I’m no Reform fan. But my observation would be that if Birmingham (or anywhere else for that matter) was being run competently, Reform would not get a foothold.
Reform will go for areas where there’s pain and dissatisfaction with the incumbent leadership. Looks to me like it’s Birmingham placing a target on its own back?
It seems to me that what Reform say strikes a chord with a large proportion of the population, but it is done with a veneer of unpleasantness. That works for some, but alienates others. I expect they've calculated that their current approach is more likely to gather more support than showing a bit more kindness.
I hardly think they do it with unpleasantness. The unpleasantness comes from those calling people “racist”, with nothing positive to contribute. It’s all quite astonishing, when we have serious concerns in this country, which the Govt is not only not dealing with, but appears to be exacerbating, with apparent disregard for the citizens of this country.
I don't trust Reform at all, but the facade that is the two party system needs to be destroyed. That's priority number one. Actual governance can come later.
And there, in your very last paragraph, Jane, is the real nub of the matter.
Racists gonna be racists, and Reform provide a home for racists. It’s as simple as that; there are lots of racists in our country, but they are not, fortunately, in a majority, but, very sadly, there are a lot of them.
As Will Self said of Brexit, not every person who voted for Brexit is a racist, but you can bet every racist in the country voted for Brexit, so it is with Reform.
More racists in Reform than not. And they are absolutely not the people any of the mainstream parties should pander to. Because they are racists, and that needs no caveating or havering over. Or even basic level explaining…
It you actually knew any members of Reform UK, or their candidates, you would know how utterly untrue it is that they are racist. It simply is a lie fabricated by those who are opposed to them.
The party chairman is Muhammed Ziaddin Yusuf. He was born in Scotland to Sri Lankan immigrant parents. Oh and by the way, he's a Muslim.
Try Googling a few candidates:
* Prahbdeep Singh. Heston & Feltham, West London. A former British soldier, he's a Sikh.
*Manzur Hasan. Spalding, Lincs. Bangladeshi-born and a Muslim.
* Augustine Obodo. Bicester and Woodstock, Oxon. Black.
*Raj Forhad. Hainault, East London. Bangladeshi Muslim.
*Neville Watson. Enfield, London branch Chairman. Black son of Windrush parents.
* Navtaij Sangha. North London. Sikh.
* Nagender Chindam. Sefton. Hindi.
Oh and I personally know Reform members who were born in Hong Kong, Brazil, Australia, Bangladesh and Mauritius. Reform kicks out candidates and officials who are racist. Unfortunately that doesn't fit the agenda of those who are on the left.
And this article doesn't mention that the "anti-racists" who protest at Reform events usually have their faces covered so they can't be identified. They spit on people. They kick women. They scream abuse in people's faces. They push and jostle. Two of those empty seats at the Birmingham conference were because I decided that it was safer to stay at home than run the risk of being "accidentally" pushed into the canal. If you have to intimidate your political opponents then you are running scared. I'd rather make my point at the ballot box.
Certainly I don’t know where to turn… having left the Labour Party after the last election. Birmingham was a great City that has been allowed to slowly disintegrate and lose its way. Local and national politicians have given us half truths, mists and shadows. They have abandoned democracy. So many good positive people and services have been lost. So few have benefitted.
>The ground level ‘stage’ was turned into a vignette of a modern community, replete with a shut-down pub, a vandalised bus stop, grafittied barber’s shop and a bookies, overflowing bins and a potholed strip of road.
When did right wingers become weird performative theater kids too? I thought that was just effete lefties but apparently the foppish limp wristed theater kids have taken over politics as a whole
It’s worth keeping all the noise about reform in perspective. While they have four MPs, the greens also have four, Plaid Cymru have four and there are five independent socialists pro-Palestine MPs. So (even without including SNP) the left is more than three times as strong as the right.
How many people were inside the hall, I didn’t spot that? Was it more or fewer than were outside? You remember in the summer when the fascist rioting was stopped when ten times as many socialists turned out to guard the mosques?
