I’m still reeling from the vile messages that Starmer made about the majority of decent people across this country- that we are all hate filled racists. I already knew what he and his ilk were thinking, they call us names often enough. But to deliberately make a slick video about a peaceful, unite the country movement when hate marches have been intimidating people for years; not a word about them. It just beggars belief.
As an ex Labour member, nothing would make me happier than to see them consigned to oblivion in disgrace, despised by all decent patriots.
It was nice knowing he had egg all over his face when the march turned out to be peaceful with really good atmosphere by all accounts. He has had nothing to say about the other march which numbered among its banners one calling for all Jews to be hanged. Nor about the man outside the London mosque widely reported and personally witnessed by Dawn Neesom one of the GB News presenters, calling for Jews to be beheaded . Deafening silence from Starmer . He couldn’t be more out of touch if he was broadcasting from Mars .
He cannot turn reality on its head because he says so, yet it would seem to be his delusion that he can .
I know people who went on the march who said it was a wonderful, peaceful event filled with smiling, friendly people, including many immigrants and descendants of immigrants.
Lovely people the left . I was involved in complicated cooking that day and watched much of it in the background . So nice to see all the flags including Israeli and people there from Ireland and even Europe . I saw nothing scary whatsoever
You have to accept that Starmer's Gang, the Woke Left and their Islamist allies all hate people like you and hate Britain's foundations in Christianity. At least then you will understand the rationale for their actions.
I agree and they’ve been building the hatred over decades by infiltrating education and the media with anti western rhetoric. We’re now seeing the end results of the long term plans of the Fabian Society and the Muslim Brotherhood. There needs to be a root and branch reform of all institutions in order to bring back pride in our culture and history.
Absolutely agree with your first sentence : both my husband and I were so angry on seeing the video especially given his silence on the Pro-Pally marches.
Yes, and all of the U.S. media echoed the message that the marchers were "far right extremists." If so, that phrase has become a high compliment. On the other hand, most Americans know absolutely nothing about the struggle going on in the UK, and they are easily indoctrinated by their media.
Agree with all you have said , the timing of Streeting’s utterances is interesting however . Did he choose to come out with all this at this moment precisely to try and thwart Burnhams chances in the by election? If that was his reasoning he has not only holed Burnham below the water line but the Labour Party also . He may get the chance to lead Labour into oblivion as a result .
I’m not sure it matters that much who replaces Starmer. The leadership election is pretty much just a distraction, rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic. The ship is still headed straight for the iceberg. Labour have been very busy since July 2024 alienating and infuriating huge swathes of the electorate.
I hope you are right . Latest polling puts Burnham ahead in the polling. I have just listened to The Daily T . There has been a huge swing to Reform in the recent elections, but for the majority of these voters it was a first time Reform vote how deep does their loyalty go ? We will find out .
Burnham has always been popular with Labour voters , will they believe he could bring about the change he is promising? I hope not it’s all hot air, and as with Badenoch, one politician doesn’t change the rest of the party.
I don’t think who is the next Labour leader ( they will all mess up) is as important as who wins this by election . The two things are different and the by election is actually more important, it’s a test case for Reform on the back of losing the Girton and Denton by election .The demographic is much more positive for us here and I have everything crossed
I can see where you are coming from with this and it would be great if Reform were to win the by election, a huge boost, but Andy Burnham is not a typical Labour candidate and Labour cannot roll out Andy Burnhams right across the country at the next General Election. I don’t believe a change of leader will make Labour radically more popular, the problems facing Starmer would continue to beset the next prime minister and any move to the Left would probably make them less popular with the majority of the electorate even if it appeases the backbenchers. I don’t believe the country is ungovernable, the Labour MPs are. If he gets in, Burnham wouldn’t be strong on immigration, his economics won’t solve the country’s fiscal problems and I agree with you that it will unravel eventually. He has already had to soften his former position on Brexit to suit the constituency voters he is aiming to win over which won’t suit the party. I really doubt if Labour can square the circle whoever is in charge. I think (although I may well be off beam!) even if Reform do not win Makerfield that voters are just so desperate for change that they will be willing to take a chance on Reform in a general election. Party loyalty is pretty shot across the board now and a lot of people seem to view Reform as a vehicle to bring about the change they need.
You make perfect sense. I am reminded of something Bill Shankly said. I paraphrase . Some people say football is a matter of life and death . That disappoints me. It is much, much more important than that . That’s how I get about critical elections 😊 It may not make a difference in the longer term but it will in the short. Opposition who have been claiming Reform have peaked will definitely say we have lost momentum and the local wins were only a protest vote It would make life so much easier to win Makerfield . Reform members are piling in to help from all over the north west and probably further afield
I find the label 'Progressive' to describe Marxists ridiculous. There is nothing progressive about Socialism. Labour are run by Fabian Marxists who have a vision of world socialist government.
Quite right. It is time that we, seen as the lumpen proletariat by the elite, are heard. I do not want to lose my country, although at 84 it is likely to lose me before I lose it. Our country has been run by incompetent leaders from Thatcher onwards with no regard for the best interests of this country. What we have now is socialism which all of us of my age or thereabouts know doesn't work. Now we have socialism with spite and, with either Streeting, Burnham or Rayner we will go farther to the left and the immigration doors will flash a warm welcome. It is just not what the majority wants.
