Manchester – Reform UK – What Next?

We were very pleased to be joined by Jeff Armstrong who was the Reform UK Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Bury South in the recent general election, and came a respectable third place. Jeff has been a railway man all his life and since retiring has continued to work as a volunteer on the Pickering Railway in North Yorkshire and currently the East Lancs railway in Bury. Jeff is also the Reform coordinator for Greater Manchester as well as a magistrate and an army cadets instructor!

Please note: At the end of this post we have highlighted upcoming meetings and news of a YouTube channel launched by a couple of our younger members – called Informally Informed.

Why politics now?

Jeff began by explaining why he got into politics relatively late in life.

1. He recounted the story of a young lad who committed suicide by jumping under one of his trains, which he found out by lying next to the boy as he passed away. He found out that he had done this because he had lost his benefits. 3 people commit suicide every 2 days under similar pressures. There appears to be a whole generation that have lost hope, and Jeff explained that though national Service could help, it’s too late to begin at the age of 21.
2. In another account a freshly arrived immigrant mugged someone (for £20) so badly that it was impossible to tell the sex of the victim from the photos. He was remanded to subsequently receive a community service order but absconded. He should have been deported but the law does not allow this currently. If he had been locked up he would get out early in any case, and again disappear.
3. Walking with his 8 year old granddaughter they came across a man dressed as a women in such a way that his biological sex was clearly obvious. His granddaughter was very upset by this and so he reported it to the police. The police however, tried to discourage him, as they felt this could be viewed as a form of transphobia. Jeff stood his ground.

The Election

Turning to recent events, Jeff explained that Reform had not been ready for the election, with little if any support being available from the national team.

It was a difficult campaign, including problems with candidates as this was all “done” by the national team with no time to vet candidates.

It was important to show support for the Jewish community.

The Future

However, since the election there are up to 7 Conservative politicians consider changing party to Reform UK.

Reform are about to set out the democratisation of the party by setting up a branch structure so that local candidates can be selected and vetted locally. This step is due to start imminently.

Comments and questions

The meeting was then opened up to comments (C), questions (Q) and answers (A).

Q. What about policies?

A. Main thrust was immigration and we can’t have uncontrolled immigration. This impacts so many things with a disproportionate number of immigrants in prison, and additional load on housing, education and health.

C. The future of Reform seems to depend on what the Tories do next. If they get it right it could put a stop to Reform or there could be a merger. Needs someone fearless.

Q. With Labour in power it feels like we will move back into the dark ages. How will Reform help us to recover?

A. There are not many opportunities left and he is worried about his grandchildren. Another sign of the times is the massive increase in barbers which are often fronts for money laundering. He doesn’t support proportional representation as it leads to weak candidates who do no campaigning. Now, presumably all Reform candidates must be invited to hustings.

C. There is no chance that the Tories and reform would work together. We can’t trust the Tories in any case they had their chance. Reform needs to demolish the Tory party.

A. And we need to be very careful which Tory MPs we get, I.e. not just opportunists but people who really believe in Reform.

Q. What is your policy on healthcare as didn’t follow how it was presented in the Reform Contract (manifesto)?

A. NHS staff would get a tax break for 3 years and a voucher to go private if can’t get treatment on the NHS.

C. It wouldn’t save money as the government doesn’t have much control over the NHS. Having worked for a private health companies – they charge different rates depending on who is paying; an individual or an insurance company, for example.

Q. It would be a major error to allow Tories to come over without a bi-election. Can you trust people that flip-flop?

A. Jeff didn’t know whether bi-elections would be called.

C. In terms of philosophy its important not to worry about being called a racist if you know you aren’t one. Pete North, former UKIP candidate, has written about Reforms policies not being developed yet – and this must be done.

C. Agreed that accepting Tory MPs without a bi-election would be a mistake. Reform is an insurgent populist party an needs a proper structure.Must be member led and bottom up. Keep away from the Tories.

C. Three other people did support the Tories switching sides because politics is a dirty game heavily weighted against insurgent parties and those who jump will likely have tried everything else to influence their own party first. Example of local politician Christian Wakeford switching not hurting the labour party as he got elected with Labour.

C. Miriam Cates, a tory MP who lost her seat, is exactly the sort of person that Reform should want.

Q. What will Reform do different locally?

A. No elections in Greater Manchester next May, but getting lots of new members and forming partnerships with local action groups aiming to raise the profile of their own towns, such as Kersley First who have already secured council seats.

Q. What is Reform’s strategy to combat the “Blob”?

A. Jeff doesn’t know. Perhaps fire Civil Servants above a particular pay level?!

C. Confession. Voted Reform because didn’t trust Labour or the Tories and it wasn’t because of policies it was because he was confident in Nigel. Understands he must research their policies and costs in detail.

C. Needs a “Brexity” sort of thing in order to break through and also doesn’t mind being called names. Re strong leader, isn’t Farage that person? More optimist than some that things can be turned around. Must reform education which is brainwashing kids but they are getting wise to it. (This was later attested to by a new younger group member).

