RuamRudy

I don't disagree with any of that but my point is that there is no evidence of a rise of the right in the UK - Farage is picking up votes but not by a significant margin. He is merely collecting the Tory right. The majority, however, remains in the middle, hence the appeal of the saccharin Starmer and his mix of Labour and Tory lite.

Not universal - see the UK and the imminent demise of the Tory party, for example. Reform UK may be picking up disaffected Tories but there is no evidence that anyone else is falling for their message. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-68079726

But (again...) this thread is not about me or the SNP. Please read the OP if you are confused.

As Barack Obama said of him, he had "the easy confidence of someone who’d never been pressed too hard by life." And that is one of the fundamental problems in the UK that has dogged us for, well, ever - it is mostly led by a succession of mediocre, moneyed individuals who are bred to believe that they are capable of, in fact destined for leadership, when they clearly are not fit for the task. But it is not all their fault, we proles still vote for them.

Troll? Maybe you need to educate yourself on what a troll is. Someone (i.e. me) pointing out that Farage is relying heavily upon a man who recently served time for drug money laundering is not trolling. Someone (i.e. you) suggesting I am a troll for doing so shows how fragile his campaign is, and how his snowflake supporters don't like fact.

An interesting article in the byline times - Farage's former chief of staff and now advisor is a convicted fraudster with connections to the royal family. Reform UK - a true party of the masses... Who is ‘Posh George’? Meet the Aristocrat and Convicted Fraudster Close to Nigel Farage

Wouldn't this forum be really boring if everyone's contributions amounted to little more than baseless posts about Brexit being great and Meghan Markle and Diane Abbott being jointly responsible for all the negative things in the UK? I know that the Tories are pushing to make freedom of thought a crime but it's not yet illegal to not follow your cult.

It feels that there's no escape for him now.

It's sad to see what will likely be one of the last ever major commemorative events for D-day where veterans participate being overshadowed by yet another Tory failure. But putting Sunak aside, the event was very moving. The words of Joe Mines, read out by Martin Freeman, were harrowing. When the camera turns to the old man himself, he looks such a remarkable character. They definitely don't make them like him anymore.

I am not sure that they are so sharp...

Hmm, no, try again, but this time with more effort.

Allow me to help you with your ignorance. Think of Alf Garnett and how he spoke about 'coons' and 'pakis' whilst maintaining that he wasn't a racist. This gave all the real world racists a sense of plausibility to their bigotry. Galloway is a more subtle version of Alf Garnett. Incidentally, it always gives me great pleasure to think of all the racists enthralled by Garnett, completely unaware of Warren Mitchell's lifelong socialist campaigning and his hatred of bigotry. ."Look," he said, not bothering to hide his irritation, "you can't help it if people are idiots. I had a bloke come up to me one day and say, 'I love that show of yours Alf, especially when you have a go at the coons.' I said, 'Actually, we're having a go at b*****ds like you.'" https://www.thejc.com/life-and-culture/tv/i-fear-more-laughed-with-alf-garnett-than-at-him-w3jlirc0

What he is doing is 'othering' homosexuals, making them clearly different from the majority and subtly making it acceptable to 'other' them.

Call me old fashioned, but I just feel that political parties should have members who can vote on policy and set the direction of the party. By that, of course, I mean more than a handful of members who actually own shares in the 'party'. They shouldn't simply be rich mens' means of interfering with democracy.

Get over yourself - and get over the attack on your hero. I made it clear, if you actually bothered to read all that I wrote, that I believe those who try to prevent free speech and impinge upon our democracy should be punished. I am sorry that you don't feel that's slavish or fulsome enough, but I am sure you have more than enough adulation for both of us.

The state of Israel was founded over 70 years ago - if the Maldives was an anti-semitic country, why are they only taking this action now?

You and all others who cry about anti-semitism whenever Israel is criticised or chastised seriously undermine the reality of anti-semitism by using the term so casually. Like with the boy who cried wolf, more and more people are waking up to the propaganda that Israel has been deploying for years, where they publicity smear anyone who has the gall to criticise their actions with the accusation of anti-semitism. There is no denying that anti-semitism is present in the world; it is a scourge that should be fought wherever it is present, but your Pavlovian response to any criticism of Israel by branding the critic a Jew hater does a disservice to those who experience real anti-semitism.

He is an odious man and an inveterate liar but even though he doesn't represent a political party but a political corporation, our democracy demands that he should be free to put forth his bile unhindered. Punish those who attack our democracy.

As, I only learned that, Reform UK is not a political party but a private company, I would assume that their economic policies include making as much money as possible for the shareholders - that, of course, was Farage's intent with Brexit and his goal as an MEP.

Of course they wouldn't - but why should Palestinians be forced from their land? It's been going on for decades and the west has turned a blind eye. It is utterly ludicrous to think that any people would accept the levels of abuse and deprivation that Israel has heaped on the Palestinians generation after generation without snapping. There is only so many times you can kick a dog before it bites back. The hamas attacks were horrific and despicable but totally predictable.

You wrote 'The majority thinks this' and the 'The majority thinks that'. Here is some news for you - you are not the majority; you are one man. You are speaking for nobody but yourself. You are certainly not elected by the majority to speak on their behalf.

I am not the one making fanciful claims. You wrote the following: But you are unable to point to anything that backs up your claim to know what 'the majority' thinks or wants. It is not for me to prove that you are wrong - it is you who made these claims. It is for you to back them up with evidence.

Thanks for confirming that, contrary to what you wrote earlier, you actually have no idea what the majority thinks.

Do you have any links to back up your assertion of what the UK population believes and wants?

Interestingly, Reform UK doesn't actually appear to be a political party. Rather, it's a private company with Farage owning 53% of it.