Matthew I’d be really interested to know your views on Restore? Are they an online phenomenon with no real reach outside Great Yarmouth (most non political geeks I know have never heard of Restore or Lowe). Or should we be concerned that the bitter narcissist that I believe Lowe to be will happily undermine Reform to Burnham’s benefit in Makersfield and then nationally. In my more conspiratorial moments I could almost believe Rupert Lowe was an establishment creation!! I don’t actually think this is the case but I do think Lowe would gladly see Britain burn if he could destroy Farage in the process.
I recall Lowe being interviewed on College Green, around the time of Zia Yusuf reporting Lowe to the police for an alleged incident 3 months prior, with Lee Anderson behind him making childish gestures. It is not that Lowe is an establishment creation; his Restore party is a creation of Reform, prompted partly from policy differences and partly from Reform's personalised animosity toward him. Reform are reaping as they sowed and with Ben Habib also.
Restore are a fringe party still, but not entirely localised to Great Yarmouth or onine only. There is a Restore branch in Makerfield and they are fielding a candidate. I would like to see Restore and the Conservatives stand down, but so far as there are policy differences between these parties of the right then so be it. Voters should have a range of options.
If tactical voting gets the 'wrong' result then the parties of the right need to reflect on how important their differences really are. To date none of them are doing so and that includes Reform. Vanity on the right. which includes all of them, may yet enable Burnham.
Makerfield should be prime Reform terrority if local elections are a guide. I hope Reform puts maximum effort and resources into the election. Restore won't be able to compete. It would be a mistake for Reform to attack Lowe who is best ignored. Reform's focus must be on Burnham as carpet bagger and yet another Labour politician weak on grooming gangs and pro-EU.
I don’t disagree with you in many ways. I thought the Lowe situation was very poorly handled by Reform and looked mean and petty. I do think Habib is a crackpot though.
In many ways from a philosophical POV I have a lot of sympathy with Restore. They represent an ideal world outcome for the UK whereas I think Reform are more pragmatic about where we are and what we can do.
The reality is it has taken decades for Reform to break through at scale. The electorate moves right in increments and the idea they are going to bypass Reform (who many are still uncomfortable with despite hating the established alternatives) and vote for a party that has been around for 5 minutes and does look very much like an online vanity project is fanciful. Restore’s day may well come but if they split the vote in 2029 (or sooner) resulting in a Labour/Green/RegionalNat coalition, there won’t be a Britain to reform or restore in 2034 and I for one will never forgive Lowe and his fanboys for that.
Splitting the vote is precisley what multiple parties in elections do. The Conservatives regard Reform as splitting their vote and the Greens are splitting Labour's vote. Restore's support, a few percent at present and far from evenly across the country, are people disaffected with Reform. They are entitled to their party and if Reform is at risk from Restore then it is open to Reform to consider why that is and how to win back Restore voters. Any failure to do that lies with Reform and is not a fault of Restore.
If the combined Reform and Restore vote (assuming more than a handful of people in Makerfield have heard of Restore) would have defeated Burnham when Refrom's vote did not, then the parties on the right need to reflect. Do they really want to allow a red/green/yellow coalition win a GE.
I hope Reform have a good chance of winning Makerfield, but if they do not then it becomes a warning to all parties on the right. They need it.
I think the plan to put migrant processing and removal centres in Green constituencies/councils won back a lot of people wavering towards Restore. I was highly amused to hear Carl Benjamin (who I like a lot) disparaging the idea without much conviction in the NCF channel. Clearly he would have loved had it come from Lowe. Nigel definitely shot Rupert’s fox with that one!
I should have added that I understand how you feel. If Reform lose then it will be another huge disappointment. But, the impulse to balme Restore is really about the voters. Could they not see that Reform is best placed to defeat Labour? They can or will come election day, so if they do not all choose that option the disappointment is properly directed at the electorate. Anger at Lowe is, I suggest, not really the issue. So far as Restore gets votes it means some on the right are not sufficiently motivated to keep Burnahm out.
That is my biggest fear. Reform might do well to actually turn up to vote in parliament and to take direct action on matters like Lowe has with the rape gangs. Reform can learn from Lowe and that would bring many back into the fold. They need to be bold and radical but they look like a party of Tory wets as Mrs T would have described them!
I believe Reform backed off the rape gang enquiry because of legal advice. I think the pressure needs to remain focussed on Labour obfuscation and the official enquiry. The danger with private enquiries is that they may have a lower evidentiary standard and they may attract damaged individuals, fantasists and attention seekers as has been the case with many previous child abuse enquiries, not least Carl Beech and Yewtree.
Thousands upon thousands of girls were affected. I know one personally (a Sikh girl who had to be rescued twice from her groomers by her brothers) and I was even approached twice myself in the 80s while waiting for buses in Luton (I looked young for my age despite being tall and I had a naive air to me. It’s another story, but my shyness and slightly autistic personality meant I actually did not get in the car with the “nice” Pakistani man with a roll of £10s in his lap!) Anyway….. my concern about Lowe’s enquiry is it could harm the official enquiry. Our opponents will do anything to say it’s all exaggerated and in the past and it’s all just the right sensationalising isolated cases to stir up Islamophobia. A free for all enquiry by a fringe right wing party with a low evidentiary bar and no legal consequences for perjury plays right into the left’s hands IMHO.
