- News
- Reviews
- Bikes
- Components
- Bar tape & grips
- Bottom brackets
- Brake & gear cables
- Brake & STI levers
- Brake pads & spares
- Brakes
- Cassettes & freewheels
- Chains
- Chainsets & chainrings
- Derailleurs - front
- Derailleurs - rear
- Forks
- Gear levers & shifters
- Groupsets
- Handlebars & extensions
- Headsets
- Hubs
- Inner tubes
- Pedals
- Quick releases & skewers
- Saddles
- Seatposts
- Stems
- Wheels
- Tyres
- Tubeless valves
- Accessories
- Accessories - misc
- Computer mounts
- Bags
- Bar ends
- Bike bags & cases
- Bottle cages
- Bottles
- Cameras
- Car racks
- Child seats
- Computers
- Glasses
- GPS units
- Helmets
- Lights - front
- Lights - rear
- Lights - sets
- Locks
- Mirrors
- Mudguards
- Racks
- Pumps & CO2 inflators
- Puncture kits
- Reflectives
- Smart watches
- Stands and racks
- Trailers
- Clothing
- Health, fitness and nutrition
- Tools and workshop
- Miscellaneous
- Buyers Guides
- Features
- Forum
- Recommends
- Podcast
forum
The Reform Party and the UK’s lurch towards fascism
I posted an earlier version of this a while back - inspired to do update following THAT discussion about all things ULEZ.
The “manifesto”, in terms of transport, only mentions stopping HS2, but there’s plenty on the usual right-wing obsessions: Brexit, immigration, veterans and climate change. I had another look because I worry about the ongoing decline of the two main political parties.
If the Cons stay wedded to Brexit, then we will go into the next GE with all the widespread impoverishment Brexit has ushered in - not helped by Covid, Putin, etc. People generally vote according to their pockets. I don’t get Labour’s current position on Europe either, but let’s see how that evolves, and even the Cons may also evolve, or even pivot, but time is already running out for them.
Several roads now lead to the horrors of a further lurch to the right in this country. Let’s hope Labour get the GE landslide the polls are predicting - but we’re still at least a year out from the real campaigning beginning.
A cycling angle? With the Reform Party and its ilk, Facebook Steve and Nextdoor Dave attain real political influence. It’s not spelt out in the manifesto, but you can see where this is probably heading and what it is likely to mean for cycling. You can bet that this lot are very much "on the side of hard working drivers" etc.
As you all know, Dave’s going to “sort the traffic” and no doubt show them lazy planners how it’s done: Steve thinks the Council are corrupt, the police blinkered and is, if he can fit it in to his busy schedule he’s going to “teach them Lycra’s a thing or two.” It won’t concern him that his Mondeo is 3 months out of MoT or that Mrs Steve sometimes drives the kids in it uninsured.
As vulnerable road users, vulnerable people, we rely a great deal on the rule of law for protection. The rule of law means that we understand what the laws are, they are in general fair, and how they are applied and to whom is even-handed and consistent.
The fascist position is broadly the opposite - it’s all off-the-cuff to support today’s particular agenda - that’s why the Iain Duncan-Smith “happy to see ULEZ infra vandalised” comment is, as an example, so very worrying. In the Conservatives, here is a party happy to send signals to enable the mob to attack RNLI stations, beat up immigrants, shout at teachers, doctors etc.
This right-wing stuff works by allowing/enabling significant privileged groups to to think of themselves as the downtrodden underdog and here is a way to fight back. The pro Brexit campaign played on people’s ignorance, fears and prejudices exactly as this does.
It’s all about freedom, innit, less regulation, less tax burden, and damn the climate. There’s more polar bears now, so it’s fine. Let’s have open-cast coal mining, lithium mining and fracking. The section on climate change stumbles around like a Friday night drunk, trying to explain he wasn't being racist to the barman - a denier position emerges, unsurprisingly.
In places, the mask really slips: “We must keep divisive woke ideologies such as Critical Race Theory (CRT) and gender ideology out of the classroom.” - to be honest, I don’t even know what those two are.
The standard enemies are put up - the civil service, the BBC. Amid all the thrust and parry, there’s nothing about making a better, more inclusive and cohesive world to live in; arts, sports and culture don’t feature in this barstool view of the world: a dullard’s grim vision.
