Best Of

The Guardian report on the Reform conference is fascinating

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/sep/05/such-a-vibrant-feeling-reform-uk-devotees-gather-party-conference

It seems to be the one political place you go if you want to be optimistic and positive about Britain - and your own political future

That’s an incredible asset and Reform own it. All the other parties are a downbeat melange of apology, protest, whining or guilt. Reform remind me of the SNP in the noughties, but in a much wider British context

It may be the wave they surf into government. Or it may overturn them, surfboard flipping

It seems the BBC’s Chris Mason is copping a load of flak for honestly reporting what he saw rather than what centrists want to read

“Centrist” has had quite the journey. From term of abuse by very online lefties at people they consider worse than Tories, to term of abuse by very online righties at people they consider worse than communists.

It’s no more a term of abuse than ‘leftie’ or ‘rightie’, and many people apply the label to themselves.

Yes, I am quite happy being called a Centrist Dad, because I am one.

(It does depend on what is meant by centrist of course. I am dry as dust on economic matters very liberal on social issues, so it averages out overall.

If thise things are both fundamental to your political make up, you're not centrist. A centrist doesn't have political principles that cannot be altered to stand in the middle of the prevailing fashion.

I would say the fundamentals of centrism are:
-Belief in the state - not the nation state specifically, but all manifestations of state power
-Belief in a notion of 'modernity' and not being behind the times, but in a very malleable way. If enough people tell a centrist that moisturising with a dog turd is what all the right-thinking people are doing now, they will do it.
-A strong wish to identity oneself with elite power and wealth, and the prevailing intelligentsia.

Centrism is the new woke then. Stuff you don't like.

Not at all. I think woke is a very clearly defined ideology, with critical race theory and a lot of other writing (I cannot call it academia) at its heart.

Centrism by its nature is not an ideology because it is a triangulation between the two opposing points in any political system. You can (and did) have centrist Nazis and Communists. The centrists of today have utterly different views than the centrists of 20 years ago. That's because their views were never based on conviction, they were just what was in the middle then.

There's so much b/s in that.

"Centrist" isn't someone picking both extremes and then choosing a middle position. It's about people whose views fall naturally within the centre. Whilst, I might add, many right-wing shits and left wing fools seem to race to the extremes as some form of badge of honour.

Likewise, your sentence about 'wokeism' is also rather lacking, and disagrees with much of what the anti-wokeists screech about.

I'd also argue that many of the current Reform supporters have totally different views from twenty years ago as well - especially the ones moving over from a traditional Labour position. And that's because politics moves and changes as the world changes - many Conservative Party policies of 2019 would appear anathema to the party in 1979, let alone 1945. And the same with Labour, though that tends to change at a slower rate.

Most of all: This is not a bad thing.

Your post makes no sense. 'The centre' is defined by the two polls. If it isn't, it has no meaning at all.

Poles.

"We are looking at the potential use of military and non-military sites for temporary accommodation for the people who come across on these small boats that may not have a right to be here or need to be processed rapidly before we can decide whether or not they should say or whether or not we deport them, like we have done in record numbers over the last year.”

This statement seems to suggest arrivals will be processed quickly for asylum, and you really could't think of a bigger pull factor

The idea is all boat crossings are 'illegal' and anyone coming on a boat should be held before returning them to a safe country

Farage will have a 'hay day' if this is labour's proposal

I think Labour are only thinking one move ahead, if we get people out of hotels into HMOs and the backlog is less, we will spin like crazy we solved the problem. I have a sneaky suspicion there will also be some statistical manipulation such that the one-in one-out removals will all of a sudden not count as "boat arrivals".

The issue is two moves ahead, if it is found that they are clearing the backlog by rushing through claims and much higher acceptance rate, I don't think it will go down well.

"We are looking at the potential use of military and non-military sites for temporary accommodation for the people who come across on these small boats that may not have a right to be here or need to be processed rapidly before we can decide whether or not they should say or whether or not we deport them, like we have done in record numbers over the last year.”

This statement seems to suggest arrivals will be processed quickly for asylum, and you really could't think of a bigger pull factor

The idea is all boat crossings are 'illegal' and anyone coming on a boat should be held before returning them to a safe country

Farage will have a 'hay day' if this is labour's proposal

Whatever, I think that the process should be both quick and fair.And failure should lead to immediate return whence they came. That's not necessarily their home country.

“We are looking at the potential use of military and non-military sites for temporary accommodation for the people who come across on these small boats that may not have a right to be here or need to be processed rapidly before we can decide whether or not they should say or whether or not we deport them, like we have done in record numbers over the last year.”

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/sep/07/military-sites-house-asylum-seekers-labour

The use of army barracks has quickly come may use military and non-military sites.

Are we about a month away from lining up tents on disused runways?

We could and should have done something like this ages ago,

https://www.fleetwood.com.au/projects/gudai-darri-accommodation-village-expansion/

The Aussies knocked these things up for COVID in no time. They are all prefab. Stick them on a disused airfield etc. If they are good enough for hairy arse Australian miners, they are surely good enough for the boat people.

I have decided Louise Haigh is a Reform/Tory/Lib Dem plant because I am not sure the optics of this will be good for Labour.

Louise Haigh shrugs off fraud controversy with run for deputy leader

The former transport secretary, who resigned after a past fraud conviction emerged, has told friends that she plans to run in the party election

https://www.thetimes.com/article/7fe538f3-19d0-45b7-98e2-369e074436bc

I've seen her on Newsnight recently obviously trying to rehabilitate herself. She surprised me with her articulacy and intelligence. Previously I'd never been able to get past her choice of hair colour. I think she'd be an asset to Labour as deputy leader.

As for Mahmood I'm not sure. Anyone with a ringing endorsement from Michael Gove must be suspect. Being a religious fanatic isn't particularly welcome either. My guess is that Starmer got rid of Cooper from the Home Office because he realised that her terrorism bill had to be ditched.

It was making Labour and Starmer look ridiculous.The only way out without again looking weak was to change Home Secretary and blame it on that

Well that's put the kibosh on her ambitions....

My "likes" ratio is in the toilet today. I have a plan!

Boris Johnson is without doubt the United Kingdom's greatest Prime Minister and should be returned to Downing Street this afternoon to sort out the mess everyone else has created.

I think I have a winning strategy.

No, you need to post a picture of something nice, like your mum’s pot plants or, as I found yesterday, a bunch of grapes.

Or tell a heartwarming story about one of your children.

That’s the way to get likes, because your target market is then across the full political spectrum.

The strategy failed already. Instead of a like I got a flag.

Which is funny, but someone’s about to get shouted at by a moderator.
(Mods and admins get emails in response to flags).

Things Reform have tried to distance themselves from already during or after conference

The Vax bloke
Dorries Hug A Boris calls (having revealed her as the greatest coup since that Welsh secretary bloke from 1876 two days before)
Laura Jones 'shut the senedd' speech
Nigels stop the boats in 2 weeks announcement
Their own tax cuts plan

And Nigel is calling for disagreements to happen behind closed doors.

The chance this all holds together for 4 years with the constant Tory entrists is low

He admitted Reform were short of talent for government but said Dorries has changed that, with lots more to come

If he is hanging his hat on Dorries then yes this will unravel

If he hung a woolly hat on Dorries, it may unravel.

My hat is not for sale