I agree with you that Restore is a creation of Reform and that voters should be able to choose an option that fits them well. Reform are not entitled to anyone's vote and part of the rationale for Restore is, I believe, is to nudge Reform to be more radical on immigration. This is not a general election, it is one by-election. The important thing for me in this election is that Reform, Restore and Advance (if they stand) are seen to trounce Labour in numbers.
I went through all this in the recent council eletions. I live in Westminster, desperate to get Labour out. Reform were standing candidates in all the wards and told me they were doing very well, were going for win etc. I told them it was a two horse race betwen Labour and Conservatives, but good luck etc. The result was the Conservatives romped home 32 councillors to 22 with not a single Reform councillor (or Green or Lib Dem). The reason? Voters could see it was between Conservatives and Labour and voted to get Labour out. In Makerfield, based on its local election, voters will see it is Labour or Reform. I doubt Restore, Advance et al will do well. No-one campaigns like Nigel. While, as happened in Caerphilly, the campaing to keep Reform out succeded, it did so because there was a party significant enough to be an alternative to Labour. In Makerfield there is no partry weighty enough to be an alternative to Labour that is not Reform. It will be Labour v Reform. Game on.
In our first past the post system it’s not the combined numbers that count is it. So if the right vote is split between four in any numbers ( Conservatives are also fielding a candidate) then Labour will romp home just as they did in the general election on a smaller number of voters
My point is, why should other parties give way to Reform in a by-election? Reform gave way to the Conservatives in a General Election, and look where that got us. As I see it, the Conservatives under their new leadership and Restore deserve to show what they can do. If they get rejected by the electorate, so be it.
Maybe, Matt, it is time the majority made sure that the progressives were forced to understand what THE MAJORITY of this country feel about the ‘progressive’ view of how their country should be. What do you suggest? Perhaps a full on debate on national tv? Channel choice difficult to ensure non bias of course. A debate where 3 progressives face 3 ‘majority view’ citizens……with absolutely no ‘captured audience’ to take sides and a completely, proven impartial referee. Obviously I suggest yourself as one of ‘our’ side and maybe Konstantine Kisin who appears calmly astute and has experience of living under dictatorship…..I’m sure you have other choices.
We just cannot go on letting MSM rule the airwaves and a communist government continue to suppress any form of protest (apart from sectarian morons) with the added sickener of a monarch who sides with Islam against the good of his ‘subjects’ …..being ‘kind’ to him I feel it may be because he is spending his time surrounded by ‘progressives’ and hasn’t the bandwidth to realise the majority feel otherwise….but who knows.
Your articles are always thought provoking and your analysis always good. But we need to move further and faster to reverse what is happening in our country. I just cannot believe that a majority of good people in our country cannot overcome the circa 10% stupidity of so called progressives along with a traitorous, lying government. Where is the ECHR acting for the majority of our country…..if they can allow criminal scum to remain why can’t a case be made for the honest, hard working, tax paying majority? Are there seriously no men/women of honour left in this country with any power at all? Is it really going to have to be ‘blood on the streets’ before the decent people of our country stand up and removes all of the 💩?? Am I to die knowing my children and grandchildren are to be in a land resembling Iran or Lebanon. God help us all……..or maybe you can?
There comes a point when one must consider that the Labour party has truly taken leave of any senses it may have possessed. Yes, the open contempt with which it treats the electorate is truly astonishing and, it will only lead to its downfall as Matt has said. However, I think there is more to it. We are around 18-months behind the US when it comes to the uprising of conservatism, where Trump has been devastating the Democrats at every turn since he took office. Their response has been almost demonic and has included celebrating the death of Charlie Kirk. They are guilty of blatant abuses of democratic and legal processes in various attempts to wrest back some power at the mid-terms. Former Democrat voters are leaving the party in their droves as it descends into nothing more than a rump of deranged fanatics. There is only one word for it, far from being a democratic institution, it is becoming a cult, where any dissent to the approved narrative and their perception of reality must be silenced by whatever means are deemed necessary. Hence, another recent assassination attempt on Trump. Tucker Carlson, a former leading MAGA proponent (and now likely Islamic stooge) has recently suggested, in all seriousness, that Trump may be the anti-Christ. The left is becoming increasingly unhinged, as its globalist agenda crumbles across the West and, its fight for survival is becoming more ugly and dangerous. Starmer's video before the Unite the Kingdom march was nothing short dangerous, being clearly intended to incite anger among those attending. They don't understand us but, more, they underestimate us. It will be their undoing.
Get elected on a nice, safe manifesto and once in power, do the exact opposite. This is how the left operates. This is how radical Islam operates. As they so pithily point out, by your democracy we will defeat you, by our religion we will subdue you.
As for the EU, we should repeal the European Communities Act of 1972 and the two Withdrawal Acts of 2020 and 2022. We can trade with the EU on WTO terms, but in the meantime, they have 72 hours to get their fishing boats out of our waters or face having them confiscated and given to British fishermen. The EU will still have plenty of fish, but it will now have to buy the fish from us.
