[davidjay]

Free speech continues:

Reform UK bans three journalists from its conference after critical reporting

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... nalist-ban

[Boiler]

Heard today:

[Farage] claimed there was a “wilful attempt, and it’s gone on now for months, to say that everything to do with Reform, that every individual involved with Reform is somehow a crook” – which he dismissed as “the establishment in a very coordinated way fighting back”.

I leave the readers of this forum to draw their own conclusions.

[satnav]

I think if someone like Farage spends the best part of 5 months hiding away from the media it is OK for the media to reach the conclusion that he has clearly got something to hide,

[Yug]

The Eternal Victim might like to consider not accepting bungs from convicted fraudsters, try vetting election candidates properly, not consorting with criminals, not being a serial liar, and not generally behaving in a manner that gives the impression he and his 'Party' are dodgy as fuck.

Just a thought.

[Youngian]

to say that everything to do with Reform, that every individual involved with Reform is somehow a crook

That would be harsh, some Reform members are honest nutters, thickos and bigots.

[kreuzberger]

This Verbatim / Channel 4 exposé of Reflux' blatant criminality appears to be escalating. I wonder if BBC News are interested or just washing their hair for the rest of the year.

[Oboogie]

This Verbatim / Channel 4 exposé of Reflux' blatant criminality appears to be escalating. I wonder if BBC News are interested or just washing their hair for the rest of the year.

Is lead story on the 10'clock news enough interest?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cr50ddzl97qo

How about Newsnight?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m ... ced&page=1

[Boiler]

Well, the BBC's showing more interest than the Met is, reading that article...

[davidjay]

Another Establishment attack on brave Nigel, nothing to see here.

[Boiler]

I wonder how Tice's interview in the ten past eight slot on the Today programme went?

[kreuzberger]

This Verbatim / Channel 4 exposé of Reflux' blatant criminality appears to be escalating. I wonder if BBC News are interested or just washing their hair for the rest of the year.

Is lead story on the 10'clock news enough interest?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cr50ddzl97qo

How about Newsnight?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m ... ced&page=1

I wrote this ahead of the 22:00 R4 news which, in fact (and quite rightly in my judgement), elected to lead with the latest from Nepal.

My cynicism was born of their avoiding giving any prominence to the Harborne scandal for the better part of two weeks.

If you think that the BBC is all over Farage's criminal enterprise, I've got a bridge to sell you; it leads to La-la-land.

[Abernathy]

Reform has "denied any wrong-doing".



Now, where have we seen that very specific form of words before ?

[Youngian]

Newsnight guest Poppy from the Telegraph was there because the paper "tends to support on the centre right of British politics," according to Nick Watt. She was allowed to spurt unchallenged whataboutery about how they're all at it. Her example was a cash for peerage scandal under Blair over a quarter of a century ago. Can't imagine Paxman letting anyone get away with that. He was actually centre right off the clock not a nationalist grifter using the label.

[Malcolm Armsteen]

What do you mean by 'off the clock'?

[Bones McCoy]

Reform has "denied any wrong-doing".



Now, where have we seen that very specific form of words before ?

The Kray Twins.

[Youngian]

What do you mean by 'off the clock'?

'Off the clock' used to be a popular phrase for what you do outside of paid work.
A professional interviewer who's job is to maintain balance can also have personal political preferences in private.

[Andy McDandy]

Reform has "denied any wrong-doing".



Now, where have we seen that very specific form of words before ?

"Who cares, nobody got hurt, haven't you got any proper crimes to solve?"

[Abernathy]

Farage is claiming that the C4 investigation into Reform's willingness to accept large donations from ineligible foreign donors by deception and subterfuge is "entrapment".

This is where the legal definition of entrapment gets interesting .
In UK law, entrapment "is a practice in which a law enforcement agent or an agent of the state induces a person to commit a crime that the person would have otherwise been unlikely or unwilling to commit."

My italics . The point of the whole thing is that this was emphatically NOT a crime that Reform/Farage would otherwise be unlikely to commit. In fact, they'd be all too likely to commit such a crime or misdemeanour - as Farage's undeclared "gift" from Christopher Harborne/ Chakrit Sakunkrit. has already demonstrated. So it's not entrapment. It's further confirmation that Farage and his chums are as fucking corrupt as they come.

[Youngian]

Cambs' Reform head honcho Ryan Coogan explaining to MPs on a panel how he's done his own research on climate change and also remembers it being hot in 1976. His limited brain capacity makes Andrea Jenkyn look like Hannah Fry. The MP covering Holme Fen brings up Coogan's theory on how solar panels stops the ground from sweating.
https://www.itv.com/news/anglia/2026-09 ... te-edition

[Abernathy]

Quite an instructive phone-in to O’Brien’s show this morning, from a bloke from Birmingham who wanted to explain why some people (not the die-hard racists and fascists) vote for Reform and want Farage as Prime Minister.

His answer was, essentially, because the country is in a right old state, that the Tories and Labour have both failed and are failing to fix anything, and that it was therefore time to try “something different”.

We’ve heard this before many times, of course, and it’s bollocks. Trying something different seems to be the chosen way forward without any consideration whatsoever as to what that “something different” (i.e. Reform as the government) would actually mean. It’s deeply annoying.

Of course, Reform aren’t anything new at all. Most of their team are the very worst old Tory re-treads : Braverman, Jenrick, Zahawi, Jenkyns, Kruger, et al.

O’Brien pointed out to him that the state of the UK today which he so bemoaned is all but entirely the product, and the responsibility, of Farage himself and those same former Tories who as part of government or not brought us Thatcherism, austerity, Brexit, Johnson, Truss, and all the rest of it. Why should the arsonists be the ones to fight the fires ? Of course, our caller was too dim, or too stubborn, to grasp any of this.

I think that this is a huge part of the Reform conundrum. Un-thinking fuckwits that want a Reform government as “something different/new”, with zero consideration, let alone critical thinking, about what Reform in government would actually do, or what it would really mean - for themselves or for their fellow citizens.

I don’t really know how we counteract this fuckwittery.

Answers on a virtual postcard, please.

BTW, Kevin Rowland isn’t going to be happy. Farage is playing “Come On Eileen” at the Reform conference while the fuckwits are waiting to hear him speak.