The primary purpose of reform is that Labour have become so evil that they are insufficiently lesser evil than the conservatives, and therefore we need a scarier threat if there is any hope of keeping the lesser evil game alive. But there is absolutely no reason based on precedent to imagine reform would outperform an organised hard left challenge.
How did you get a ticket without being a member? Or were you given journalistic access? Due to constant death threats against Nigel Farage and others, security is very tight.
Liebour is running scared as are the Tories. It’s time for change and Reform are filling the void left by the total failure and distrust generated by the uniparties. Like it or not Reform are offering what many people in the silent majority want and their traction will increase. The racist label is all getting rather boring now. Yawn yawn!!
Net Zero is going to be a MASSIVE issue at the next general election. With 2030 just around the corner subsidies to renewable energy companies are going to be the equivalent of £1000 per household, this is real money which will be added to each Kilowatt Hour of energy used. Reform UK are the only party who have grasped that Britains energy policy is crippling industries and killing pensioners. The country will have to borrow trillions of pounds Stirling more just to pay for basic amenities such as schools and hospitals. More and more people are grasping the nettle and voting for Reform UK, no amount of name calling will put people off putting the cross in the only box that matters. Do yourselves a favour and read the data assembled by David Turver, it is scandalous.
And if you want to see where nut-zero leads, look at what just happened in Spain and Portugal yesterday where most of their power was coming from solar and wind until it wasn't.
British voters are the most gullible and politically illiterate in Europe. The fact that they're shooting themselves in the foot once more is hardly surprising. I’d expect nothing less.
I’m no Reform fan. But my observation would be that if Birmingham (or anywhere else for that matter) was being run competently, Reform would not get a foothold.
Reform will go for areas where there’s pain and dissatisfaction with the incumbent leadership. Looks to me like it’s Birmingham placing a target on its own back?
It seems to me that what Reform say strikes a chord with a large proportion of the population, but it is done with a veneer of unpleasantness. That works for some, but alienates others. I expect they've calculated that their current approach is more likely to gather more support than showing a bit more kindness.
I hardly think they do it with unpleasantness. The unpleasantness comes from those calling people “racist”, with nothing positive to contribute. It’s all quite astonishing, when we have serious concerns in this country, which the Govt is not only not dealing with, but appears to be exacerbating, with apparent disregard for the citizens of this country.
Kindness gets you nowhere anymore. You just get taken advantage of. This is what has happened in Britain.
Excellent, insightful piece Jane
I don't trust Reform at all, but the facade that is the two party system needs to be destroyed. That's priority number one. Actual governance can come later.
And there, in your very last paragraph, Jane, is the real nub of the matter.
Racists gonna be racists, and Reform provide a home for racists. It’s as simple as that; there are lots of racists in our country, but they are not, fortunately, in a majority, but, very sadly, there are a lot of them.
As Will Self said of Brexit, not every person who voted for Brexit is a racist, but you can bet every racist in the country voted for Brexit, so it is with Reform.
More racists in Reform than not. And they are absolutely not the people any of the mainstream parties should pander to. Because they are racists, and that needs no caveating or havering over. Or even basic level explaining…
It you actually knew any members of Reform UK, or their candidates, you would know how utterly untrue it is that they are racist. It simply is a lie fabricated by those who are opposed to them.
The party chairman is Muhammed Ziaddin Yusuf. He was born in Scotland to Sri Lankan immigrant parents. Oh and by the way, he's a Muslim.
Try Googling a few candidates:
* Prahbdeep Singh. Heston & Feltham, West London. A former British soldier, he's a Sikh.
*Manzur Hasan. Spalding, Lincs. Bangladeshi-born and a Muslim.
* Augustine Obodo. Bicester and Woodstock, Oxon. Black.
*Raj Forhad. Hainault, East London. Bangladeshi Muslim.