Labour does not respect the Brexit vote, despite bleating on about democracy and the EU certainly does not accept it. We can travel to the EU for up to 90 days at a time which is fine for most people and for the large part, works both ways unless Commissar Starmer dislikes you. Those coming to work or study will need visas. We need to look at doing something with NI numbers for such people that will immediately flag up if they work for longer than they should or stay longer than they should. Such people should be deported straight away.
So let Labour go down this route. There is no fixing stupid and there is no room for such depths of stupidity in public life. Remember, these same people are claiming there are 74 genders and a woman can have a penis.
All of that is absolutely true Matt, the question now is how can they be removed before 2029. If the citizens of Makerfield vote in the Reform candidate as their MP, that will obviously be huge. Trying to parachute in a PM, a previously non descript MP, with zero credentials for the job and of dubious morals, is so arrogant, it is flabbergasting. It was obvious, in the aftermath of the council election results, Starmer/Labour either simply don't give a toss or are even more stupid than we'd imagined. They just double down on all their brainless, unpopular policies, keep calling all decent British citizens right wing thugs and racists. And now they have declared we are all thick morons for voting for Brexit, they need to correct our mistake and they are going to rejoin the EU with all the electorate having no say whatsoever.
Several years (8?) pre the Referendum I was a UKIP activist. I recall a cartoon in The Sun, published in around 2012, which showed a graveyard with Farage and a group of UKIP "Undertakers" lowering a Labour Party-branded coffin into a grave. The Conservative branded-coffin had already been interred.
Looks like it might, finally, be coming to pass. Bring it on!
Totally agree, Matt and Makerfield seems like the wrong constituency for a Labour candidate to win in, so why is Burnham standing in it? Maybe it was the least bad Labour seat made available for him to attempt to win. I’m not a betting person, but I’d put money on Reform winning. I cannot see Burnham taking it , but it depends whether the electorate can be bribed and any other voting irregularities.
For those of us, like me- coal miners son, working class childhood home, I would have naturally voted Labour.
BUT.
I passed 11+ in 1950, went to Grammar school, did well in my chosen career of mining engineering.
Yes, went down 't pit wi' mi' dad.
Mixed with good working class coal mining lads for 12 years as I buillt my career.
NEVER voted labour as I could see where they were going. Anti wealth creation - you cant make your voters better off if you punish your wealth creators. 75 years later they still havent learned this simple truth.
Labour are now about doing down the working class - yes there still is one - those who get up early to EARN a living.
These good people- the backbone of our nation - are beneath the contempt of the socialist clowns who now dominate labour. This why they think they are going to win Makerfield, despite recent council election wipe out in - er - Makerfield, and polling third or near bottom in poll after poll.
The Labour Party once marched under the banners of shipyards, steelworks and factory gates. Now it looks more at home hosting seminars on pronouns in north London wine bars while lecturing the very people who built it. The party of miners and machinists has morphed into a political finishing school for graduates who think patriotism is suspicious and borders are an embarrassing inconvenience.
Working-class voters who backed Brexit, worry about immigration and still fly the Union Jack are treated like awkward relatives at a fashionable dinner party. Labour grandees sneer, moralise and then act stunned when former heartlands turn to Reform in disgust.
The old Labour movement understood loyalty, nationhood and community. Today’s version too often sounds like it would rather govern a conference hall than a country. Every concern outside the metropolitan bubble is dismissed as ignorance, intolerance or “populism”.
And here lies Labour’s problem: a party that loses respect for its roots eventually discovers its roots stop voting for it.
It must be quite nice for the ‘Reform’ team to watch all the own goals being scored by Labour and the Tories. It’s as if they’ve been infiltrated by Reform sympathisers. It’s nice to see Matt and other Reform spokesmen taking a more positive stance towards the Unite the Kingdom rally, not necessarily the organisers but definitely the attendees, well done, a positive move.
Hope Reform can offer the Red Wall and sea side towns, a hopefull and a positive message on the economy.
The only people in Labour with any good ideas and a deep analysis is Lord Glasman and Blue Labour. Reform should engage with him.
If Reform can give working class people hope of Re-industrialisation, cheaper energy, and start talking about our Trade Deficit, ect they can destroy Labour once and for all.
I’m still reeling from the vile messages that Starmer made about the majority of decent people across this country- that we are all hate filled racists. I already knew what he and his ilk were thinking, they call us names often enough. But to deliberately make a slick video about a peaceful, unite the country movement when hate marches have been intimidating people for years; not a word about them. It just beggars belief.
As an ex Labour member, nothing would make me happier than to see them consigned to oblivion in disgrace, despised by all decent patriots.
It was nice knowing he had egg all over his face when the march turned out to be peaceful with really good atmosphere by all accounts. He has had nothing to say about the other march which numbered among its banners one calling for all Jews to be hanged. Nor about the man outside the London mosque widely reported and personally witnessed by Dawn Neesom one of the GB News presenters, calling for Jews to be beheaded . Deafening silence from Starmer . He couldn’t be more out of touch if he was broadcasting from Mars .
He cannot turn reality on its head because he says so, yet it would seem to be his delusion that he can .
