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Alternatives to the 2 main protagonist parties. - Scott (4th Dec 2025  10:43:16) Ok, so, instead of trying to hijack another post about a very sadly now lost Ice cream business, lets start the informed (hopefully) debate about the Pros and Cons of the Reform UK party. Or come to think of it any other party apart from Cons/Lab (we've covered them enough, yawn!)you care to promote. Do some research though and I request you have read at least some of their policies or manifestos and not just going to quote the big soundbite captions. This should be good. Does anyone want to grab the baton and start us off😊

Re: Alternatives to the 2 main protagonist parties. - Charlie (4th Dec 2025  12:32:07) I, for the first time in my life do not know, if there was a General Election tomorrow, who I would vote for. The Conservatives deserved all they received in the last election. To compound that they have proved themselves to be a useless and in effectual opposition. This present Labour Government must be one of worst ever elected in it’s history and Keir Starmer the worst Prime Minister of all time. The Liberals, although they do well in local elections, are also ineffectual as is their leader Ed Davey. So we are left with the Reform Party which really is a “one-trick pony” party. If Farage should decide throw in the towel, the party would collapse. However, while he is leader and he is a populist one, Reform’s popularity seems to grow but I have grave concerns about some of their MP’s, candidates and supporters. Two examples. On 26 March 2021, Mr Nathan Gill became Leader of The Reform Party in Wales and then a candidate in the Senedd election in North Wales but was not elected. He has now left the Reform UK, but in 2025 Mr Gill pleaded guilty to eight charges relating to the acceptance of bribes from a former pro-Russia Ukrainian politician to make pro-Russian statements in the European Parliament and to the media. In November he was sentenced to ten-and-a-half years in prison. I appreciate that by then he was no longer a member of The Reform Party, but he is an example of the sort of person I would not like to see running our Country. Reform seems to attract them. What he did was appalling and do we, as a country, really want people of that calibre in positions of power. Another example of unsuitable people involved in The Reform Party was Ms Pochin, MP for Runcorn and Helsby. During a TV phone-in in October 2025, she agreed with a caller's complaint about advertising and actually said: "It drives me mad when I see adverts full of black people, full of Asian people". She later apologised. Don’t get me wrong, I think there definitely should be controlled legal immigration, and deportation when deemed necessary, but in my opinion The Reform Party has too many "hard right" supporters and members and a “hard right” triggers a “hard left”. So Scott, in conclusion I do not have any answers or a magic wand.

Re: Alternatives to the 2 main protagonist parties. - Simon (4th Dec 2025  12:47:36) Nice one Scott. I'm politically homeless, am keen to find out what others offer that isn't just a headline.

Re: Alternatives to the 2 main protagonist parties. - Paul2 (4th Dec 2025  13:19:59) Hey Scott, I'll make a start. I don't care if people shoot me down, I've a thick skin! It's a good question. Importantly, I fear many voters never really understand how any parties policies match to their own beliefs and preferences. As an example - I work in STEM, it's vital to economic growth, and we only have to look at other global economies to see how important STEM is to them. I've never voted Reform, but I do agree with their education policy which proposed scrapping tuition fees for STEM degrees. To me, personally, I see the logic in that incentive. Not saying it's going to sway my vote, but it is but one example where understanding what's important to me as a voter helps me understand what parties are proposing (or not).

Re: Alternatives to the 2 main protagonist parties. - Charlie (4th Dec 2025  15:34:46) One more example which makes me very wary of Reform. A Reform UK council leader Ian Cooper, the leader of Staffordshire County Council has been accused of racism after allegedly describing Sadiq Khan as a “narcissistic Pakistani” and saying a black British lawyer should have “F’d off back to Nigeria”. He is also accused of attacking the justice secretary, David Lammy, in a social media post that said: “No foreign national or first generation migrant should be allowed to sit in parliament.” There were many more instances of this man’s insulting behaviour – too many. Cooper is only one of Reform UK councillors who have been exposed for their extreme views. It’s particularly shocking that someone in a leadership position has not been vetted sufficiently – or perhaps Farage and his party think this is an acceptable way to behave? I would find it impossible to associate with a party that includes people who promote this sort of racial hatred. Paul2 I looked at STEM - very interesting. However if Reform's Policy is proposing scrapping tuition fees for STEM degrees who is going to pick up the tab? Not the already overburdened working taxpayer I hope.

Re: Alternatives to the 2 main protagonist parties. - Scott (4th Dec 2025  17:25:06) Thank you for the contributions so far, it makes for sensible,factual, interesting reading. I have some issues with their idea of completely cancelling the UK's commitment to net zero and instead are more devoted to a more independant energy future by trying to access more drilling fields in the north sea and overturning the moratorium on fracking. If this particular ruling was overturned by a Reform government the consequences of fracking are extremely signifcant. I certainly would object to any sites on the grounds of making the widespread geology to a given site unstable. Does anyone fancy a site anywhere in Hampshire or within shouting distance of Liphook?! A broad opinion of climate change by many of the Reform party is that its a naturally occuring phenomenon. Echoes of thoughts from across the pond. Any more thoughts on the whole thread to build some perspective and knowledge will be very well received. This is the chance to really nail what anyone feels strongly about or not relating to the alternative parties to the main two.

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