Nigel Farage bid for seats in the election by saying he would lead a strong opposition to the likely Labour government. The Conservatives countered by saying only they could win enough seats to form a strong opposition, which is manpower hungry in a Commons full of debates, committees and question sessions that need staffing.
It will be interesting this first week in action for the new Parliament to see who does best oppose. Reform start with many institutional disadvantages that come from having so few MPs. It means if they want to be a more visible and sometimes audible presence they will need to be there all the time, rushing from debate to committee to Westminster Hall to cover the ground.
The Conservative Leader will get 5 questions at every PM Questions, and the Lib Demās will follow as third party. Reform Ā MPs will get occasional chances of a single question Ā like other backbenchers but will not get a weekly slot. Ā The Conservative Ā lead will get first slot with time for a considered response on Ā Statements and main debates. Conservatives will be represented on all Committees. Reform will only be on a few committees and will be lowly ranked for main debates and Statements.
This week Nigel Farage will have to find a way to make an impact on the Kingās speech debate, the crucial debate about the new governments plans and legislation for the upcoming year. Will he be able to speak on the first day sometime after the PM , Leader of the Opposition and other senior MPs/ Privy Counsellors? What will be his main thrust? Will he have briefed the press and given interviews in advance, chancing what might be in the speech? If he speaks later it will get less pick up without pre briefing. Will other Reform MPs try to speak on later days of the debate to cover the different topics highlighted, as the official Opposition will do? The government speech appears to have been much briefed or leaked.
The Leader of the Opposition has time, stage and audience to make an important speech in the first response to the PM. It will be in good time for early evening broadcasts and for the Thursday papers. He needs to deal swiftly with the past and the election, moving on to tell us what they agree with and what they will oppose in this governmentās approach. Today should be an important day of preparation and briefing for both Mr Sunak and Mr Farage.
July 16, 2024
Good morning.
Before the dawn of the internet and social media I would have agreed with our kind host on the importance of being able to put more a frequent questions to the government and sit on more committees etc. But Farage is a very skilled media operator and knows how to punch above his weight. Who can ever forget him telling the new Head of the Commission, whose name I and I am sure many others have forgotten, that he has the charisma of a damp rag ? š
UKIP went to Brussels because the British people were not being told what was being done to them. UKIP highlighted this, gave a voice and grew a movement.
The Conservative Party is muted opposition due to the fact that they have been in office for 14 years and have made a complete Horlicks (now there is a word we do not often use) of the country’s affairs. The LibDems would offer more but, much like the Tories and Labour, are on board with many of the policies such as Nut Zero.
Reform need to act tactically as they do not have enough MP’s. They need to pick the right fights to fight and push to be on the right committees. I do not know what committees there are, but energy and climate, along with immigration would be key.
July 16, 2024
Good Morning,
Yes, very good post. Our host sometimes betrays his inner desire to relive the golden age of Thatcher.
Farage’s argument was, in part, that the Tories and Labour are hardly distinguishable in action. They may say different things, but the outcome is the same. No doubt the rump of Tories in Westminster will make a show of it, but don’t expect any new ideas. I think we’ll just see a bunch of seat-warmers with no fundamental conservative ideology. That is what the Conservative Selection Committee has produced — Not Fit For Purpose.
July 16, 2024
Farage has the Internet at his disposal. He will relentlessly pursue the uniparty with their slash and burn policies
It’s no good the tories opposing precisely what they advocated when in power. Liebour will just bankrupt us a little earlier. The announcements leading to major job losses have already started it will be interesting to see them squirm when these mysterious green jobs done materialise.
The chickens are coming home to roost and Reform will have a field day.
July 16, 2024
JR,
You put too much emphasis on the puppet show each Wednesday. Most people not interested in the sham. Farage will have GB News which the Uni party want to close down through its left wing quango ofcom!
Pro EU one nation socialists offer no opposition. Plebgate Mitchell dreadful on TV yesterday, who would believe a word he says! A Remainer who showers the world with our taxes and when in office gave Africa Ā£3.5 billion each year of our taxes without knowing how or what it was spent on! Not even conditions for UK interests! He will never ask a searching question over EU lock step. Same for the other wet drips.
Will Tories demand Lammy sacked over his vile remarks about Trump or going on an anti Trump protest? Hardly statesman like. No, because Slimy Cameron made similar left wing stupid remarks.
July 18, 2024
If parliament is such a “puppet show” why was Farage so anxious to get into it?
July 16, 2024
JR, forgot how MPs on select committees go on jollies at taxpayer expense- not representing their constituents, also ministers too busy for constituents other than Friday night surgeries and to sign letters compiled from the staff to constituents.
People like Ed Davey failed to stand up for his constituents and post masters, too busy to investigate or look into a very serious issue. Yet here he is in parliament. Those who voted for him, are clueless, have lost leave of their senses or a poor moral compass.
July 16, 2024
Ed Davey still got over 50% of the votes in the election.
Canāt work out how or why? Me neither.
July 16, 2024
Tactical voting from the monster raving loony party
July 16, 2024
You suggest Farage forgets the House and continues on TV.
Brilliant.
Short sharp insulting is his bag. Coming up with detailed analysis and solutions which he can argue for – not so much. Not really the House of Commons type, unless the bars open by 9.00am.
July 16, 2024
Lynne,
No such thing. If, as JR claims, Farage will not have the opportunity to speak in the house of corruption then he has two greater outlets to question those in govt. and get his message out via social media and GB news. Farage on social media larger than the three EU parties altogether. Sunak and Starmer have the same charisma as that damp rag!
July 16, 2024
This is not an election campaign hopeless, itās the serious running of the country and unless you are an anarchist you accept that itās done in the Houses of Parliament. There is no other way to hold the Executive to account in minute detail.
Donāt forget āParliament decidesā – if the whole population stood outside Westminster they could not add a single vote to any issue either way.
July 17, 2024
Wrong. Farage is the master of influencing the weight of public opinion until Parliament is forced to respond.
We also saw Parliament cave in when the Hamas supporters stood outside the Houses.
You underestimate the importance of mobilising pubic support and that is NOT done in Parliament, but outside of it and there is no-one better right now than Farage.
July 17, 2024
“itās the serious running of the country and unless you are an anarchist you accept that itās done in the Houses of Parliament. There is no other way to hold the Executive to account in minute detail.”
That worked well on Brexit, didn’t it?
July 17, 2024
Parliament has very little say. Most of the running of the country is done by the quangos and civil service and the international institutions to whom we are subservient. These days very few MPs have either the ability or the will to shine a torch into these cockroach infested areas which can offer a sinecure should they lose their seat. We need a radical improvement in the quality of MPs before they can contribute properly.
July 17, 2024
Farage has a good number of years of experience as an MEP, so he is not quite the parliamentary ingenue you seek to imply. Moreover, he has been quite clear about government policies that have been destined to fail, and the reasons why they would fail, as well as outlining policies that stand a greater chance of success. There is no virtue in the Uniparty policies on migration and net zero, and only a handful of MPs in any party equipped to criticise them effectively. Such MPs deserve support regardless of party.