They were also shouting for TR to be shot.
I know people who went on the march who said it was a wonderful, peaceful event filled with smiling, friendly people, including many immigrants and descendants of immigrants.
Lovely people the left . I was involved in complicated cooking that day and watched much of it in the background . So nice to see all the flags including Israeli and people there from Ireland and even Europe . I saw nothing scary whatsoever
The left? The ones that are #bekind?!
Yes, the hope not hate brigade 🙄
It's part of their strategy TT. Stoke division and then come in with more totalitarian measures such as digital ID cards.
You have to accept that Starmer's Gang, the Woke Left and their Islamist allies all hate people like you and hate Britain's foundations in Christianity. At least then you will understand the rationale for their actions.
I agree and they’ve been building the hatred over decades by infiltrating education and the media with anti western rhetoric. We’re now seeing the end results of the long term plans of the Fabian Society and the Muslim Brotherhood. There needs to be a root and branch reform of all institutions in order to bring back pride in our culture and history.
I too found that video gobsmacking and highly offensive.
It mystifies me as to who he thinks he is appealing to. My only conclusions are he is 100% out of touch or I live in a sealed bubble 🤷♀️
He’s a great recruiting asset for Reform though!
Indeed he says he will campaign in Makerfield!
But will Andy King of the North want him to?
😂 good point.
Absolutely agree with your first sentence : both my husband and I were so angry on seeing the video especially given his silence on the Pro-Pally marches.
It’s beyond despicable. Does he seriously think that people won’t notice that he’s morally a hollow husk of a human being.
Yes, and all of the U.S. media echoed the message that the marchers were "far right extremists." If so, that phrase has become a high compliment. On the other hand, most Americans know absolutely nothing about the struggle going on in the UK, and they are easily indoctrinated by their media.
Agree with all you have said , the timing of Streeting’s utterances is interesting however . Did he choose to come out with all this at this moment precisely to try and thwart Burnhams chances in the by election? If that was his reasoning he has not only holed Burnham below the water line but the Labour Party also . He may get the chance to lead Labour into oblivion as a result .
We must make sure that if Burnham stands Burnham loses - I think that the voters will see to that; people don't like being used.
Agree completely . But still can’t get my heart out of my mouth, it’s so important
I’m not sure it matters that much who replaces Starmer. The leadership election is pretty much just a distraction, rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic. The ship is still headed straight for the iceberg. Labour have been very busy since July 2024 alienating and infuriating huge swathes of the electorate.
I hope you are right . Latest polling puts Burnham ahead in the polling. I have just listened to The Daily T . There has been a huge swing to Reform in the recent elections, but for the majority of these voters it was a first time Reform vote how deep does their loyalty go ? We will find out .
Burnham has always been popular with Labour voters , will they believe he could bring about the change he is promising? I hope not it’s all hot air, and as with Badenoch, one politician doesn’t change the rest of the party.
I don’t think who is the next Labour leader ( they will all mess up) is as important as who wins this by election . The two things are different and the by election is actually more important, it’s a test case for Reform on the back of losing the Girton and Denton by election .The demographic is much more positive for us here and I have everything crossed
I can see where you are coming from with this and it would be great if Reform were to win the by election, a huge boost, but Andy Burnham is not a typical Labour candidate and Labour cannot roll out Andy Burnhams right across the country at the next General Election. I don’t believe a change of leader will make Labour radically more popular, the problems facing Starmer would continue to beset the next prime minister and any move to the Left would probably make them less popular with the majority of the electorate even if it appeases the backbenchers. I don’t believe the country is ungovernable, the Labour MPs are. If he gets in, Burnham wouldn’t be strong on immigration, his economics won’t solve the country’s fiscal problems and I agree with you that it will unravel eventually. He has already had to soften his former position on Brexit to suit the constituency voters he is aiming to win over which won’t suit the party. I really doubt if Labour can square the circle whoever is in charge. I think (although I may well be off beam!) even if Reform do not win Makerfield that voters are just so desperate for change that they will be willing to take a chance on Reform in a general election. Party loyalty is pretty shot across the board now and a lot of people seem to view Reform as a vehicle to bring about the change they need.
You make perfect sense. I am reminded of something Bill Shankly said. I paraphrase . Some people say football is a matter of life and death . That disappoints me. It is much, much more important than that . That’s how I get about critical elections 😊 It may not make a difference in the longer term but it will in the short. Opposition who have been claiming Reform have peaked will definitely say we have lost momentum and the local wins were only a protest vote It would make life so much easier to win Makerfield . Reform members are piling in to help from all over the north west and probably further afield
Latest pilling shows Burnham ahead...
One can only hope.
Al we have at the moment sadly
I find the label 'Progressive' to describe Marxists ridiculous. There is nothing progressive about Socialism. Labour are run by Fabian Marxists who have a vision of world socialist government.
https://www.brugesgroup.com/blog/shoot-the-other-foot-too
Quite right. It is time that we, seen as the lumpen proletariat by the elite, are heard. I do not want to lose my country, although at 84 it is likely to lose me before I lose it. Our country has been run by incompetent leaders from Thatcher onwards with no regard for the best interests of this country. What we have now is socialism which all of us of my age or thereabouts know doesn't work. Now we have socialism with spite and, with either Streeting, Burnham or Rayner we will go farther to the left and the immigration doors will flash a warm welcome. It is just not what the majority wants.
