I am reform minded, but not Reform Party minded. This is why :

I had to laugh at a letter from a Reform Party supporter in the local paper calling for the country to be less divided.

The Reform Party has its’ roots in the failed UKIP Party, which did a pretty good job of dividing the Nation by making out that all things European were a severe threat to our sovereignty (however you might define it).

This eventually ended in Brexit… which predictably delivered lots of bad things and almost nothing that you can claim as a positive.

Now the Reform Party is a collection of former UKIP supporters, bolstered by (again) failed Conservatives, masquerading as something fresh and anti-establishment.

If it wasn’t for the public school backgrounds, the foreign billionaire backers, the fondness for bitcoin trading and the cosying up to Trump…. they might get away with it…. but fortunately, most people see through it.

Now they cannot blame Europe on all the ills of the country, they have to find somebody else to “other”…. so, of course, immigrants are the obvious choice, particularly the ones that manage to arrive on a rubber boat.

When you quiz them about how they would deal with asylum seekers, you find out that it involves withdrawing human rights… the same human rights that we all have.

In the same way that Trump has zero respect for international law, they want Britain to do likewise and forget about proper processing that identifies genuine cases, but simply send them all back to France, (as if that would have no consequences).

I don’t think that Reform Party candidates and supporters see themselves as racist but there is definitely an underlying tone of implying that Britain is Broken and it can only be fixed by sending immigrants back to where they came from.

Take it from me, there are many things that are not working as they should be, from the way our water companies are allowed to operate, to the Courts system, our overcrowded prisons, to businesses not being supported, to the was social services and SEND provision is assessed and funded, the benefits system, the need for food banks, NHS waiting lists. A huge amount of reform is absolutely needed and I “get” why some people are attracted to somebody who expresses the problems so well and claims to have answers.

In every country in Europe, there will be a similar party, trying to persuade the people that they should be more nationalist, that everything would be better if they turned back the clock 50 years to a time when there was no crime, no wars, Britain ruled the world through Empire and that the Tory “Re-treads” are just the people that have found the secret of cutting council waste and your tax.

If you decide to vote for them…. good luck !