July 16, 2024
Reform is the only Party with a manufesto for abandoning net zero, towing the boats back and drastically reducing legal migration, cancelling the high speed train, raising the basic installation allowance, stopping the indoctrination of children with woke nonsense and reforming the unfair electoral system and Lords. That they had a higher share if the vote than the Libdems and should have had 70+ seats is going to make this uniparty parliament a national joke. Even the Greens and Hamas supporters have 4 MPs. At the opening of parliament even the King is a Green follower of the WEF. As the policies that Starmer has already announced will soon be shown to be disastrous, any real opposition will be given a turkey shoot.
However, the uniparty globalist blob will do everything it can to prevent any opposition being heard. Ofcom and the BBC Trusted News will be used to silence any independent broadcasting and the EU is already threatening huge fines on the net providers if they allow comment that the Commission disapproves. Only Elon is resisting. Reform will be left with Rumble and possibly a blog to bypass the censorship. It is almost inevitable that Ofcom will try to close down Farage and other Reform MPs from media.
July 16, 2024
As of the end of the previous Parliament (30 May 2024) there were 129 different HoC committees. A large part of the parliamentary work is done in those committees dissecting the law proposals and preparing amendments.
The votes from the Chamber are in the last stage of the processus. At that stage MPs mainly tend to follow their whipsā ārecommendationsā to vote on the proposed text and subsequent amendments.
So please explain how five Reform MPs even with āthe Internet and GBNews at their disposalā are going to have much impact.
I am afraid that the same contributors who were forecasting Reform coming before the CUP before the 4th of July GE, completely unaware of the potential impact of FPTP given the socio-economical characteristics of the various constituencies, are repeating the same mistake with the strength they give to social networks and GBNews. The average audience of Farageās shows on GBNews were between 50k and 75k people during the first half of 2024. Thatās the population of an average constituency or about 100 people in each of the 650 UK constituencies.
July 16, 2024
Reform had a short time before this latest election to create an effective campaign hefner.
To get several million votes and a 14% share of the total vote is a remarkable result.
I hope their MPs can act effectively on behalf of the millions who voted for them and do better at the next election.
The current voting system and the big powers of committees is for me a great weakness in our democracy.
July 17, 2024
Incorporated in 2019, it had 5 years to organize before this election.
July 17, 2024
It was incorporated in 2019 but it didn’t develop as an actual political party until much later.
July 16, 2024
Given the obvious limitations that follow from having only 5 MPs, I assume Mr Farage will use every opportunity to use alternative public platforms to make his arguments as well as raising questions in the HoC.
July 16, 2024
I agree, Nigel Farage does not have to be an effective opposition party, he needs to be an effective MP and communicator of his opposition and proposals to those that really matter – the electorate. Part of that must include effective effort in parliament, but it is the competence and effort in those activities that will matter given the overwhelming sizes of the establishment parties.
However he does need to avoid the mistakes made during EU representation and actively seek the best for his constituents instead of being a protest party.
July 16, 2024
ā Reform will only be on a few committees and will be lowly ranked for main debates and Statements.ā
They will not try to cover every issue and every committee. Many of these are of little interest to people. They will push their main points. GB News will be very helpful with this.
Another concern is party unity. Ben Habib is trying to defuse the reporting of his removal but Farageās track record of falling out with colleagues is not good. Douglas Carswell former MP is one example. Habib makes a good point about channels for party members to have an impact in a party set up as a limited company. Less democratic than even the Conservative Party?
July 16, 2024
No democracy at all in Reform. As Habib says, āif you own more than 51% everyone knows you are in chargeā. This is Farageās unique start-up. Heās hoping you will all contribute and work your fingers to the bone because he has shows to put on, houses to build and āfriendsā to visit.
July 16, 2024
Yes.
And he has a very high profile in various media.
Alsoā¦from what he says he actually does disagree with the government.
Which patently the tories donāt.
July 16, 2024
Tory party cannot oppose Labour because they want the same key central policies! Net stupid, mass immigration, dilute Brexit to force EU lock step as a vassal state, high tax, big state, mass welfare claimants. That is why the country feels betrayed by the Tory party and those MPs who served 14 years a Tory MPs cannot escape the facts or responsibility.
These left wing socialists then go on to Lords and quangos to infect our society with their dictatorship pro EU left bile. Hence why they want EU lock step at all costs. This time they are trying to do it quietly without public noticing. No changing of parliamentary procedure to force debate over betrayal of Brexit!
July 16, 2024
Farage and reform could learn a lot from SirJ and this diary ā¦.they should produce a interactive blog/diary similar to this on their own activities within parliament ā¦.they should consult with SirJ
July 16, 2024
+1 only Habib would be capable and he has been sacked.
July 16, 2024
Look at his social media numbers. I agree JR would be an asset to Reform party, he was wasted and ignored in his former party. He fulfilled their plan for him to leave.
July 16, 2024
The leader of the opposition may in our schoolboy Parliament have first bite at the cherry, but leaves himself wide open to the question, why did you fail to do it in power. The Lib/Dems are only there as opportunist carrion, a presence based on conservative failure.
Between the lines you write you may deride Nigel Farage, and the archaic parliamentry proceedures may be used by the failed or yet to succeed parties to close down his impact. However it will be a matter of the quality of what he has to say, rather than the number of colleages who accompany him. Just remember the impact he had in the EU Parliament.
I do not imagine he will be wasting his time on talking shop committees or the low level minutae of much parliamentary debate, that the other 645 members barely attend. No, he will almost exclusively go for the raw meat of parliamentary failure past and current, like the economic illegal migrants that continue to pile on our shores disdainful of election results.
His target will not be to convince the cosy sponge of Parliament, it will be communication with the UK electorate at large. He achieved it leading up to 2016. I am quite sure he will do it again. Ask yourself, who is going to have the greatest impact on USA/UK relations, Nigel via his friendship with Donald or the Camerons and Lammys of our grubby parliamentary world. Sit back in retirement and enjoy the show of reborn Conservatism.
Reply Oh do stop misinterpreting and moaning. I wrote a neutral piece. In our democracy Opposition in Parliament is an important part of our national conversation.
July 16, 2024
Very well put, Agricola. Reform MPs know that every committee decision, every debate and every vote on policy will go the way of the huge Labour majority. So they will carry the fight to Starmer and his crew beyond the Houses of Parliament, into the cities and shires where real people have to deal with real issues, not foregone-conclusion votes in the Palace of Westminster. Whether Reform got 5 MPs or 50 makes little difference to the work they will be doing for the next few years, of winning hearts and minds for future elections, in a whole variety of ways. As we’re seeing this week for example, Nigel Farage doesn’t need a brief slot on the Parliament Channel to keep in the news.
July 16, 2024
Reply to reply.
When the EU was involved after 2016 rogue MPs and speaker took over procedures what could be debated etc. They were perfectly happy to corrupt parliamentary procedure. Work with a foreign power to ensure our national interest was second to EU! These MPs are still there! Sitting opposite each other on the front benches!