Matthew I’d be really interested to know your views on Restore? Are they an online phenomenon with no real reach outside Great Yarmouth (most non political geeks I know have never heard of Restore or Lowe). Or should we be concerned that the bitter narcissist that I believe Lowe to be will happily undermine Reform to Burnham’s benefit in Makersfield and then nationally. In my more conspiratorial moments I could almost believe Rupert Lowe was an establishment creation!! I don’t actually think this is the case but I do think Lowe would gladly see Britain burn if he could destroy Farage in the process.
I recall Lowe being interviewed on College Green, around the time of Zia Yusuf reporting Lowe to the police for an alleged incident 3 months prior, with Lee Anderson behind him making childish gestures. It is not that Lowe is an establishment creation; his Restore party is a creation of Reform, prompted partly from policy differences and partly from Reform's personalised animosity toward him. Reform are reaping as they sowed and with Ben Habib also.
Restore are a fringe party still, but not entirely localised to Great Yarmouth or onine only. There is a Restore branch in Makerfield and they are fielding a candidate. I would like to see Restore and the Conservatives stand down, but so far as there are policy differences between these parties of the right then so be it. Voters should have a range of options.
If tactical voting gets the 'wrong' result then the parties of the right need to reflect on how important their differences really are. To date none of them are doing so and that includes Reform. Vanity on the right. which includes all of them, may yet enable Burnham.
Makerfield should be prime Reform terrority if local elections are a guide. I hope Reform puts maximum effort and resources into the election. Restore won't be able to compete. It would be a mistake for Reform to attack Lowe who is best ignored. Reform's focus must be on Burnham as carpet bagger and yet another Labour politician weak on grooming gangs and pro-EU.
I don’t disagree with you in many ways. I thought the Lowe situation was very poorly handled by Reform and looked mean and petty. I do think Habib is a crackpot though.
In many ways from a philosophical POV I have a lot of sympathy with Restore. They represent an ideal world outcome for the UK whereas I think Reform are more pragmatic about where we are and what we can do.
The reality is it has taken decades for Reform to break through at scale. The electorate moves right in increments and the idea they are going to bypass Reform (who many are still uncomfortable with despite hating the established alternatives) and vote for a party that has been around for 5 minutes and does look very much like an online vanity project is fanciful. Restore’s day may well come but if they split the vote in 2029 (or sooner) resulting in a Labour/Green/RegionalNat coalition, there won’t be a Britain to reform or restore in 2034 and I for one will never forgive Lowe and his fanboys for that.
Splitting the vote is precisley what multiple parties in elections do. The Conservatives regard Reform as splitting their vote and the Greens are splitting Labour's vote. Restore's support, a few percent at present and far from evenly across the country, are people disaffected with Reform. They are entitled to their party and if Reform is at risk from Restore then it is open to Reform to consider why that is and how to win back Restore voters. Any failure to do that lies with Reform and is not a fault of Restore.
If the combined Reform and Restore vote (assuming more than a handful of people in Makerfield have heard of Restore) would have defeated Burnham when Refrom's vote did not, then the parties on the right need to reflect. Do they really want to allow a red/green/yellow coalition win a GE.
I hope Reform have a good chance of winning Makerfield, but if they do not then it becomes a warning to all parties on the right. They need it.
I think the plan to put migrant processing and removal centres in Green constituencies/councils won back a lot of people wavering towards Restore. I was highly amused to hear Carl Benjamin (who I like a lot) disparaging the idea without much conviction in the NCF channel. Clearly he would have loved had it come from Lowe. Nigel definitely shot Rupert’s fox with that one!
I should have added that I understand how you feel. If Reform lose then it will be another huge disappointment. But, the impulse to balme Restore is really about the voters. Could they not see that Reform is best placed to defeat Labour? They can or will come election day, so if they do not all choose that option the disappointment is properly directed at the electorate. Anger at Lowe is, I suggest, not really the issue. So far as Restore gets votes it means some on the right are not sufficiently motivated to keep Burnahm out.
That is my biggest fear. Reform might do well to actually turn up to vote in parliament and to take direct action on matters like Lowe has with the rape gangs. Reform can learn from Lowe and that would bring many back into the fold. They need to be bold and radical but they look like a party of Tory wets as Mrs T would have described them!
I believe Reform backed off the rape gang enquiry because of legal advice. I think the pressure needs to remain focussed on Labour obfuscation and the official enquiry. The danger with private enquiries is that they may have a lower evidentiary standard and they may attract damaged individuals, fantasists and attention seekers as has been the case with many previous child abuse enquiries, not least Carl Beech and Yewtree.
Thousands upon thousands of girls were affected. I know one personally (a Sikh girl who had to be rescued twice from her groomers by her brothers) and I was even approached twice myself in the 80s while waiting for buses in Luton (I looked young for my age despite being tall and I had a naive air to me. It’s another story, but my shyness and slightly autistic personality meant I actually did not get in the car with the “nice” Pakistani man with a roll of £10s in his lap!) Anyway….. my concern about Lowe’s enquiry is it could harm the official enquiry. Our opponents will do anything to say it’s all exaggerated and in the past and it’s all just the right sensationalising isolated cases to stir up Islamophobia. A free for all enquiry by a fringe right wing party with a low evidentiary bar and no legal consequences for perjury plays right into the left’s hands IMHO.