*Neville Watson. Enfield, London branch Chairman. Black son of Windrush parents.
* Navtaij Sangha. North London. Sikh.
* Nagender Chindam. Sefton. Hindi.
Oh and I personally know Reform members who were born in Hong Kong, Brazil, Australia, Bangladesh and Mauritius. Reform kicks out candidates and officials who are racist. Unfortunately that doesn't fit the agenda of those who are on the left.
And this article doesn't mention that the "anti-racists" who protest at Reform events usually have their faces covered so they can't be identified. They spit on people. They kick women. They scream abuse in people's faces. They push and jostle. Two of those empty seats at the Birmingham conference were because I decided that it was safer to stay at home than run the risk of being "accidentally" pushed into the canal. If you have to intimidate your political opponents then you are running scared. I'd rather make my point at the ballot box.
Laughable the comments on here using the usual, lazy 'racist' slur. You aren't racist to be concerned about this......
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/04/28/take-it-from-a-moderate-islamist-extremism-is-the-biggest-t/
.....Don't take it from me, take it from a moderate muslim
Certainly I don’t know where to turn… having left the Labour Party after the last election. Birmingham was a great City that has been allowed to slowly disintegrate and lose its way. Local and national politicians have given us half truths, mists and shadows. They have abandoned democracy. So many good positive people and services have been lost. So few have benefitted.
>The ground level ‘stage’ was turned into a vignette of a modern community, replete with a shut-down pub, a vandalised bus stop, grafittied barber’s shop and a bookies, overflowing bins and a potholed strip of road.
When did right wingers become weird performative theater kids too? I thought that was just effete lefties but apparently the foppish limp wristed theater kids have taken over politics as a whole
It’s worth keeping all the noise about reform in perspective. While they have four MPs, the greens also have four, Plaid Cymru have four and there are five independent socialists pro-Palestine MPs. So (even without including SNP) the left is more than three times as strong as the right.
How many people were inside the hall, I didn’t spot that? Was it more or fewer than were outside? You remember in the summer when the fascist rioting was stopped when ten times as many socialists turned out to guard the mosques?
The primary purpose of reform is that Labour have become so evil that they are insufficiently lesser evil than the conservatives, and therefore we need a scarier threat if there is any hope of keeping the lesser evil game alive. But there is absolutely no reason based on precedent to imagine reform would outperform an organised hard left challenge.
Hi Amos - certainly more inside than out - around 5-6k I’d guess out of potential 10-15k compared to 2-300 outside
How did you get a ticket without being a member? Or were you given journalistic access? Due to constant death threats against Nigel Farage and others, security is very tight.
Liebour is running scared as are the Tories. It’s time for change and Reform are filling the void left by the total failure and distrust generated by the uniparties. Like it or not Reform are offering what many people in the silent majority want and their traction will increase. The racist label is all getting rather boring now. Yawn yawn!!
Net Zero is going to be a MASSIVE issue at the next general election. With 2030 just around the corner subsidies to renewable energy companies are going to be the equivalent of £1000 per household, this is real money which will be added to each Kilowatt Hour of energy used. Reform UK are the only party who have grasped that Britains energy policy is crippling industries and killing pensioners. The country will have to borrow trillions of pounds Stirling more just to pay for basic amenities such as schools and hospitals. More and more people are grasping the nettle and voting for Reform UK, no amount of name calling will put people off putting the cross in the only box that matters. Do yourselves a favour and read the data assembled by David Turver, it is scandalous.
And if you want to see where nut-zero leads, look at what just happened in Spain and Portugal yesterday where most of their power was coming from solar and wind until it wasn't.
I didn't hear any of the "anti LGBT rhetoric" in the quotations you report.
British voters are the most gullible and politically illiterate in Europe. The fact that they're shooting themselves in the foot once more is hardly surprising. I’d expect nothing less.
Stay with us Jane the best is yet to come 👍🏴🇬🇧