That is not a moan but fact. These MPs should have been banned from standing as a MP after proper right to recall procedure promised in 2009.
July 16, 2024
Exactly agricola. Per my piece below. Today’s blog read to me as a bit of a provocative wind-up.”Lil ole Reform, how will they manage?”
We’ll see.
Reply You are quite wrong. It was neutral and informative. I want there to be a strong opposition and waiting to see who delivers it best.
July 16, 2024
Unless he reads this Blog Farage will have no idea what his objectives should be. Anyway, he is sorting out flights to the USA. Letās hope, for the sake of the constituents in Clackton, that he has good staff, and can keep them ā¦ for once.
What has confirmed the upsetting of the western globalist apple cart is the appointment of JD Vance as Trumps running mate. He is an excellent choice. A conviction politician, strong and young. Trump has secured the inheritance.
The globalist-financial interests who run the world and make all the decisions in the West are defeated whether they know it yet or not. They tried to push the Great Reset onto humanity via Covid and Agenda 2030, but these plans have failed. So the only way left to reset the hyper-leveraged and terminally diseased global financial web is via war. Threatening Russia existentially with Tomahawk missiles sited on its boundary, hoping to gold Russia into attacking NATO.
But Vance is 100% opposed to supporting Ukraine against Russia or siting a nuclear arsenal 3 minutes from Moscow, and that will leave a weak and sick rump NATO in Europe staring down the barrel of the gun.
We need MPs opposed to war for warās sake taking strong lines in the House. Thank God Corbyn is there!
July 16, 2024
We will have to see what our Education Expert thinks of Mr. Vanceās degree and whether it is an American version of his bete noir.
July 16, 2024
Lynn, Reform said in the election campaign what their objectives are. Just to mention one, the state should stop paying huge taxpayer-funded subsidies to Green business interests, said by the OBR a couple of years ago to cost Ā£12 billion. With that kind of cost saving, I dare say a few potholes could be repaired in Clacton (note spelling).
July 16, 2024
I quite like Clackton.
Ordinary folk making a racket about the state of the country? Onomatopoeia?
July 16, 2024
A conviction politician who changed his tune to be pro-Trump in order to get elected in 2022?
July 16, 2024
If Vance gets elected in 2024 then his change will have really paid off! He might be accused of opportunism but I see that as a useful quality in a president.
July 16, 2024
What change? He started as a venture capitalist, and I gather he was on good terms with Trump from more or less the beginning of his political career.
July 16, 2024
You might want to read a bit more about JD Vance, his life story is quite interesting and certainly does not start with being a venture capitalist. In that respect he is much more representative of the American Dream than DJT.
July 16, 2024
He might strengthen the Trump politics where they were weak. That is the objective of any team member, no nodding dogs add anything. It is argument and thrashing out how best to proceed that sorts the wheat from the chaff. Trump and Vance have the same political objectives. Thatās the point.
July 16, 2024
Lynette/JR,
Farage has huge social media following. More follow this than the Wednesday puppet show. That is only going to grow. I wish you well in changing the socialist Tory party, I am unclear how many decades this will take.
July 16, 2024
According to the Independent Farage had 51% of all share contents on Twitter and Facebook during the 2019 election campaign and more recently 39 billion video views by the beginning of July 2024.
And it produced 5 MPs: āParturient montes, nascetur ridiculus musā (Horatius Flaccus (Horace)ās Ars Poetica).
July 16, 2024
Didnāt turn into votes did it? If he really was āthe leader of Brexitā as he claims, instead of the Brexit Party founded by a lady who gets no credit, he should have got in 17 million votes. Would be PM by now.
July 17, 2024
No, it didn’t. The combined fire of the media and the major parties concentrated on trying to prevent it and they succeeded, mainly because of the rushed election timetable that meant that Reform had not established defence in depth and were thus easily thrown off course. That will not be the same next time.
July 16, 2024
Hopeless, the āpuppet showā is our Parliament. Itās where the Legislature hold the executive to account.
If you think it can be replaced by a show on TV and a few tweets, then I suggest we go for somebody with a far greater following than Farage. How about Mr Bean? He can do shows (silent one so far superior to the rest) and I understand he has the 3rd highest social media following on earth, in spite of never posting.
July 16, 2024
No need of Mr Bean, we had Cameron and his mate for too long- who did not know the price of milk. But he wrecked your party! The other elephant in the room with your view is that the house of corruption implemented what they were told by the EU! They bypassed the house of corruption to introduce regs and rules by left wing EU quangos that Cameron forgot to set alight! More devolved power to quangos the less accountable govt is and less purpose it has other than a puppet show.
July 16, 2024
John Major wrecked the party.
Why do you propose throwing the baby out with the bathwater as the solution šš¤£
July 16, 2024
I thought it was a competition for social media followers? Cameron is not in the starting stalls, actually, Farage is not either.
It is in the House of Commons and ONLY in the House of Commons that the NGOs, Quangos, Charities will be removed from governing.
If you want to put aside the nursery school banter and talk politics, then itās ideas, details, lots of reading, researching checking and comparing claims and claimed facts. Deduction and once you understand the problem, creative thinking using the tools to hand (you also need to know what is in the countryās toolbox) to come up with the best option to ameliorate or hopefully, resolve problems.
Not Farageās jam. There are no cameras, no applause, no donations for all that work.
July 16, 2024
Woooo!
WHAT a lovely post!!!
Youāve cheered me up anyway.š·
Iāve read similar in the last few days and you have clarified.
July 16, 2024
Just listened to Vance’s speech at the NatCon Conference on YouTube. He looks and sounds like an excellent running mate.
July 16, 2024
Sky is reporting that “British armed forces must have the ability to confront a ‘deadly quartet’ of China,Russia,Iran and North Korea,according to Lord Robertson,the former NATO chief who has just been appointed (by Starmer) to lead a major defence review.”Britain truly is Fantasy Island!
I see the panel for this review will include the neocon,Fiona Hill,who fell out spectacularly with Trump during his first presidency(she testified against him at the impeachment hearings).The late,great professor Stephen Cohen wrote a important article for TheNation.com,5/12/19:”Who is making US foreign policy?An anti-neocon president appears to have been surrounded by neocons in his own administration.”Trump will have to be a lot more determined,discriminating and ruthless next time.
July 16, 2024
Trump has learned a bit. Vance is an operator, they will not make the same appointment mistakes that dogged the first Trump Administration. š¤š»Trump will fully stretched saving the USD and securing the USA physically.
Once the USA is in sound hands, we can be much more confident that the vicious attacks on the Russian Federation will cease. Also China!
The children governing the EU will have to be dealt with by the impoverished citizens of the EU in spite of their hands being tied by their idiot PR electoral systems. It could get violent. But contained in the EU and thus relatively small scale.
Letās hope Britain will escape the worst.
July 16, 2024
As of this week Vance wants to bomb Iran.Russia will not tolerate that (and Iran has plenty of military capabilities of its own).Perhaps he will do a u-turn on that too.
July 16, 2024
2 snipers. One in the water tower, one on the roof. The one on the roof did NOT fire the bullet that nicked Trump. The guy from the water tower ran away – people saw him.