Don’t be a member of the wrong sort of minority would be my advice, should any of this come to pass.
If you're new please join in and if you have questions pop them below and the forum regulars will answer as best we can.
Latest Forum Topics
Latest Comments
- Hirsute 14 min 58 sec ago
Anyone vomiting whilst driving could have a detrimental effect on others....
- IanGlasgow 1 hour 17 min ago
Indicators for bikes are still with us. The best/least bad I've tried are:...
- IanGlasgow 1 hour 22 min ago
Indicators for bikes are still with us. The best/least bad I've tried are:...
- David9694 2 hours 22 min ago
I wonder what age that man will get to before it dawns on him what he is. ...
- Terry Hutt 3 hours 16 min ago
I was interested in the EasiCyco backpack until I watched their Kickstarter video. Both their riders' bums rub on the backpack. That's a hard NO...
- redhanded 5 hours 45 min ago
I had 2 bikes stolen from bike shed outside my flat in London last year. They ended up for sale in Russia. A cycling club I'm a member of tweeted...
- Deac 6 hours 46 min ago
I tried the footrest on the way home, it's a great idea, you can keep on the saddle making it easier to get away from the traffic lights, and being...
- ktache 9 hours 40 min ago
Not that they would be as technical, or maybe quite as grippy, but does the skate industry provide any solutions?
- Rendel Harris 10 hours 22 min ago
Sorry to be a killjoy but it doesn't amuse me at all, I hope the idiot gets caught and punished. Putting yourself on the same road as pros...
- willpom @GWRaudax 10 hours 57 min ago
Steve Poulton has just published The Cheltenham Flyer - 10th May https://www.audax.uk/event-details/calendar/13235-cheltenham_new_flyer_200
Add new comment
470 comments
Indeed. Their main role is to *represent* a given constituency in Westminster.
Voting on strategies.
Sounds like a referendum to me.
Careful with those, occasionally people don't vote the way you want them to.
I fully accept that some people will not vote the same as me, I just have unrealistic expectations that the subject of referenda should be at least vaguely defined BEFORE the vote.
We did ... but like the answer to life, the universe and everything* we only realised** after we had the answer that perhaps - for the medium term at least - the details would be at least as important as the principle.
* 42
** Lots of people did - particularly those campaigning for "leave". Only for some it turned out that "leave" didn't mean "leave as much as I wanted" and many thought that when they read "yes - you will be better off" that applied to everyone, not just e.g. those moving their domicile to Monaco and/or part of their business abroad.
I keep finding these things, so I'll leave this one here too:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cw880334dgyo
The good news on this is that most of their candidates are pretty dysfunctional individuals - not sure which came first : that or the weirdo opinions.
We laugh at them now, but what happens if these people actually start winning elections and getting into Parliament?
They'll first start by destroying democracy and ensuring that only older people will vote by introducing voter IDs on the premise that it'll prevent voter fraud (which isn't actually an issue).
Then they'll probably pick an out-group to blame everything on and will try to send them packing on planes to Rwanda or something.
If we're all being sent to rwanda, I need to know are the roads any good, or do I need a gravel bike?
Looks like a gravel bike might be advisable for maximum enjoyment, although they are driving the growth of African professional road cycling.
Very much liking the toady avatar.
A buffalo bike might be a good transport choice - rugged, simple, suitable for local maintenance. Plus a good technology transfer example as uses pretty widely available standard parts and a detailed manual is freely available etc.
You might spot some Elephant bikes out there although I think they went to Malawi.
Welcome to
The Reform Party and the UK’s lurch towards fascism
I'll just leave this here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cjmmrwexv4ko
Just bantz. It was all taken out of context anyway (the Daily Stormer).
Gribbin - that's close to "Griffin"? - anyway, any excuse for this old chestnut.
A Reform spokesman said the comments were not "endorsements" but "written with an eye to inconvenient perspectives and truths", while his remarks about women were "tongue in cheek"
That's what people like the haggard Telegraph fashion journo always say, after they have declared that they would like to kill all cyclists. Hilarious wit, isn't it?
Looking into someone's published online comments and material is now
“Offence archaeology”
"or as it’s more commonly known, a background check."
