So scared of Reform

Post Reply New Topic

When Farage gets elected (no doubt he will, after all this), I'm really scared that I will lose my job (as my job isn't 100% safe) and have to go on job seekers, because he's going to bully people on job seekers. He's going to make you take the first job offer that comes along even if it isn't suitable for you, and if you haven't found a job within 4 months then your benefits will be stopped. Can he do this? I mean, what if you apply for jobs and keep getting turned down? How will you pay your bills and rent if you have your unemployment benefits stopped?

I'm really anxious about this. Can people really not vote Reform, please? It's going to hit us poor people really hard. I struggle as it is with employment, and I don't want to end up in a job that I hate, because then the management would just say "why are you working here then if you don't like it?"

I don't know what to do. Can someone here please reassure me? Is it going to be as bad as that for the unemployed? Or will it be the same as it was back in 2011, when I was unemployed and Tory government was in and they had strict rules on unemployment but I never lost my benefits, and I was claiming for 5 years before I actually got offered a job?

Please someone reassure me. Please no "yep he can take away your human rights and you will die a horrible death" replies. This isn't about dog-whistling. I just want a plausible but reassuring response from someone who's quite knowledgeable in politics. I'm just so anxious about losing everything and being punished for not being able to find a job if I do become unemployed when he gets elected in.

It's worse in the US. Far fewer worker protections here. Many states have "right-to-work" laws (means "right to work for less"). All but Montana allow at-will employment (means you can be laid off or fired for any or no reason, without explanation). Texas, where I live, is literally the worst states for workers' rights.

Even some of the unions, which started American liberalism as we know it, endorsed Trump in 2024.

Plus the federal minimum wage has only been $7.25/hour for years, though some states have raised theirs to nearly $20/hour. At the same time, home prices have risen 10 times faster than incomes in some areas.

I studied economics for two years.
No government will ever do anything that could reduce economic revenue.

He won't.

I don't know if your diagnosis is valid. I'll explain two things to you.
1) It works the same way here as it does in yours: the new laws maintain employment rights, and it's very unlikely they'll be allowed to create chaos.
Politicians aren't good, but they do what's convenient for the state.

Then they'll have to support people with benefits anyway.

2) I think it's extremely likely that rights be maintained.

Economic revenue matters, and if jobs aren't created, how can there be economic growth?

For the rest, laws like ours should be passed: those who have a job and, for example, are recognized as autistic can keep their job and not be moved or discriminated against.

The government is fascist and certainly not inclined to support people differently.

But it must do so: otherwise, it's a kind of hara-kiri for the state itself.

*Always logical: your nation will attract resources from abroad.

Improving people's living conditions.

I believe it's difficult to go below what you have.

I assume an economic recovery within the next two years.

The post is therefore positive.

§
In our case, by doing things well, we are aligning ourselves economically with France, which has 14 colonies, which it exploits. We have none anymore.

It means that when you work well politically, the economy either grows or remains stable until it grows.

Our nation has been losing out economically to the EU for 24 years.

UK, have courageously left it.

I don't see why we can't collaborate with the EU; the UK now has the economic conditions to be on par with us in the EU.

You also have significant leeway to align it with the euro.
Lowering its value will boost economic competitiveness.

I was looking at the graphs on your economy earlier.

They can devalue it by 15%, and that's a lot.
Devaluing the currency brings enormous advantages.
And public debt can also be reduced.

It's high here, but it's largely internal, meaning we owe it to ourselves.
A difficult step to understand.

But the US also has a huge debt to China and Japan, but in total only a third of the total debt is foreign.
Japan and China are among the United States' largest foreign creditors, holding about a third of the US public debt, but their position as the largest debt holders has been overtaken by Europe and other financial centers, which collectively hold the largest share of US debt. A potential massive sale of American assets by China would be counterproductive and not a fatal threat to the US economy, given our mutual financial interdependence.

I'm writing this because we are also interdependent as economies.
Therefore, all of us Westerners will have no advantage over China or Japan.

§

*Request equal import and export laws from the EU.

Creating a virtuous economy.

You haven't published data on this metric.

Our debt-to-GDP ratio is better.