This is such an enormous series of failures by the SS.
Not credible.
July 16, 2024
There’s sincere, principled, obvious and determined opposition and then there’s theatrical opposition. Reform represents the former, the Tory party the latter though it won’t make a blind bit of difference. The changes introduced in 1997 and carried through by Cameron are now irreversible. The descent into woke nihilism is unstoppable.
July 16, 2024
Correct, Dom.
July 16, 2024
Agree ā if the Tories had any strength of character of opposition, theyād refuse to participate in the pantomime of the wednesday PMQs ā¦.complete and utter
July 16, 2024
Then save the politics. Conservatism is not owned by the Tory Party as Reform is owned by Farage.
July 16, 2024
Given his record to date whilst up against against a hostile EU parliament, a media which is either left-leaning or Tory-loyal, paid morons who throw drinks, crashing planes, etc, I should think heāll handle this problem ok.
July 16, 2024
Who is the leader of the opposition now? I have no idea
July 16, 2024
The same as in the last parliament, Sir John Redwood – albeit making use of contemporary means to work from a platform outside of the ‘Commons.
July 16, 2024
It always has been, and still is Caroline Lucas MP Green Party …..she read in her green policies
July 16, 2024
R to R,
I do not feel I have misinterpreted your piece today which effectively belittles what Reform can do. As i said, sit back and enjoy, Nigel will not play the sacrifical token lamb to the script layed down by Parliament.
My contribution was not a moan, more a statement of fact as I see it.
Then you talk of the opposition, what opposition, the minor cheek of one backside that cannot even agree what it stands for. Which is precisely why it finds itself in the position of opposition. It could not command the support of its own traditional voters.
As you say, opposition is important in Parliament, but it is unlikely to come from a party that failed miserably while in government and remains as divided out of it. Apart from the MPs from NI and Reform who can lay claim to speak for the people of the UK. Sorry if I ruffle your cornflakes.
Reply My piece was neutral asking the question how will opposition develop and how will Nigel farage handle a Parliamentary system where he is not the official leader of the Opposition. Try contributing to the analysis and discussion instead of attacking me for things I did not write.
July 16, 2024
OK SJR , I will spell it out again. Apart from the protestant MPs of NI and Reform there is no opposition. The Lib/Dems are socialist opportunists, the Conservatives are split and within, the consocialists predominate, the SNP are socialists in erratic wild orbit. The big question is do any of these ersatz socialists want to form a serious opposition. The so called conservatives would be opposing what they were advocating in government or failing to do in government while all the time saying they wished to do it.
I am not from the kitchen that you have been in since the time of Margaret Thatcher. So rather than asking me how opposition will develope, carping at my views while assuming I cannot cook, lets have your views on where real opposition will come from and how it will develope. If only 35% of those voting voted Labour, consider the potential opposition in the minds of the 65% who voted for others or didn’t vote at all. At the moment Parliament could become a minor player in our political future. All of which I put down to the isolated arrogance of Parliament nor listening to the people. Not a desirable situation.
Reply Calm down. I am not your problem. I do not know who will be the best opposition. The Conservatives need to define who they are and what they believe in, choosing a new leader who needs to set out a new course. Reform have to work in Parliament as well as outside if they wish to influence government and show they are serious about contributing to our democratic system of government.
July 16, 2024
Truely calm SJ, I think we are on the same hymn sheet. All need to find their feet, but I suspect Labour will plough their own furrow until internal strife hits them and they realise there are limits to what they can spend. Their avid pursuit of Nett Zero by 2030 and failure on the immigration front is a lot of baggage to carry with less electoral support at 35% than Jeremy Corbyn mustered for his defeat in 2019. They may not choose to realise it but they are on very thin ice.
July 16, 2024
Reply to reply,
That is assuming if Hoyle decides not to change procedure as he did earlier this year in favour of Labour then gave false reasons, in parliament, for doing so!! Hoyle should have been sacked. Instead he was re-elected by those who corrupted him to change procedure. Explain to us how that is democracy.
July 16, 2024
John you outline the very point I made a few days ago, that our parliamentary system and procedures may well shackle Reform with few Parliamentary time opportunities.
Fortunately Farage is a clever and skilful operator, and if he finds he is being deliberately restricted on time and comment, he will circumvent the rules/procedures and find other ways to get his points across, after all he did get over 4,000,000 votes, which is more than the LibDems, and half the number of votes the Conservatives gained.
I would hope the Speaker would recognise such.
I am sure Farage will not be slow in coming forward to mention that, time and time again.
July 16, 2024
The nation is fortunate that Reform is an insignificantly small, minority party in the new Parliament.
Farage’s limited company Reform is already convulsed with factionalism as their deputy leader Ben Habib has been replaced in the role by Richard Tice, who stood down as leader during the campaign to make way for Farage.
Farage’s odious views on immigrants, a closer trade relationship with our neighbours in the EU, anti-net zero, pro-fossil fuel and proportional representation were decisively rejected by the electorate on July 4th. Faragism is irrelevant in the new Parliament
July 16, 2024
As usual you rely on fabrication. For example which party ran on an explicit manifesto platform of being anti-PR ? None of them. So how could the electorate “reject” PR ? On the other hand the LibDems and Reform ran on explicit pro-PR platforms and I’m a bit surprised that you are calling the LibDems odious ?
Some advice: you have become too used to opposing things. You should stop. You have won and got your wishes and Labour/LibDems have a massive majority to implement their Net Zero policies. You should now come on here and start celebrating their achievements in (for example) decarbonising the grid by 2030. You’ve told us it’s perfectly possible so you can keep us updated on each step to that pledge and we can say based on actual evidence that you were right all along.
July 16, 2024
The electorate rejected PR in a referendum in 2011 by a supermajority of 68%.
No politician has the locus to challenge that decision. If you argue that they do they wave goodbye to the Brexit result.
July 16, 2024
The electorate did not reject proportional representation in 2011, it rejected the alternative vote, something entirely different.
July 17, 2024
+1
The UK electorate have never been given a vote on PR.
July 16, 2024
What is odious about his views on immigrants ?
Can’t we say that the numbers are unsustainable without you calling us odious ?
The only thing that was decisively rejected on the 4th July was the wet Tory party.
July 16, 2024
@ Sakara Gold “Faragism is irrelevant in the new Parliament” – but not outside of it!
July 16, 2024
ā decisively rejected by the electorate on July 4thā ?
Have you been overindulging in your namesake beer this morning?
July 16, 2024
Perhaps I have a different definition of ” decisively” to your one SG? Labour were the fortunate receipients of a major distortion caused by our FPTP system (one that I’m happy to retain btw).
Reform have significant challenges to overcome in the next five years, their internal organisation and ‘party’ management clearly being one of them.
Against this, the Conservatives are still in denial about why voters deserted them. Until they are once again firmly aligned with the priorities of conservative voters (Family, Community and Country) they will remain in the electoral wilderness. They don’t need to merge with Reform but they most certainly do need to learn from them.
