Brexit Party to be reformed as Reform UK

[Scotrail12]

Moderator note: Split from https://www.railforums.co.uk/thread...5-november-until-wednesday-2-december.210860/

Exclusive: Nigel Farage to relaunch Brexit Party as Reform UK, a new anti-lockdown platform

Mr Farage and Richard Tice say their new party will back a policy of 'focused protection' from coronavirus

www.telegraph.co.uk

The Brexit Party is to be relaunched as an anti-lockdown party called Reform UK, Nigel Farage and Richard Tice will announce on Monday, in a move which could alarm libertarian Conservative MPs....

One thing I saw trending on Twitter was Farage turning the Brexit Party into an anti-lockdown party. Never really agreed with him but top marks to him using his voice in this situation since the so called 'opposition' are useless in questioning these measures and it's turned into a situation where I feel that many MP's are just puppets of the government's response now.

 

[brad465]

One thing I saw trending on Twitter was Farage turning the Brexit Party into an anti-lockdown party. Never really agreed with him but top marks to him using his voice in this situation since the so called 'opposition' are useless in questioning these measures and it's turned into a situation where I feel that many MP's are just puppets of the government's response now.

I won't ever vote for a Farage Party but I can see him garnering a lot of support very quickly, like he has done before, and if this happens the Government will change tact quickly, in the same way he's forced them to act in response to UKIP and the Brexit Party before.

 

[MikeWM]

One thing I saw trending on Twitter was Farage turning the Brexit Party into an anti-lockdown party. Never really agreed with him but top marks to him using his voice in this situation since the so called 'opposition' are useless in questioning these measures and it's turned into a situation where I feel that many MP's are just puppets of the government's response now.

Yes, I just saw this, looks like he's going down the 'focused protection' route. I suppose after eveything else that's happened I shouldn't be too surprised to find myself in agreement with Farage, not a common occurrence previously...

 

[duncanp]

I won't ever vote for a Farage Party but I can see him garnering a lot of support very quickly, like he has done before, and if this happens the Government will change tact quickly, in the same way he's forced them to act in response to UKIP and the Brexit Party before.

I would vote for a Farage party in the local elections next year.

There needs to be an anti establishment party that shakes the government and opposition out of their complacency, as it seems the new lockdown measures are going to be rubber stamped by parliament without any real debate.

But the real value of UKIP, The Brexit Party or Reform UK as they are going to be called is that they can force an existing government to change their plans.

I can see Nigel Farage picking up a lot of protest votes in the local elections in May.

 

[bramling]

I would vote for a Farage party in the local elections next year.

There needs to be an anti establishment party that shakes the government and opposition out of their complacency, as it seems the new lockdown measures are going to be rubber stamped by parliament without any real debate.

But the real value of UKIP, The Brexit Party or Reform UK as they are going to be called is that they can force an existing government to change their plans.

I can see Nigel Farage picking up a lot of protest votes in the local elections in May.

I would absolutely vote for Farage at this moment in time. I’m disgusted with Boris Johnson, and will under no circumstances vote Conservative whilst he remains leader.

 

[Class 33]

I would vote for a Farage party in the local elections next year.

There needs to be an anti establishment party that shakes the government and opposition out of their complacency, as it seems the new lockdown measures are going to be rubber stamped by parliament without any real debate.

But the real value of UKIP, The Brexit Party or Reform UK as they are going to be called is that they can force an existing government to change their plans.

I can see Nigel Farage picking up a lot of protest votes in the local elections in May.

Well I really hope that by May that surely we would have finally seen the back of all these lockdown, social distancing, masking wearing, etc over and life is finally back to normal or near enough normal anyway. I'm thinking that it probably won't be until 1st April until this is the case. God forbid if all this drags on way beyond the end of March 2021, what with the catastrophic damage it has(and continuing to do so as the weeks go on) done to the economy, people's livelihoods and mental health. We just can not continue for much longer with all this madness.

 

[brad465]

I would vote for a Farage party in the local elections next year.

There needs to be an anti establishment party that shakes the government and opposition out of their complacency, as it seems the new lockdown measures are going to be rubber stamped by parliament without any real debate.

But the real value of UKIP, The Brexit Party or Reform UK as they are going to be called is that they can force an existing government to change their plans.