I don't see why it can't happen here too; the prospects are there and excellent.

The point is that when you do things sensibly, and I don't see why this won't happen here, you can only improve.

I also think you've left the worst behind you.

GDP is forecast to hover around 1.5% in 2026 and 1.4% in 2027, indicating a slow but steady recovery.

Your country will cut interest rates.

The Bank of England (BOE) has begun a cycle of interest rate cuts to stimulate growth, and these are expected to continue throughout 2025.

What will this entail?
Long-term balance sheet consolidation.
And sustained, progressive growth.
A brief period in which everything remains the same as in 2024 (a 0.5% growth in the economy is equivalent to remaining unchanged).
From 2026, economic growth will triple that rate. This will therefore be true growth, with positive trends for at least another two years after 2025 (which is now coming to an end).

In short: you will be out of that sort of economic stalemate, and soon.

So, don't worry.

Yes while they keep the working class preoccupied with immigration, their big plans will be to cut tax for the wealthy (themselves and benefactors)
to pay for this:
1. Reduce public works
2. Make government smaller
3. cut welfare
4. get rid of minimum wage
5. redeploy army to police urban areas and get rid of cops

I've been unable to find anything explicitly stating how Reform intend to proceed with the National Living Wage. They do "promise" in their manifesto/"contract to you" to increase the tax threshold to £20,000, so potentially, you may be better off financially.

Thanks guys for your replies. I feel a bit reassured already, as I don't really appreciate the cut and dry responses I've had on a different forum about this, where everyone just fuelled my anxiety even further by saying "yep, he's going to turn the UK into a third world country for everyone except the rich."

But I mean if you're claiming unemployment allowance and you apply for jobs but keep getting turned down, surely he can't stop your money? That is going to make me really anxious, especially that I struggle as it is.

I'm not choosing to be picky, but when you're ND with mental health issues you kinda have to be a bit picky, otherwise you could end up in a job you hate that you have no interest in, and you spend a lot of time at work. Plus I am a magnet for bullies, which I find extremely difficult to handle. My ADHD makes employment extremely difficult, and I'm not just making it up. My brain can sometimes work too fast, making me say or do things without considering the consequences, and I can be easily distracted and I have to force myself to do the repetitive tasks most jobs demand. It can be mentally exhausting and I need time away, which is why I do part-time only.
I stand on the "too intelligent for menial jobs, not intelligent enough for a career" threshold. My brain likes creativity, and finds ways to be creative, which has landed me in trouble many times at work for "breaking a rule". But it wasn't breaking a rule as such, I was just approaching it in a more creative manner, as I don't respond well to rules unless they're just guidelines or general social rules. And I can go into meltdown mode if I'm too provoked by constant reminders of petty rules and demands. Then I get depressed and lose interest in my work even more, which drains me.

Work can be an issue for me, which is why I need to be a little more picky than the average person, otherwise I might end up finding myself fired.

I'm just living in constant fear and apprehension all the time, so scared bad things are going to happen to me beyond my control and then be punished for it by the government. I'm constantly living in fear all the time. Nigel Farage has a cute, friendly face, and I feel guilty for saying all this, but I really do not trust him to be our leader.

Hopefully I'm wrong.

I think there are two different things: how people perceive the present and how they will be able to perceive the future.

Looking at the estimates for the future, I'd say you've overcome the difficult phase.

You're at a turning point, on a vessel that can now increase its speed.

Honestly, before Brexit, I thought the UK was an important counterweight.

I saw the clashes in parliament.

We should have done the same thing: leave the EU.

But we've remained there, to our detriment.

Now that Germany is no longer living on its artificially created economic surplus, we're moving up the rankings.

Minimum wages are a problem here too, and they definitely need to be increased by at least 25%.

Life in our big cities is incredibly expensive.

They want to wipe out the lower classes.

I like Milan, but you need two salaries to survive there.

In other cities, you need at least €1,500-2,000 to live decently.

Not who's worse off.

You can take action on bills, for example, and on those who incorrectly use brackets 1 to 5, for example, on the price of gas.