July 16, 2024
Farage is a fan of proportional representation, as he has said in public more than once. He favours the AV+ system (note: not the same as AV, which the Coalition proposed in their referendum). I donāt know where you get your information from, but it is often very inaccurate – maybe you just make it up?
July 16, 2024
Those who wanted to replace FPTP thought AV was the easiest sell. It was rejected decisively. Look at Israel with full PR. Itās a bigger burden than Hamas/Hesbollah.
July 17, 2024
Most countries in Europe use full PR of some form. Israel’s problems are not due to their voting system.
July 16, 2024
SG :
Whilst it is true that a very big majority of voters voted for the Left and Far Left parties (Con/Lab/Lib Dem/Green/SNP) that support mass immigration (legal and illegal), Net Zero, FPTP, closer ties with or re-joining the EU Iām not convinced that on a turnout of 60% so that the sum total of votes for all these parties was less than 50% of the electorate these policies were decisively accepted by the electorate. We shall see in the coming months.
July 17, 2024
The LibDems, Greens and SNP are all anti-FPTP and pro-PR.
July 16, 2024
The only speech of any interest from Rishi Sunk will be his resignation as Tory part leader. Conservative MPs made a huge mistake in appointing him, and the remaining members should try and get it right next time.
July 16, 2024
You place too much value on content over style/presence as evidenced by Boris being elected despite his political leanings being contrary to what many of his supporters, thought and Badenoch, allegedly being the favourite to succeed Sunak despite saying nothing so no one has a clue what she truly believes in, no doubt part of her strategy.
Therefore as the best performer Farage will impress whatever he says albeit he will be the only one telling it as it is. The problem will be the censorship attempted by the Media, fortunately however, the votes Reform polled forces them to give him due respect.
Anything less will merely add fuel to conspiracy theories of a left wing plot to silence him. Equally continuing Tory animus, can only increase his personal standing.
All the Tory leadership candidates are bound together by spectacular failure. He/we will not forget that.
July 16, 2024
Opposition to the Government won’t come from the other Uni-Parties in Westminster. We haven’t had a real Opposition since Cameron became PM, having engineered a coalition with Clegg to keep “the Right” of the Conservative Party under control, and set out to deliver Blu-Labour.
How on earth can the Not-a-Conservative-Party oppose Labour policies when they’ve been promoting and delivering them for the past 14 years and if they were re-elected would deliver basically the same things?
Farage and the other Reform MPs will make the best of their limited opportunities in Parliament, but they’ll lead the Opposition outside of it: in the MSM and on social media, as they did during the General Election.
July 16, 2024
+ 1
Also, Reform’s objective surely is less about being seen, futilely if loudly, to oppose the government in Parliament rather it is more, even wholly, about laying the ground for material gains at the next general election.
July 16, 2024
M.P,s overrate the importance of Parliament. In the last Parliament the Liberal Democrats were in a position not very different to Reform now and yet they won by-elections and 72 seats in Parliament. Like Suella Braverman, Nigel Farage has not made his reputation by speaking to M.P.s in Parliament but by speaking outside Parliament to the public at large..
July 16, 2024
š±without Parliament, which is OURS, we are NOTHING!
No radio host has a vote. Only votes in Parliament count. You put your arguments in Parliament to sway undecided MPs and win their votes.
I can tell you now that Farage will hardly ever speak, because if you want to speak in a debate you have to sit in House and listen to the debate.
Farage knows everything, like all narcissists, so he will never sit through a debate much less listen to one. He is incapable of learning.
You will all discover this in due course and be disappointed.
July 16, 2024
Without parliament we are nothing! Stop it. That is ridiculous. Parliament was lost to the EU years ago and quangos established to quietly implement regs and rules directly without debate. As for MPs voting, they are instructed what to do, hence the need to reduce the number drastically. Oh, wait a minute Cameron was going to do that! Next you will be telling us we are nothing without the house of frauds!
Lynne, you are quite clearly intelligent and I enjoy reading most of your views. You appear to be getting over exercised about a party that is done.
July 16, 2024
Do carry on underestimating him. Everyone so far who’s done that has found out the hard way, but it makes it easier for us.
July 16, 2024
Lynn is being very unfair to Farage. Even though I voted Conservative and am not particularly fond of Nigel Farage, he has been the most influential British politician of our time never (yet) to have been Prime Minister.
I also disagree about Parliament. Parliament matters because the majority there make laws and policies and tend to choose Party Leaders. As for debates usually nobody, not even the handful in attendance get influenced by speeches.
When long ago I was a Councillor I quite liked speaking in Council meetings (I was young and a better speaker then) but I quite likely never influenced any other Councillor’s vote (even when there was no formal whip). However unlike now the local press bothered with Council Meetings then. I did get reported satisfyingly often in the local press and I suppose for the very few who bothered I was at least showing I was doing something for my attendance allowances!
July 16, 2024
Both Conservative and Reform need to be stealthy in their opposition. Reform lacks resource and the Conservatives will be blamed for everything that is wrong, again the Lib Dems get the easy ride.
Reform should focus on immigration, net zero, public spending and simplifying tax. Low hanging fruit but also a platform that other parties are not radical enough on. They need to avoid be caricatured as bigoted old white men
The Conservatives need to rebuild credibility. That probably means not saying much but being laser focused when they do. Support what is productive that the Labour government proposes, attack what is crazy. Avoid the culture wars as that (while hugely important) doesn’t effect that many people. They could adopt the line “Is this what you are going to use a huge majority for? No wonder so few people voted for it”.
July 16, 2024
Yes of course this is a bit of a wind-up as we know Farage will be focussed precisely on what the world is focussed on, rather than on a couple of socialist parties trying to find differences between themselves in an overtaxed, over regulated outpost of the Western world.
My instinct says that Reform and Farage will find ways to bring the socialist Parliament into focus and contrast it with the US. That will be far more telling to the UK population than arguing over the tidbits stolen from the table of the few wealth creators left here after Lablibcon have finished their work.
July 16, 2024
Ah āoutpost of the western worldā. How very globalist! Iām certain that Kinnock, Cameron, Sunak, Starmer etc would all agree with you.
In reality this āoutpostā is what created the modern world, it is the heart and would have the western world. We were defeated by the globalists within by lies. We have not existed for nearly 50 years. We will recover because we British are indomitable.
July 16, 2024
Not sure what you are trying to tell us with this Sir John?
We already know how establishment works….
July 16, 2024
Remember what the establishment did to the BNP
( and look how appallingly it has behaved since then)
It stops at nothing.
Very scary.
July 16, 2024
This is how Parliament works. āThe establishmentā is constrained by Parliament.
July 16, 2024
Farage has a large audience for three evenings a week on GBNews. Far more people watch that than the debates in the House of Commons.
And how will the Conservatives hold the Labour government to account, when they follow the exact same policies as they did when they were in power?
Reply You had better ask them. I do not speak for them. I wanted them to pursue different policies.
July 16, 2024
Dave,
I am hearing increasing noises about OFCOM being told to constrain Nigel Farage the leader of the Reform Party from using his open communications via GBNews from speaking truth to power.