I agree with you that Restore is a creation of Reform and that voters should be able to choose an option that fits them well. Reform are not entitled to anyone's vote and part of the rationale for Restore is, I believe, is to nudge Reform to be more radical on immigration. This is not a general election, it is one by-election. The important thing for me in this election is that Reform, Restore and Advance (if they stand) are seen to trounce Labour in numbers.
I went through all this in the recent council eletions. I live in Westminster, desperate to get Labour out. Reform were standing candidates in all the wards and told me they were doing very well, were going for win etc. I told them it was a two horse race betwen Labour and Conservatives, but good luck etc. The result was the Conservatives romped home 32 councillors to 22 with not a single Reform councillor (or Green or Lib Dem). The reason? Voters could see it was between Conservatives and Labour and voted to get Labour out. In Makerfield, based on its local election, voters will see it is Labour or Reform. I doubt Restore, Advance et al will do well. No-one campaigns like Nigel. While, as happened in Caerphilly, the campaing to keep Reform out succeded, it did so because there was a party significant enough to be an alternative to Labour. In Makerfield there is no partry weighty enough to be an alternative to Labour that is not Reform. It will be Labour v Reform. Game on.
In our first past the post system it’s not the combined numbers that count is it. So if the right vote is split between four in any numbers ( Conservatives are also fielding a candidate) then Labour will romp home just as they did in the general election on a smaller number of voters
My point is, why should other parties give way to Reform in a by-election? Reform gave way to the Conservatives in a General Election, and look where that got us. As I see it, the Conservatives under their new leadership and Restore deserve to show what they can do. If they get rejected by the electorate, so be it.
If Burnham won and then became PM and was even worse than Starmer, it might be grist to Reform's mill!
Maybe, Matt, it is time the majority made sure that the progressives were forced to understand what THE MAJORITY of this country feel about the ‘progressive’ view of how their country should be. What do you suggest? Perhaps a full on debate on national tv? Channel choice difficult to ensure non bias of course. A debate where 3 progressives face 3 ‘majority view’ citizens……with absolutely no ‘captured audience’ to take sides and a completely, proven impartial referee. Obviously I suggest yourself as one of ‘our’ side and maybe Konstantine Kisin who appears calmly astute and has experience of living under dictatorship…..I’m sure you have other choices.
We just cannot go on letting MSM rule the airwaves and a communist government continue to suppress any form of protest (apart from sectarian morons) with the added sickener of a monarch who sides with Islam against the good of his ‘subjects’ …..being ‘kind’ to him I feel it may be because he is spending his time surrounded by ‘progressives’ and hasn’t the bandwidth to realise the majority feel otherwise….but who knows.
Your articles are always thought provoking and your analysis always good. But we need to move further and faster to reverse what is happening in our country. I just cannot believe that a majority of good people in our country cannot overcome the circa 10% stupidity of so called progressives along with a traitorous, lying government. Where is the ECHR acting for the majority of our country…..if they can allow criminal scum to remain why can’t a case be made for the honest, hard working, tax paying majority? Are there seriously no men/women of honour left in this country with any power at all? Is it really going to have to be ‘blood on the streets’ before the decent people of our country stand up and removes all of the 💩?? Am I to die knowing my children and grandchildren are to be in a land resembling Iran or Lebanon. God help us all……..or maybe you can?
There comes a point when one must consider that the Labour party has truly taken leave of any senses it may have possessed. Yes, the open contempt with which it treats the electorate is truly astonishing and, it will only lead to its downfall as Matt has said. However, I think there is more to it. We are around 18-months behind the US when it comes to the uprising of conservatism, where Trump has been devastating the Democrats at every turn since he took office. Their response has been almost demonic and has included celebrating the death of Charlie Kirk. They are guilty of blatant abuses of democratic and legal processes in various attempts to wrest back some power at the mid-terms. Former Democrat voters are leaving the party in their droves as it descends into nothing more than a rump of deranged fanatics. There is only one word for it, far from being a democratic institution, it is becoming a cult, where any dissent to the approved narrative and their perception of reality must be silenced by whatever means are deemed necessary. Hence, another recent assassination attempt on Trump. Tucker Carlson, a former leading MAGA proponent (and now likely Islamic stooge) has recently suggested, in all seriousness, that Trump may be the anti-Christ. The left is becoming increasingly unhinged, as its globalist agenda crumbles across the West and, its fight for survival is becoming more ugly and dangerous. Starmer's video before the Unite the Kingdom march was nothing short dangerous, being clearly intended to incite anger among those attending. They don't understand us but, more, they underestimate us. It will be their undoing.
Spot on. The left is becoming increasingly unhinged, more like a cult that you can’t leave or oppose without becoming a target for their ire.
It's beginning to get dangerous though
Get elected on a nice, safe manifesto and once in power, do the exact opposite. This is how the left operates. This is how radical Islam operates. As they so pithily point out, by your democracy we will defeat you, by our religion we will subdue you.