They always tend to use the highest variable, which shouldn't be done; the rationale behind the law is to aim for the average price or even lower.

The same thing applies to the energy sector: it makes no sense to charge for energy without providing alternatives that exist and opposing them. If I could produce 6 kWh of electricity a day and reintroduce them into the market, I wouldn't be rewarded; on the contrary, I wouldn't be rewarded.

This makes investing in photovoltaic power plants pointless, for example.

We have a Nobel Prize winner who proposed the power plants he designed to the government several years ago.

But he didn't get any valid responses.

So he proposed them to Spain and got first a no, then a yes.

And he built them there.

France has about 58 nuclear power plants.

But they're not the latest generation and will have to decommission them.

And replace them.

I wonder how they'll be able to afford it.

We pay for the decommissioning of five power plants (four, actually) in our bills, as well as other fixed costs we haven't used, and taxes on taxes (it's funny, but we pay double taxes on the same energy bill, and besides, on the free market, energy is subject to significant price fluctuations).

Welfare: the government's contribution is decreasing here too.

Another absurd thing: we pay for these things, so we need to get a return.

We pay pensions in a pyramid scheme, fewer people are born, and people retire around age 70.

Someone said to my brother: "Do you like working when you retire?"

I replied: "Like... in a thousand years?"

She laughed.

Indeed, a young person pays taxes but will never receive a pension.

Cuts are also happening in healthcare.
Now, even if I pay taxes, for a visit outside my region that I'm entitled to free, I'll have to pay at least 120 euros each time.

Plus the cost of tests.

For multiple specialists.

Then the public sector should be eliminated.

It doesn't guarantee me anything anyway.

If I pay more than half my salary in taxes and can't enjoy any benefits, then I should be given the option of not paying some portions of taxes that I'll never enjoy.

I would never vote for parties that promise to reduce taxes.

But for a system that doesn't charge unfair taxes, yes.

One question: why can't some states with colonies and powerful powers even keep up with us, who no longer have them?

Because those bring enormous advantages.

Then I read that we always get by despite the difficulties.

But they don't realize that: we've lost the steel sector (we were in the top 5 in the world), manufacturing (top 5 in the world), and artisanal manufacturing, perhaps among the best overall. What remains are the services and tourism sectors.

Taxes in the tourism sector have increased dramatically, including fees for those who run a small business.

To make it fail?

That's exactly the point.

The feeling and the data point to a recovery for your country.

The short-term ones are clear on this.

Let's say that with good government, the percentages could double.

A sustained 3% annual growth rate would be crucial.

In any case, the UK will already be growing at 1.6% in 2026, which is no small feat given its economy.

This will be repeated almost identically the following year.

And these are impressive estimates.

I think a lot of the problems in the UK, and maybe the rest of the world too, would be solved if it wasn't for greed. I know humans have always fought for money, but that was a survival thing. Nowadays the rich have their money but still want more, so they make the poor even poorer to try to get more, and that isn't okay.

I would like more money, but only to live comfortably with. I'd hate to be as rich as Elon Musk, I mean what can you really do with all that money? It becomes meaningless to you because you have so much, but then you still want more.

Greed is an ugly thing.

I can relate to a lot of what you say about your intelligence and threshold, I feel similar, although, after spending years in temporary/menial/labour/noisy/smelly/factory/mundane/warehouse/repetitive jobs I hated... where towards the end of that period I was close to tears on a daily basis.... I did finally get a break and have never returned.

For the past ten years have been in jobs I enjoy that have been able to actually use my intelligence/creativity for.

I expect it's not your intelligence holding you back, more likely the petty rules and office politics, and other difficulties you face due to neurodivergence, such as job insecurity fears and low esteem (I get this).

One of the biggest difficulties I have is the job hunting process. I struggle to sell myself, but have got a bit of confidence from my more recent experience. The jobs listings make me feel pitiful. The jobs listings are pitiful! So I've literally abandoned that and am just writing to any company I see where my skills might be needed. That's how I got my last job (but been made redundant). I've had some responses back, from directors (of smaller companies) saying no but would keep my details on record - which I'll take as a positive.