Hopefully someone from GBN will enlighten us on this.
July 16, 2024
Reply to reply
We know that you did JR!
And then in your constituency you saw the horrors that the madness has launched on us all.
And rightly quitted the scene,
( Or so it appears to me)
Feast of Foolsā¦better off out of it!!
July 16, 2024
“It means if they want to be a more visible and sometimes audible presence they will need to be there all the time”
Not at all. Who outside of Westminster follows the committees or even bothers to watch PMQ ? Vanishingly small numbers. Reform will oppose from outside Westminster in the press and on social and traditional media. Their social media operation at the election was far in advance of anything the Conservatives came up with. Your idea that Rishi Sunak can do anything at all to oppose at PMQ given that he created all the problems Labour are trying to address is particularly unlikely – Starmer can just say “So why didn’t you fix the problem when you had the chance ?”.
Reply Still important to test and challenge the government. Rishi Sunak is leaving the job soon.
July 16, 2024
What test and challenge came from Labour over EU lock step instead of delivering Brexit. Remind us JR.
July 16, 2024
Yes it is extremely hard for any MP as a backbencher or as a leader of a very small party to make much direct impact. Reform UK will have some research assistance but not much. This is another of the unfair features of the electoral system. The number of seats won is disproportionately small given the number of votes cast for Reform but Parliamentary time and resources are allocated on the basis of the number of seats which bears very little relationship to the number of people voting for that party. Therefore parliamentary time is allocted in a way that does not fairly represent the proportion of people holding the views adopted by that party.
Fortunately Farage and Reform have other ways of taking the debate to the public and thus generating public support which can be communicated directly to their constituency MPs.
July 16, 2024
PS. the fragmentation of the opposition in Parliament we now see is a direct result of the many reasons people had for voting for any party except the Tories. In trying to be all things to all voters via its broad church it has instead managed to be unrepresentative of most people across a wide range of disparate views and interests.
July 16, 2024
Matt Goodwin, in his Substack today, has addressed the ONS Report on the level of immigration to the UK.
He notes that unless the level of immigration changes very quickly the UK will be completely transformed and, over the next twelve years, we will be ushering in enough people for six cities the size of Birmingham.
He comments “There has simply never been a nation-state in history that has endured the sheer scale and speed of demographic change that is currently unfolding around us and remained a healthy, socially cohesive, prosperous, high-trust society.”
Perhaps Sir John could tell us how the Not-a-Conservative “Official Opposition” is going to meaningfully oppose this when it has, for the last 14 years, pursued the very policies which have enabled it, in contravention of its Manifesto “promises?”
Reply I do not speak for the Opposition! The Conservatives at my urging with some other MPs did belatedly introduce tougher rules for legal migration this January, They needed to do more. Labour I hear is now relaxing them. The Conservatives could oppose this if they wish.
July 16, 2024
Perhaps the UK will break up-I don’t mean into the home nations but into regions and city states as Europe did after the disintegration of Charlemagne’s empire-and might do so yet again in the future.Would that actually be such a bad thing-the collapse of central power where central power is corrupt,incompetent and financially overbearing?No nation has-or has ever had-a ‘right to exist’-its an end of history argument.
July 16, 2024
If you want us to lack the power to defend ourselves for anything, to produce for ourselves the wealth to who the poor in particular have become accustomed, breaking the U.K. up into city states is no problem. Scotland and Wales have demonstrated that local government is not necessarily ābetterā than central power.
The solution is to reinstate our freely selected candidates to the House of Commons rather than destroying it.
July 16, 2024
OT: Andrew Neil reports:
“Demand for gas is now expected to be at least a fifth higher than previously expected in 2030, according to the latest assessment of the National Grid Electricity System Operator (ESO). It also predicts Britain will keep burning āunabatedā gas for power ā that is, without any form of mitigation such as carbon capture ā until at least 2036”.
But … but … Ed Miliband and his fan club here told us it would be perfectly possible to decarbonise the grid by 2030 …. big batteries … windmills ….
The Conservatives won’t/can’t point this out though as they have the same Net Zero policies.
July 16, 2024
Foghorn Farage will be a distant noise before long, as we slip under with the increasing doses of Maoist anaesthetic.
My Tory vote was already in the bin and the emergence of Farage’s party merely gave me the opportunity to signal to the Conservatives why – so that there was no doubt among you that it wasn’t because you were not green or leftist enough.
The country is lost and it was before July 4th.
There has been a sustained and deliberate assault on the British people since 1997 and 14 years of that was under Tory rule.
July 16, 2024
‘Forhorn Farage’
– Well said. The guy is a lightweight. He’s a salesman, with glib-like soundbites and very little depth to his thinking.
(And who has helped to greatly weaken the Tory Party in many different ways).
The Tory Party needs to turn to focusing on the High Tech Industry – as a good thing in itself – but also because it is neither left or rightwing but practical / pragmatic / creative Conservatism – and so UNIFYING the party!
(We need to ditch Farage-like Libertarianism and wet One-Nation Toryism).
July 16, 2024
“The Tory party needs to turn to focusing on the High Tech Industry….”
Isn’t that also a glib soundbite?
July 16, 2024
No.
I’ve worked in:
1) A technical role (creating complicated solutions using mainframe servers, storage systems and many different types of software for sales people) in the High Tech Industry (so I understand the products and how they work as well as what customers are looking for – and how to meet their needs).
2) Worked as an account / brand planner (the person behind the branding and advertising ideas of brands) for some leading UK ad agencies
3) Set up my own digital marketing business
So I have detailed experienced of the High Tech industry and from primarily a technical POV but, to a degree Sales too. I have good experienced of branding (for the high tech industry but also for financial services and the consumer market). And also experience of being an entrepreneur.
I know what I’m talking about versus about 99% of Tory MPs whose background is in law or journalism or PR or financial services (which for most people is essential sales – selling financial services / investments) or no work experience at all but straight to Parliament as a youngster etc or some business management (but not in branding or setting up their own business or in the high tech industry).
July 16, 2024
Actually the attack since about 1950 and it reached itās peak in 1972.
Since 2016 everything has been improving. Itās just that most of you knew nothing of the Great Battle, and now you do. So that is the only change.
July 17, 2024
“Since 2016 everything has been improving.”
Rubbish. Look at the latest IMF report. The UK economy is “sluggish” and is projected to continue in that way unless some of the damage inflicted from 2016 onwards is undone. Maybe this new government that isn’t so ideologically bound to Brexit will start to repair the economic wounds the previous Conservative government inflicted on the country, and therefore all of us.
July 16, 2024
Reform need to try to align with some other party to get more speaking time or join certain committees. It can be done but needs careful handling. The Tories might even see the benefit of this if they have any sense. It will be a long time before they have anyone in the top seat who will be as mesmerising as Farage is so they need to come to terms with what is happening and try to get on board with Reform before it is too late. Reform need to go for local councils now to take control of the country that way so that people can see they have good monetary skills to make areas better living places for all. Then it will be easy for them to go to the country to take control nationally and if the Tories are still behaving like we have seen they are dead dodos.