As for the EU, we should repeal the European Communities Act of 1972 and the two Withdrawal Acts of 2020 and 2022. We can trade with the EU on WTO terms, but in the meantime, they have 72 hours to get their fishing boats out of our waters or face having them confiscated and given to British fishermen. The EU will still have plenty of fish, but it will now have to buy the fish from us.
Labour does not respect the Brexit vote, despite bleating on about democracy and the EU certainly does not accept it. We can travel to the EU for up to 90 days at a time which is fine for most people and for the large part, works both ways unless Commissar Starmer dislikes you. Those coming to work or study will need visas. We need to look at doing something with NI numbers for such people that will immediately flag up if they work for longer than they should or stay longer than they should. Such people should be deported straight away.
So let Labour go down this route. There is no fixing stupid and there is no room for such depths of stupidity in public life. Remember, these same people are claiming there are 74 genders and a woman can have a penis.
All of that is absolutely true Matt, the question now is how can they be removed before 2029. If the citizens of Makerfield vote in the Reform candidate as their MP, that will obviously be huge. Trying to parachute in a PM, a previously non descript MP, with zero credentials for the job and of dubious morals, is so arrogant, it is flabbergasting. It was obvious, in the aftermath of the council election results, Starmer/Labour either simply don't give a toss or are even more stupid than we'd imagined. They just double down on all their brainless, unpopular policies, keep calling all decent British citizens right wing thugs and racists. And now they have declared we are all thick morons for voting for Brexit, they need to correct our mistake and they are going to rejoin the EU with all the electorate having no say whatsoever.
Several years (8?) pre the Referendum I was a UKIP activist. I recall a cartoon in The Sun, published in around 2012, which showed a graveyard with Farage and a group of UKIP "Undertakers" lowering a Labour Party-branded coffin into a grave. The Conservative branded-coffin had already been interred.
Looks like it might, finally, be coming to pass. Bring it on!
That cartoon sounds as though it would be just the thing to find and re-publish as an illustration of current events.
Totally agree, Matt and Makerfield seems like the wrong constituency for a Labour candidate to win in, so why is Burnham standing in it? Maybe it was the least bad Labour seat made available for him to attempt to win. I’m not a betting person, but I’d put money on Reform winning. I cannot see Burnham taking it , but it depends whether the electorate can be bribed and any other voting irregularities.
Once again Matt you are spot on.
For those of us, like me- coal miners son, working class childhood home, I would have naturally voted Labour.
BUT.
I passed 11+ in 1950, went to Grammar school, did well in my chosen career of mining engineering.
Yes, went down 't pit wi' mi' dad.
Mixed with good working class coal mining lads for 12 years as I buillt my career.
NEVER voted labour as I could see where they were going. Anti wealth creation - you cant make your voters better off if you punish your wealth creators. 75 years later they still havent learned this simple truth.
Labour are now about doing down the working class - yes there still is one - those who get up early to EARN a living.
These good people- the backbone of our nation - are beneath the contempt of the socialist clowns who now dominate labour. This why they think they are going to win Makerfield, despite recent council election wipe out in - er - Makerfield, and polling third or near bottom in poll after poll.
The word to describe this??
LUNACY.........
The Labour Party once marched under the banners of shipyards, steelworks and factory gates. Now it looks more at home hosting seminars on pronouns in north London wine bars while lecturing the very people who built it. The party of miners and machinists has morphed into a political finishing school for graduates who think patriotism is suspicious and borders are an embarrassing inconvenience.
Working-class voters who backed Brexit, worry about immigration and still fly the Union Jack are treated like awkward relatives at a fashionable dinner party. Labour grandees sneer, moralise and then act stunned when former heartlands turn to Reform in disgust.
The old Labour movement understood loyalty, nationhood and community. Today’s version too often sounds like it would rather govern a conference hall than a country. Every concern outside the metropolitan bubble is dismissed as ignorance, intolerance or “populism”.
And here lies Labour’s problem: a party that loses respect for its roots eventually discovers its roots stop voting for it.
It must be quite nice for the ‘Reform’ team to watch all the own goals being scored by Labour and the Tories. It’s as if they’ve been infiltrated by Reform sympathisers. It’s nice to see Matt and other Reform spokesmen taking a more positive stance towards the Unite the Kingdom rally, not necessarily the organisers but definitely the attendees, well done, a positive move.
Perhaps next year they will deign to speak at the rally. What are the chances?
I think Labour and anyone on the left would love that and make a meal of it. Better to be respectful from a distance, we’ll see.
Hope Reform can offer the Red Wall and sea side towns, a hopefull and a positive message on the economy.
The only people in Labour with any good ideas and a deep analysis is Lord Glasman and Blue Labour. Reform should engage with him.
If Reform can give working class people hope of Re-industrialisation, cheaper energy, and start talking about our Trade Deficit, ect they can destroy Labour once and for all.
Lord Glassman was frequently on Farage’s show on GB News am sure they are communicating
The ancien regime, in its worst let them eat cake mode.
I can only imagine that the purity spiral is circling the plughole so fast on the Labour back benches that they can't focus on the watching public.