I can see Nigel Farage picking up a lot of protest votes in the local elections in May.

You make a good point, but thinking about it I think what will be more likely is if there is a major boost in support for him between now and Christmas (assuming opinion polls and the wider media acknowledge this), that will accelerate Johnson's departure. It worked with getting rid of May at a time when the Brexit Party were ahead, Johnson came in and the Tories were on top again, and the Tory party hate a successful right wing party that's not themselves more than Labour any day.

 

[GRALISTAIR]

Anything that can accelerate de Pfeffels departure is a good thing imho. Never in the field of human politics has so little been achieved by one PM based on ambition alone.

 

[SuperNova]

Just incredibly dangerous. A pointless exercise by someone who is trying to be relevant on another topic when all hell breaks lose in January.

 

[birchesgreen]

I'd never vote for Farage but it is good that there a different voice. Its not good if all the parties follow the same path (even if it is the right path, who knows?)

 

[yorksrob]

I think that the current lockdown policy is so ill concieved and disastrous, I would support any organisation that opposes it.

That said, they need someone less divisive to lead it IMO. The message is too important to get caught up in personality politics.

 

[SteveM70]

If Johnson wants to find the “political opportunism” he mentioned to Starmer, here it is

 

[adc82140]

If Johnson wants to find the “political opportunism” he mentioned to Starmer, here it is

Exactly. If there was a motion to be passed declaring the Pope to be Catholic, Farage would form a party declaring otherwise.

 

[bb21]

If Johnson wants to find the “political opportunism” he mentioned to Starmer, here it is

This thread in itself perfectly illustrates why UK's very own Donald Trump is not as far fetched as some people might think, only more calculated and with far more brain cells than the real Trump to do some serious damage than simply throwing a temper tantrum here and there when he doesn't like it.

Farage, a man who is not ever that far away from exploiting the vulnerabilities and division in the British society, comes back into town to create more brown stuff for no one else's good but himself. Says something should the day come when the only serious opposition to the hapless Boris this country can muster up is this guy.

 

[Vespa]

Whatever you think of the guy, we can credit him with enabling the EU referendum, mainstream politicians wasn't going to give us a voice, we were taken in without a referendum, Harold Wilson did give us one, he was hoping for a leave vote, the EEC put in a lot of money persuading us to remain, as soon as the vote was counted, the money unsurprisingly dried up. I remembered Ireland being bullied into having another one until the "correct result" was achieved, that meda it clear to me the the EU is an undemocratic institution.

This time the referendum was conducted with access to a lot of Information true or false, online and social media, probably the most informed generation both sides.

Farage is Mr Brexit, that credit goes to him, the party having its aim of achieving Brexit, now needs a new purpose and direction, I would be interested to see how it comes across in the next few months.

 

[VauxhallandI]

Farage is a dangerous parasite, no matter how much I am against the current situation I would never vote for him.

Why don’t the Brexit folk wait a wee while to see what amazing things next year delivers for us before following the scum piper once more

 

[Vespa]

Why don’t the Brexit folk wait a wee while to see what amazing things next year delivers for us before following the scum piper once more

I'm guessing you're a remainer who is still not willing to accept the result and instead resort to sarcastic snidy side insults instead of a considered discussion of the merits for or against Brexit, it doesn't make you look good.

 

[brad465]

I'd never vote for Farage but it is good that there a different voice. Its not good if all the parties follow the same path (even if it is the right path, who knows?)

I agree fully with this, as someone who respects others desires to vote how they please. I can see him gaining support that encourages the Tories to change tact faster, having been forced by Farage twice before, but they'd struggle to gain any form of physical representation with our First-past-the-post system, which definitely needs to change.

Furthermore there is now a BBC article on this development, which will, along with being quoted in other outlets, raise their profile:

Nigel Farage: Brexit Party to focus on fighting lockdown

The party leader applies to change its name to Reform UK, calling the PM's Covid response "woeful".

www.bbc.co.uk

Nigel Farage has applied to change the Brexit Party's name to Reform UK, promising to focus on dealing with the government's "woeful" Covid response.

He said renewed lockdown would "result in more life-years lost than it hopes to save" and argued that "building immunity" would be more effective.

The party leader also said there should be "focused protection" from coronavirus for the vulnerable.