July 16, 2024
āWe need someone to stop Farageā I assume they are casting around for a leader. Good luck with thatā¦all the good blokes have gone.
What a nasty undemocratic turn of phrase!
No mention of raising any opposition to the party that utterly annihilated them by a quirk in the system.
Not that they hadnāt been working on that outcome for 14 years.
Anywayā¦it just shows that they know what the people want.
July 16, 2024
Nothing will stop Farage like responsibility šš¤£ he doesnāt do āworkā.
Nobody needs to do anything, apart from come up with a proper vehicle for Conservatism.
July 16, 2024
Your piece makes me think what a waste it is to have all those Tory MPs as the Opposition, since most of them are not conservative and never acted as Conservatives in the previous parliaments.
Those of us who follow politics expect Reform to be squeezed, constrained and punished for the temerity of standing against the establishment. So be it.
July 16, 2024
For a healthy democracy we need a strong government and a strong opposition, Labour where a poor opposition to the Tories and I predict that the Tories will be an even worse opposition to Labour ā¦.they agree too much on policies
The Tories should make it clear that they side with Reform ā¦but they wonāt
July 16, 2024
Nigel will be the opposition, not in Westminster but through the media. He has a plan and I am in no doubt he will achieve whatever aims heās set out for the party. With their new chairman Zia Yusuf, who gave such a fantastic speech at the recent Reform Event, I expect them to grow, become more professional, and attract many more donations. They now have five years to prepare for the next election.
July 16, 2024
āThe government [Kingās] speech appears to have been much briefed or leaked.ā
Parliament, particularly the Debating Chamber, has become obsolete as policies are announced today everywhere else but the Chamber and this will be further enhanced by a PM who says he prefers Davos to Westminster. Whenever I see the Chamber it is always almost empty and if the Government moves to electronic voting I expect it will become completely empty except for the Wednesday farce that is PM questions.
Debates are no longer held in the Chamber but in the media and Farage will initially be making full use of his 3 days/week slots on GB News which I expect the PM to request Ofcom to find ways to close down.
July 16, 2024
PS :
The Conservative Party will be unable to oppose the Government on such major policies as immigration (legal and illegal), Net Zero, closer ātiesā with if not actually re-joining the EU, and high, wasteful spending justifying high taxation as these are also Conservative Party policies.
Whenever I watch Select Committee evidence sessions on subjects involving energy I am astounded by the ignorance of the MPs on this subject and how they need to read off questions pre-prepared for them. Also the rudeness of answers given or not given by Civil Servants to the Committee Members.
July 16, 2024
‘Reform MPs will get occasional chances of a single [PMQ’s] question like other backbenchers but will not get a weekly slot.’
I’d be surprised if the Speaker didn’t take into account Reform UK’s national vote share, it being higher than the Lib Dems, and give them a regular weekly question.āNo doubt Farage has already made that argument to the Speaker.
July 16, 2024
The currency in Parliament is votes. Each seat has one.
Reform was established before the Brexit Party, it could have built a country wide organisation. It did not need to wait until the election was called before organising.
Why did it not do so?
July 16, 2024
The right question, Lynn. The answer might be because a lot of them were as hopeless as the party “regional organiser” who thought he wasn’t allowed to keep records of party members because that would be contrary to the GDPR.
July 16, 2024
Neither Reform nor the conservative party in the end formed a strong opposition.
It is a waste of time trying to change the current political system or influence from within Parliament.
Brexit showed how Nigel Farage influence was effective outside Parliament.
His links with the most likely next President of the USA far out weigh anything this Parliament has.
At least Trump wants to try and end the Ukraine-Russia war unlike Parliament, EU and NATO. Ukrainian and Russian lives matter too, Likewise Palestine and Israeli.
July 16, 2024
Yes having initially said āTrump was dangerousā as a candidate before the 2016 election. Letās hope Trump has upped his assessment of personnel game, he was pretty much defeated by that weakm]ness i. His first administration.
July 16, 2024
What does it matter? How many questions have we seen you ask and publish here only to receive non answers? PMQ’s is a farce, a complete waste of time and brings politics into disrepute through schoolboy shouting and baiting with no real answers, except to the type of question the boot lickers ask such as ‘does the PM agree how wonderful he is and that everything his government does is superb’?
As far as Commons questions go, in a straight system it would not be the LibDims but Reform getting their questions. Farage does not need the Commons to oppose, no-one outside the Westminster bubble is interested in what happens there anyway.
July 16, 2024
+ 1
July 16, 2024
Being better informed and part of the circus will not mean that the Tories will be an effective opposition – They must have the will to do that. They have to start thinking differently from labour and they need to be able to see through establishment deceit.
I don’t think the Tories have it in them to work against labour’s plans because most labour plans were Tory ones.
We know conclusively that labour are allegedly there for immigrants and the working class, but the Tories need to demonstrate who they work for.
You can bet that Farage will be a lot more effective in opposing unrestricted migration than the Tories will, but let’s see how the battles line up and exactly how often Tories follow labour down the green road to an absolute zero future.
July 16, 2024
Were Sir John a young man starting out in politics today, which party would he join? I wonder if he has asked himself the question.
For my part, I see little difference between his positions and Reformās. What a gain for Reform were it able to access his wisdom and experience, which his own party has valued so cheaply for so many decades.
Reply I have no party role. I am offering my advice and analysis to any who want to use it. It is available free here and I can develop and underpin these positions if someone wants to pursue them in greater depth.
July 16, 2024
Sir John
You didnāt define what is meant by opposition.
We know the essence of labour is a spend and tax party, with a total disregard for democracy and the economy, therefore the health and wellbeing of the UK an its people. They embody the Blair/Brown destruction of society method of rule.
When they were replaced by Cameron, May, Johnson and Sunak, the embedded management style of Blair/Brown continued ā just more so. More uncontrolled spending and higher taxes to hide ineptitude. So, the only thing to change was the person at the front, same themes same direction same destruction. Now Sunak has been replaced by Starmer, who appears at this moment in time to be continuing where Sunak left off. As so often suggested in these pages it is the Uni-Party that rules.
What we donāt see anywhere, from the Uni-Party is a suggestion on how we as a Country get to earn and fund our future. No one wants to balance the budgets. As with the Sunak/Hunt crowd and now a similar perception from the Starmer crew the only thinking is how can they grab more tax.
Labour doesnāt have to do anything to gain more tax inflow other than accept the Sunak/Hunt tax grab already embedded and growing for the coming years. They all want to spend someone elseās money, but not manage the spend and more importantly create a framework for a growing economy so that there is wealth to tax in the future.
You surely cannot be suggesting that in Starmer/Reeves accepting the Sunak/Hunt tax hikes and the continuation of the Blair/Brown project there should be anything the collective Uni-Party would be opposed too.
More of the same isn’t opposition
July 16, 2024
Prospects in theory for opposition must be good, given a keen new government weakened by a desire to please, hampered by inchoate appreciation of the problems faced, indistinct aims, and a dearth of talent and experience.
Alas, emergence of the uniparty suggests the art of opposition is dead. Reform, the four Greens eventually, and perhaps Labour rebels might have some too modest impact over time.