Well look - they did go back a whole (checks notes) two years. That's three Prime Ministers ago! I wouldn't expect a young whippersnapper like you to understand the sea change in British cultural attitudes in the couple of seasons since BoJo last quaffed a bit of wine in the Downing Street gardens but it's hard to overstate how common it was to suggest being on the side of the holocaust back in those olden days.
Good point - why, it was common to read it in the most respectable newspapers!
The document I linked in the OP has grown into a 32 page "contract." Know your place, everyone, there's zero in here about making a better, nicer world or community. This is all about sorting out them others, them over there.
As predicted, we now have:
"Stop the War on Motorists. Legislate to ban all ULEZ and Low Traffic Neighbourhoods. We will scrap bans on selling petrol and diesel cars and scrap legal requirements for manufacturers to sell electric cars."
Otherwise, its a curious mix of bar room talk e.g. "There are too many shirkers and skivers while many with disabilities work hard and pay tax." or "Tackle Youth Crime. Reopen High Intensity Training Camps for young offenders to teach basic education, teamwork and values. Military veterans can provide role models. This model worked at Thorn Cross in the 1990s."
and several pledges to solve long-standing problems e.g.: "More Bobbies on the Beat. Ensure that police return to the beat and use better technology to stop wasting time on paperwork."
The obsession with military figures to sort everything out continues.
on Brexit, "An out-of-touch political elite is still obstructing the biggest democratic mandate in our history." (If you're interest in out-of-touch elites, see also: "Integrate Mental Health Services with Job Seeking Pathways. Britain's young people are in the grip of a mental health crisis. Work is a cure not a cause.") and
"Slash Business Red Tape. The Brexit Bonus. Scrap thousands of laws that hold back British business and damage productivity, including employment laws that make it riskier to hire people."
That sounds a lot like scaling back on protection from unfair dismissal to me.
The fact-free confusion around climate breakdown as great as ever:
"We are better to adapt to warming, rather than pretend we can stop it. Up to 10 times more people die of cold than warmth. In Roman Britain some 2,000 years ago, it was 2 degrees warmer than now. Grapes for wine were grown in Yorkshire. CO2 is essential for photosynthesis to enable plant growth."
Critical Race Theory in schools is still there (thanks for the earlier help on that). That's one of several non-problems addressed in the "contract."
Oh look, tax relief for private education and private healthcare.
Silent still on arts and culture - as I said before, a dullard's grim vision.
https://assets.nationbuilder.com/reformuk/pages/253/attachments/original...
A Churchill at home and a Chamberlain abroad... (isn't he rather a fan of Mr. Putin, or at least his style)?
At this point - life imitating comedy - they seem to be just straight-up copying Al Murray's pub landlord. Except of course Murray couldn't help making his character a bit likeable and reasonable to his target audience (those on the other side to Farage et al).
Couldn't we just argue that their contract is unenforceable, due to misrepresentation and unconscionability?
They're flirting (?) with the far out, so let them have a bending-the-logic fight about "contracts" and "sovereignty" with the even-further-out Freemen-type folks.
Is is this what allegedly is killing the Conservative Party?
I think the Tories and Reform both want the racist voters
The talentless, jumped-up and dissatisfied are the key demographic.
Your life now is disappointing, you no longer feel part of the world, others seem to have it better and your lack of advancement must be someone else's fault. You have a vague idea that it made more sense when you were younger or in old films.
You don't understand complexity, how government works, you're bored of the main parties and taken in by the promise of instant solutions to big, long-standing issues.
are you talking about reform candidates or reform voters now?
Principally the voters.
For candidates - strange views on women, childcare, population, says things like "old Hitler had the right idea", wants their country back (but can't describe what if anything that means) probably thinks a clip 'round the ear will sort most problems. Jaguar driver.
The Greens are also keen on attracting that particular demographic.
https://www.thejc.com/news/politics/at-least-three-green-party-candidate...
If by "keen" you mean immediately dropping those candidates and not letting them stand for the Greens, then sure, they're really aiming to attract them.
Meanwhile, we have the Tories doing stuff like this: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/article/2024/jun/18/tory-candidate-accused-of-dog-whistle-tactics-against-rival-with-indian-name
Pages