A. If 16 year olds get the vote, may not be what Labour wanted as more young people support Reform. Look at Nigel’s following on TikTok.

Q. There is a lack of talent in politics – how to tackle?

A. Don’t have career politicians. Need “normal” people not in it for the money. The Timpson model is a good one.

Q. How does parliamentary funding work?

A. It requires party to have a minimum of 5 MPs.

Q. What to do with the House of Lords?

A. Scrap it as currently formed and replace with an elected upper chamber with perhaps some appointed?

C. Our friend Baroness Claire Fox does want to scrap it.

C. There isn’t room in our democracy for the Tories and Reform. With both, Labour will stay in power longer – must join forces. For example, the greens are an ultra-left extension of the Labour Party. The Tories let us down and were therefore punished. However, people may forget how bad they were after a labour government! Can they make peace? If not looking at 2-3 terms of Labour.

A. Jeff disagreed.

C. There was only a 60% turn out across the UK but in England it was even lower at 50%! It isn’t just about apathy. Its a case of tweedle dum or tweedle dee. Voted for Jeff because Reform are the most disruptive party. People are sickened by the lack of delivery. Parliamentary democracy is a smokescreen. MPs are not interest in people, only their own careers and big business.

A. Jeff suggested that he would want to take out the party element in local councils.

C. You can’t ignore someone as a candidate because they have a politics background and you can’t prefer someone just because they have worked. Recounted story of Johny Mercer who suggested “bringing Plymouth to Westminster”. [What did this mean?]

C. Was impressed with Reform policies, it was the only manifesto to present a positive agenda.

C. Found the contract impressive. Doesn’t believe the parties can find a way to work together – one must destroy the other. Both wings of the Tories would try to destroy reform! It’s been labour/tory for 100 years but it can be changed. Examples of Trump (where the US establishment is worse than the UK) and Marine Le Pen.

C. Would rather get rid of all parties and vote for individuals. Main question to ask a candidate is “What is a woman?”. Suggested a drastic punishment if they got the answer wrong!

Q. Agree about this question – what is a woman Jeff? Serious question.

A. There are only two sexes.

C. Why not form a coalition? What would Reform priorities be in such a coalition?

A. No go!

Q. Shouldn’t we push referenda?

A. Yes – it would encourage engagement. Nigel called for one already in his maiden speech, to withdraw from the ECHR.

Q. My friends hate Nigel Farage and call him a fascist. How do I address this?

A. There is a secret majority of people who think the same way you do but can’t admit to this.

C. It’s not just the trans ideology – its the whole woke agenda that must be tackled. The three main issues are woke, mass immigration and political Islam. The first and last have captured our institutions. The only thing that will bring down Labour is Labour!

C. We must stand up for what we believe and not be afraid to speak out.

C. Someone recounted experience as a radiographer of implementing a new protocol in the NHS where they had to ask a terminally ill boy whether there was any chance he could be pregnant! This was stopped at the hospital in question but is still applied in others.

Summary

This was a great meeting attended by many new members including several younger people, a real sign that the next generation are taking a serious interest in politics. Thanks again to Jeff Armstrong, for stimulating a friendly and lively discussion. We look forward updates to Reform’s progress.

Upcoming meetings

Our next Manchester meeting will be on Tuesday 27th August when we will host a presentation and discussion about the history of Israel.

Our next Newcastle meeting will be on the Tuesday 17th September when we will have an evening with Joanna Williams, political commentator, education editor at Spiked and author of several books including ‘How Woke Won: The Elitist Movement That Threatens Democracy, Tolerance and Reason’.

On Wed 21st August, the Croydon Constitutionalists will be asking GE2024 – How was it for you? We will be having a panel discussion which includes Reform UK the SDP Candidate, covering the campaign, their experiences and thoughts on what happens next.

There is a new right-of-centre discussion group being set up with their first meeting at the Britons Protection on the 6th Aug at 7:30pm.

Cancelling Cancel Culture have a challenging talk coming up on Sunday 18th Aug at 2pm in the Britons Protection. Lois McLatchy Miller will be speaking and she is an anti-abortion campaigner. The topic will be Is abortion really healthcare?

The new Comedy Unleashed events have really taken off. The next one is on the 5th Sep, 7-10pm, at Impossible Manchester.

Other news

There is a new YouTube channel run by a couple of our members, called Informally Informed, covering many of the topics we discuss in our meetings.

We are growing

We are expanding our activities via regional Politics in Pubs groups and have created a map where you can search for a group near you. If you live near Ilkley we have members starting a new group, so please let us know if this of interest.

Don’t worry if you can’t find anything nearby as you can start your own group. If you would like to be put in touch with other people interested in talking about politics, please reply to this email letting us know your location and we’ll help to get the conversation started.

We have also started to grow our network with other free speech groups who have a similar interest in open discussion and debate. If you have such a group and want to appear on our map please get in touch.