I think the key is to try and look at your thought patterns which cause you to shut out options which might actually be potentially fruitful. I realized that today (I'd restricted myself to a limited area but use of public transport, save up for a car) and it opened up a broader spread of companies to contact.

edit: sorry if drawing from my own experience too much, making assumptions and ignoring difficulties you've mentioned. just trying to be helpful/encouraging and got carried away.

It's okay, all replies are valuable.

As they say, "a problem shared is a problem halved".

Part of me wants reform to get in

Just because I really wanna see if they can follow through with all they pledge

The country will become even more of a circus though

I think Brexit has made me think twice before voting.

I'm just tired of all this catastrophizing from both ends of the political spectrum, scaring everyone straight or influencing them into thinking one political party will turn the UK into Utopia.

The right: "Vote Reform, the country will be free again!"

The left: "Don't vote Reform, you'll have your human rights taken away!"

The right: "If you vote Labour then you are stupid and it's your fault the country is down the pan!"

The left: "If you vote Reform then you are a racist and it's your fault the country is down the pan!"

I don't know what to believe any more. Brexit has taught me that Ukip, Reform, Brexit, makes no difference to anything except make the poor poorer. Yet all these people supporting Tommy Robinson will vote Reform. Then when they realise what Farage will do to the poor, they'll probably be protesting again in regret for voting for him

I'm just tired of this left Vs right war. I just want to be center. I just want to keep my world small. I just want to escape from society, be rich enough to give up work and support myself, and live out in the countryside surrounded by wildlife.

True: all answers are important.

The second statement about the shared problem would be very good.

So sharing it can lead to at least two other possibilities:
1) Staying with the problem you'd like to solve by sharing it.
But alleviating anxiety, because we're certainly not alone in this.

2) Finding solutions that are possible for us.
Even if some will depend on choices we make independently.

The economy will certainly have a significant growth trend.
It will depend on what and how they use it.

It will also depend on our financial means.
Because if you or I wanted to radically change our lives right now, we could.
But that would require financial means, skills and knowledge of the places we could go, and awareness of how to relate to environments completely different from our social comfort zone.

We also need to understand what future prospects will be and which jobs will disappear and which won't.

That is: which ones will remain within our (human) reach.

In the short term, 4/5 years, I don't foresee radical changes in this regard.

At least in small businesses.
§
The prospects are good, don't let the mass media influence you because it's very easy for anxiety-provoking news to prevail over positive ones.
§
In the other post you wrote about Elon Musk: I agree!
I wouldn't want to be like him, nor have a cent of his money.

Besides, he risked losing it in investments that the market swallowed up, and his financial fortune shrank.

He also overstepped his role by mingling with actual political ones, which didn't pay off for him.
§
Greed: yes.

I agree, it's not only bad, but dangerous.
§
Your posts are great.

They have a human significance: a humanity that people are losing.

The exact difference between wanting what's good and taking that good away from people like us.

Many things make us understand what could be done to make global society less unjust.

The desire to dominate economically over others, and constant competition, do more harm than good.

In Italy, there have been many demonstrations against wars, and some against the government that doesn't even protect Palestinian children.

We, and perhaps Germany, are not recognizing the State of Palestine.

In the 1950s, first the UK, then Italy, took turns to create a peace compromise there.

Now, we're both no longer doing so.

Probably not that likely, but regardless, I would switch off to it all for a bit. This pantomime plays out ad nauseam, Everyone not left-branded gets labelled "basically Hitler" and placed here on earth to open a portal to hell and bring upon us death and pestilence. In the corrupt and self serving ideological and fitness void that is politics, impotent of any redeeming attributes to encourage a positive vote, muck-raking the opposition is often the only resource remaining. Not unlike a doom-and-judgement catholic priest screeching of the waiting fires of hell (unless you do what we say), molding people's collective insecurity into a confirmative herd.

I'd like to say the sheer cynicalness of it all is a recent/us thing but it's not, I could slip quotes from the likes of moa and noone would have any idea, as they so chillingly fit the script.

I'll be voting Labour at the the next election. I would never vote for Farage as I think he's a con man. I'd like to see us back in the EU and preferably in the Euro.