But Boris Johnson will tell MPs later there is "no alternative" to lockdown.

From Thursday, pubs, restaurants, gyms, non-essential shops and places of worship in England will close for four weeks, in an effort to stem the increase in infections.

The House of Commons vote on the measures on Wednesday, with the prime minister outlining his plans to MPs on Monday.

It will make opinion polls in the coming weeks very interesting, especially as this is just a party rebrand this should mean those surveyed don't have to wait for a name change to say if they'll vote for him or not.

 

[kristiang85]

I am a remainer and despise everything Farage has done to this country in the last 10 years, but if his party is the only organised political opponent to this COVID lockdown nonsense, then it will get my vote in any election during this period.

Quite simply what is happening is going to impact our lives for at least the next decade, and totally unnecessarily. It's going to harm us more than Brexit, right down to a psychological level.

 

[ainsworth74]

I'm guessing you're a remainer who is still not willing to accept the result and instead resort to sarcastic snidy side insults instead of a considered discussion of the merits for or against Brexit, it doesn't make you look good.

I look forward to seeing the 'merits' of Brexit for real in a couple of months.

 

[nlogax]

I'm guessing you're a remainer who is still not willing to accept the result and instead resort to sarcastic snidy side insults instead of a considered discussion of the merits for or against Brexit, it doesn't make you look good.

Maybe you've not been here long enough to know there was an almost-perpetual thread on this. No-one came out on top and the whole thing was a pretty tawdry affair - much like the referendum itself.

Anyway. 'Reform Party'.. this will have precisely zero impact on how the government is or isn't managing their Coronavirus response. It's posturing, nothing more.

 

[VauxhallandI]

I'm guessing you're a remainer who is still not willing to accept the result and instead resort to sarcastic snidy side insults instead of a considered discussion of the merits for or against Brexit, it doesn't make you look good.

No

We’ve done it to death, no merits have been found so far. I await them.

This is about you making the same mistake twice.

 

[MikeWM]

I am a remainer and despise everything Farage has done to this country in the last 10 years, but if his party is the only organised political opponent to this COVID lockdown nonsense, then it will get my vote in any election during this period.

Same here (well, I'm also a remainer, but reluctantly so as the 'lesser of two evils'). The current disaster is more important than any other issue probably in my lifetime.

It would have been nice for the opposition to have come from elsewhere, but at the moment I'll happily take *any* political opposition that doesn't take the form of 'like the current approach, but quicker and harder'.

The SDP have been pretty good at this, but they are very niche and I don't expect them to be on the ballot paper in most places.

 

[MattA7]

Maybe this will be a time when Farage actually gains support from the younger population as opposed to the older population as he did with brexit. That being said they are plenty older people who are Anti- COVID restrictions so maybe he would receive support for those of all ages.

 

[kristiang85]

However, saying all this, I think May will be too late. Maybe we can have our way of life back, but the huge debt burden and swathes of failed businesses and unemployment will be irreparable.

 

[brad465]

However, saying all this, I think May will be too late. Maybe we can have our way of life back, but the huge debt burden and swathes of failed businesses and unemployment will be irreparable.

There may not have to be an election of any form for the party to have an effect; if opinion polls the rest of this year from now suddenly give Farage a boost at the expense of primarily the Tories, the latter will be very worried and will see if they can change position.

 

[telstarbox]

Or the Tories will just buy them off again, as they did to neutralise the threat of the Brexit Party in last year's election.

 

[Skimpot flyer]

If his throwing his hat into the ring panics this incompetent bunch into abandoning any thought of extending the lockdown beyond 2nd December, then he will have achieved something that benefits the mental health of those struggling with all this nonsense. At the very least, any more restrictions will drive even more people to support anyone who wants to take a different approach. Starmer is not going to save us

 

[HSTEd]

He's been floating the Reform Party concept for quite a while I believe.

 

[etr221]

The problem we now have is that the government has policies (forever changing!), hence law(s), that, because they are not displaying the leadership required, many oppose, both on grounds of the 'cost' (in all sorts of terms) imposed, and because they are not seen as leading to 'success' (victory), whatever that might mean.
In short, a gap between government and governed: and Farage is exploiting that gap as a political hobgoblin, peddling easy (but wrong) answers.