn't want to scare the horses. It's not his style. The rate at which reform party membership is still growing, despite his put-down of TR, would indicate his long experience in wooing voters to his cause is paying off.
Errol Musk, who seems to have a strong influence on his son Elon's political opinions, thinks TR will become UK prime minister. Farage has spent 30 years at the UK political coal face, and now leads a party with 175K 'members' (actually, paying supporters at the moment). I know whose political judgment I trust.
What a giant mess, to state the obvious. It’s like the UK has a clown car full of hammers for its government. There’s no clear path to right the ship and the citizens are left with the incompetence and what is sure to follow, tyranny. I truly fear for your future.
Yet, I’d likely say this for the world at large. We in the States are not much better off as Trump still has to be inaugurated and not be assassinated (now or in future) but he isn’t perfect nor a magician. The past 5 years for the world has been devastating and it’s going to take far longer than that to undo the insane damage.
2025…still in its infancy and the storm has not abated. For me, Jesus is my savior and the best I can do is to pray daily for peace and miracles to deliver us from the evil doers.
Godspeed, Jamie!
I believe the same money behind Reform is behind Robinson. So we have an apparent ceremonial dance of opposing opinions on Robinson. Perhaps this explains the recent re-emergence of the rape gang dialogue that has been hitherto been quiescent for some time. Those pulling Reform’s strings want to sow division and Robinson always serves this end.
Nope. Reform would remain with a few MP's.
Tice is a Westminster opportunist, that much is true...
Farage wants to align chummily with the millionaires and the billionaires. That doesn't make him 'one of us', and he has been flaky, to say the least, with UKIP and Reform - in, out, in, out .... He had staying power up to the Brexit vote but I can't see him consistently leading any party. He has also rowed back entirely on immigration, which is the single main problem that UK people wish to see addressed. Not sure he's even IN the room, let alone reading it.
...ooorrrr, he could just admit that he was wrong. The people generally forgive a leader who admits to their failures and shortcomings.
He could, but I suspect he won't.
Your point is correct. Many don’t like Robinson and are too willing to not see how the justice system went after him. He has brought it on himself mind as he admits that. He’s no saint either. But his message was correct and that’s all Reform needed to acknowledge.
As for sucking it up we could say the same thing about immigrants, hurty words, Covid nonsense. That’s not an argument. The point is that someone you don’t like and don’t want to align with politically nevertheless was correct and there is an opportunity to finesse a message for Reform.
But instead they attack the man.