Best Of

Good idea?

"Tories to stop criminals spending benefits on alcohol
Pre-loaded ‘ration cards’ will prevent those with convictions linked to drink, gambling or drugs from funding their habits" (£)

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2026/05/31/tories-to-stop-criminals-spending-benefits-on-alcohol/

Nope. Ultimately, money's fungible. Need to stop the addiction(s) otherwise this is pointless.

Also a slippery slope to spending money on "approved" things which is just not a sensible way of dealing with charity/benefits.

I'm not sure that's true.

Nobody is more aware of the laziness and corruption of the lower classes than me, but empirically, the proposal could show positive results.

In America, government assistance through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP/aka food stamps) is doled out in roughly the way that the Conservatives are proposing, and studies generally show low, usually very low, levels of abuse, at any rate for a government program.

For example, this study from the University of Chicago Becker Friedman Institute found that cash assistance (like SSI) caused a 20-30% increase in emergency department visits for drug and alcohol use. By contrast, SNAP benefits, which are doled out electronically did not result in any increase in substance-related hospital visits.

https://bfi.uchicago.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Paternalistic-Social-Assistance-Evidence-and-Implications-from-Cash-vs.-In-Kind-Transfers.pdf

And again a National Center for Biotechnology Information study claimed that rather than funding drug or alcohol habits, the expansion of SNAP and the removal of drug-related eligibility bans actually correlate with reduced rates of substance use disorders and improved access to addiction treatments.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7779750/

Finally, according to the Brookings Institution, the majority of SNAP dollars are spent on staple goods, with the overall spending patterns of recipients closely mirroring those of non-recipients.

So rather than making assumptions about the habits of the great unwashed, it's generally better to look at what actually happens.

And the evidence is that this is a policy that could conceivably work, depending on how it's implemented.

It has been pointed out here before that the average Reform supporter is far-right socially but far-left economically.

The plates are shifting.

If you are far left economically then voting for Tice, Yosef and co is a bloody stretch.

They want Dubai on Thames with flat rate, very low tax and fuck all else.

Pretty clear reason as to why a Reform's coalition will quickly fall apart once in power. Can't please both WWC who want lefty economic policies and ex-Tories living in the Shires who want spending cuts and lower taxes.

Mass deportation is arguably a lefty economic policy that directly benefits them.

No, it is not.

Lump of labour is a fallacy.

That applies just as much to you as it does anyone claiming we need immigration.

The lump of labour fallacy is irrelevant. Changes in supply still affect prices in the short term even if there isn't a fixed level of demand.

I'm not on board the mass deportation train. I'd like to see the population decreasing, but to do that, I think it would be sufficient to just make it virtually impossible to come to the UK as a foreign national, and let natural wastage do the rest.

However if we did do mass deportations, it's not just the labour market that's impacted. For example, if we were to deport a couple of million people that might actually be enough to put a meaningful dent into house prices and rents. That's much more in the interest of tenants and people near the bottom of the housing ladder than the well healed property owning classes.

We already have a meaningful dent in house prices, especially in London - the median price is down 20% in real terms since the 2021 peak, which itself had hardly shifted from the 2017 peak.

One current interesting phenomenon is that very few have noticed.

It has been pointed out here before that the average Reform supporter is far-right socially but far-left economically.

The plates are shifting.

That isn't really true, 51% of Reform voters think the government taxes too much and spends too much on public services and 60% think welfare benefits are too generous.

Even if not as high as the 89% who think migrants coming to the United Kingdom across the English Channel should all be immediately removed from the United Kingdom and prevented from ever returning. The 77% who back restoration of the death penalty for some crimes, the 78% who think multiculturalism has made Britain worse and the 69% who think people in Britain should not be legally able to change their gender

https://yougov.com/en-gb/articles/49887-what-do-reform-uk-voters-believe

It has been pointed out here before that the average Reform supporter is far-right socially but far-left economically.

The plates are shifting.

Not the leadership though, being the ex-Tory greatest hits.

It has been pointed out here before that the average Reform supporter is far-right socially but far-left economically.

The plates are shifting.

Not the leadership though, being the ex-Tory greatest hits.

Its going to be an absolute car crash if they gain power. A cabinet of Nigel, the ex Tories and perhaps a handful of arrogant business types. A mix of MPs that will include economic left, Singapore-on-Thames, ethno-nationalist blocks plus a batch of narcissists. A manifesto that won't be deliverable.

Chief Whip is going to be a job to avoid.

If only there were a convenient label, ideally between three and five letters long, to describe a party that is both nationalist and socialist.

Good idea?

"Tories to stop criminals spending benefits on alcohol
Pre-loaded ‘ration cards’ will prevent those with convictions linked to drink, gambling or drugs from funding their habits" (£)

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2026/05/31/tories-to-stop-criminals-spending-benefits-on-alcohol/

A couple of problems, a) they will just shoplift the booze (until we get shoplifting under control everything nothing is going to work) and b) you just get a black market in people selling their ration card for cash.

In the US, there are SNAP benefits (formerly known as food stamps), with exactly the same goal: only allow poor people to buy necessities.

And there is -in consequence- a large black market in SNAP benefits.

It has been pointed out here before that the average Reform supporter is far-right socially but far-left economically.

The plates are shifting.

Not the leadership though, being the ex-Tory greatest hits.

It has been pointed out here before that the average Reform supporter is far-right socially but far-left economically.

The plates are shifting.

Not the leadership though, being the ex-Tory greatest hits.

Its going to be an absolute car crash if they gain power. A cabinet of Nigel, the ex Tories and perhaps a handful of arrogant business types. A mix of MPs that will include economic left, Singapore-on-Thames, ethno-nationalist blocks plus a batch of narcissists. A manifesto that won't be deliverable.

Chief Whip is going to be a job to avoid.

Famous last words, but it can't be more of a car crash than the current lot, who seem hell bent on establishing just how much ruin there is in a country.

Frankly, improving on the previous Tory administration isn't a much high bar to pass either, that was pretty diabolical.

They all agree on pretty much zero immigration, so that should be sorted fairly quickly. It will be tax and spending decisions that have the potential to be a bit more fun.