Parliament risks becoming ever less relevant in the quest to tackle the issues that affect peopleās lives. Who outside of Parliament could profit by that is unclear but opportunity may well beckon.
July 16, 2024
In Farage’s position, I would be making a lot of use of YouTube, pushing out a ‘short’, comenting on Labour’s failings, every day.
July 16, 2024
+1
July 16, 2024
Do MPs watch YouTube? Is that how you win votes for your policies in Parliament? There are no votes outside Parliament.
Or do you suggest we just dispense with Parliament altogether and have a count of watched videos on YouTube?
July 17, 2024
You still don’t get it, Lynn. With a majority of 170 MPs, Labour will win every vote in Parliament. And there are thousands of votes outside Parliament, at the local elections, where Reform is intending to create a voter base in time for the next general election.
July 17, 2024
SW,
I am sure Nigel is well aware of the possibilities, and will take full advantage of every means of communicating with the people. Parliament has become a very poor vehicle for doing this, being too preoccupied with talking to itself.
July 16, 2024
āThe Leader of the Opposition has time, stage and audience to make an important speech in the first response to the PM. It will be in good time for early evening broadcasts and for the Thursday papers.ā
Whoās going to have the time watch the Opposition speech during the day? Will the BBC even show anything of it in its early evening broadcasts? Whilst Mr. Farage will no doubt be giving his response to all those who wish to listen on his GB News show the same evening.
July 16, 2024
The fake Tories will make great opposition. For Keir Starmer that is. Because they agree with Labour on most things from big state to high tax, from mass immigration to the lunacy that is net zero. Nigel Farage is right, nothing to pick between them or the Lib Dums.
Itās an outrage that a party that received nearly half the votes of Labour, nearly the same vote as the āConservatives and over half a million votes more than the Lib Dums will be denied a regular voice in parliament with a meagre 5 MPs. And of course, unlike the fake Tories and Lib Dums, no representation on any committees yet the SNP have representation on every committee even on health (English only) and health (English only) and we call ourselves a democracy.
I see Labour are to boost balkanisation of England by giving further powers to the āregionsā (England) and the nations of course (not England). More Mayors and Crime Commissioners foist on us against our will.
Despite this affront to democracy, Nigel will find a way to make his voice heard and stand up for us unlike the pathetic party you belonged to John.
reply do be less aggressive. Let us have a conversation, not a row.
July 16, 2024
Health and education.
July 16, 2024
Not so much aggression John as anger at the warped voting system and the downright incompetence of the Sunak Government imposed on us by Tory MPs and as a result we are now saddled with Starmer and his party of spite and envy class warriors, probably for the rest of my lifetime.
July 17, 2024
Reply to your reply on JoolsB
JB was not being aggressive SJR, he was just stating it as it is in his perception. Even though you may belong to the same party, responsibility is not laid at your door. We are all too aware of the degree to which you opposed what became of the conservative party. Don’t get so toutchy, we are only criticising your choice of wife, not your choice of car. Just in case, that was an attempt at humour
Reply I do not have a wife
July 16, 2024
On the BBC2 politic live program at 12:15, while talking about labours energy plan they brought in the views of an academic expert who said that the cheapest form of energy was āsolar & windā, and she said it unchallenged & unopposed by anyone on todays panel including the tories ā¦tories still pro net-zero, therefore they won’t oppose labour in the commons
July 16, 2024
GC :
Yes, a barefaced lie. Even the far Left and BBC supporting Private Eye magazine in a recent issue described Labourās claim that ārenewables are far cheaper than gasā as āan outright falsehoodā.
July 16, 2024
The majority (that means most people) of the Citizens in the UK are hard-working resilient and self-reliant. They get through each day, each week, month by living within their means while at the same time making sure they have a viable fallback position. If they require more money, they either try to earn more, or cut back to rebalance. This is whatās meant by good house-keeping and budgeting – they are the UKās centre ground, neither left nor right in attitude or deed.
Then we get to the UKās Political scene the people involved they call themselves, conservatives, labour or liberal democrats. As of today, they are all working to a common agenda, they want to spend just for the most part to be seen to be doing something, they all want money spent chasing personal dreams and aspirations. The delusion they all have is they some how think taxing people is their income, their bottomless pit, in the sense that they themselves have earn’t it. Pure left-wing socialism. Itās bizarre to remove money from people then call it government money just so they can give it away to feel loved. What is not on the agenda is the housekeeping bit, the budgeting bit, actually managing ā after all it is ātheirā money they can do what takes their fancy with it. The management that the centre ground does routinely themselves is missing from these 3 left-wing totalitarian clubs ā those in Parliament do not mirror society.
In removing money by taxation, it is money taken from the economy it then causes the economy to retract. There is never a question any of the 3 parties wanting to create wealth, create an economy where the tax element then becomes neutral ā it rise because of created growth. Its all about uncontrolled take and uncontrolled spend. All 3 parties are equal on this, this is a Socialist agenda, its on the left of all political thinking.
All 3 parties have removed themselves from society, reality in fact, all with a common trait of spend and tax socialism.
So, to the question of having an āoppositionā, how can there be, all 3 political partiesā political beliefs and ideology is on the left. They canāt challenge one and other because any challenge would be to criticize themselves.
July 16, 2024
Agree – and it gets worse, when they’re not satisfied with the amount of tax that they can scam from us …they borrow
July 16, 2024
@glen cullen +1 too true…. were did they all come from?
July 16, 2024
The WHOLE system is stacked against Farage and co. Deliberately so. The House of Commons is one big club and Farage and co are not part of that Establishment club.
July 16, 2024
Reminds of the 90s tv show ‘No Job for a Lady’
July 16, 2024
How much of a speech Mr Farage is able to make may depend on the time of his flight to Milwaukee
July 16, 2024
This is the first time today I could refer to your blog, due to leaving home early for volunteering, and back late.
‘ It means if they want to be a more visible and sometimes audible presence they will need to be there all the time, rushing from debate to committee to Westminster Hall to cover the ground.’
I don’t see why! Reform should pick and choose the issues they feel most strongly about, and try to get airtime to present their point of view. Most of the ‘debate and committee time’ is after all nit-picking over political point making. Just like the last Government, this new one will try to arrange time to block and challenge anything that might persuade MPs against their party line.
July 17, 2024
Real opposition should come from all who are not sitting on the government benches. We already know from the King’s speech that the Starmer government will continue with a number of initiatives that Sunak failed to get through before the election was called. Others are effectively only minor modifications (e.g. rail nationalisation most of which is already de facto in place). We can expect little to no opposition to Uniparty measures from the Tory benches.
In reality there is likely to be more opposition from within the Labour MPs to government proposals, mainly from a more radical perspective. Reform will provide strong opposition in key policies for energy and net zero and for tackling migration problems where they already tap into knowledgeable support from elsewhere to inform their position. These are the most important policy areas. Providing fuller coverage across wider policy areas probably takes more people to specialise within Parliament, but it does not preclude establishing party spokespersons and specialists who are not currently MPs.