Archive for the ‘Reform’ Category
Good Election News from Cymru(Wales) – Caerffili – Victory For Plaid Cymru But Defeat for both Labour and Reform UK
Most recent election news from the British state has been very depressing. A labour party government led by Keir Starmer regularly responds to the electoral rise of the far-right Reform outfit led by Nigel Farage by attempting to be more racist and right-wing than the racists themselves.
This political instability is damaging ancient foundations of the British state – Scottish politics in the 21st century has been dominated by the rise of political separatism – and now Cymru/Wales is following that trend.
This will have, and is having, important side-effects in Ireland.
How do we explain an extremely welcome Plaid Cymru (Party of Wales) electoral triumph in Caerffili?
Geoff Ryan’s interesting report is below – one of the factors he highlights is
The women of the small Ukrainian community played an important role in combatting the lies of Reform.
Link :
Caerffili victory for Plaid Cymru but defeat for both Labour and Reform UK
Caerffili – Victory For Plaid Cymru But Defeat for both Labour and Reform UK.
Geoff Ryan reports from Wales/Cymru on the Caerffili byelection result
Read the rest of this entry »“Approximately 100,000 on a far right march in London. A grim new milestone in post-war political history” – Great Article by A Very Public Sociologist
The writer angrily says “This is the culmination of Keir Starmer’s rancid approach to immigration” – and he is spot on. We have problems confronting a growing racist right in Ireland also, and can learn a very important lesson : Dog-Whistling and Pandering to racists creates a catastrophe.
Link :
Grim Political Milestone in London 13.11.2025 – A Very Public Sociologist
A Westminster Member of Parliament leaves the Tory party; joins racist far-right Reform outfit; Resist sinister threat to Immigrants and the Common Travel Area (CTA)in Ireland
Britain : A Westminster Member of Parliament leaves the Tory party and joins the far-right Reform outfit :
“Conservative MP Danny Kruger has defected to Reform UK, the first time a sitting Tory has joined the rightwing populist party led by Nigel Farage. The defection means Reform now has five MPs in parliament and is a big blow to Kemi Badenoch, Conservative leader, ahead of her party conference next month…..
With Reform leading UK opinion polls since the spring, Kruger’s defection will give further credibility to the party, as will his withering departing words aimed at the Tories. “The rule of our time in office was failure,” Kruger said at a press conference in London. “Bigger government, social decline, lower wages, higher taxes and less of what ordinary people actually wanted.” He added: “The Conservative party is over, over as a national party, over as the principal opposition to the left. “The flame is passing from one torch to another. The new torch is already alight, already brighter than the one it is replacing, held aloft in firm and confident hands.” – Financial Times Report.
These developments, which will continue, are encouraging the far-right in the 26 and 6 county bits of Ireland.
The Reform party leader Nigel Farage is already threatening to alter the Good Friday Agreement, and make it worse :
Speaking yesterday, Mr Farage said he wanted to remove human rights law from the peace accord to make it easier to deport illegal migrants.
Reform has signalled that if it gets into power in Britain the party will leave the European Convention on
Human Rights (ECHR), repeal the Human Rights Act and pass the Illegal Migration (Mass Deportation) Bill.The ECHR is incorporated into the 1998 Northern Ireland Act, which codified the Good Friday Agreement into law.
Mr Farage said that as prime minister he would, in time, be able to renegotiate the agreement.
“We are not far away from major civil disorder,” he told a press conference.
Source, John Manley, Irish News August 27 2025
The Fermanagh and Omagh District Council adopted a progressive policy in 2022 which is an excellent start :
Despite Common Travel Area “There is an Invisible Hard Border in Ireland That leads to Racial Discrimination”
Council Meeting – 5th July 2022
Fermanagh & Omagh District Council notes that the Common Travel Area (CTA) enables free
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movement within the island of Ireland. However, it excludes people of other nationalities, in
particular citizens of countries in Africa, Asia, and South America.
Mapping the Conservative Left: Why Some Socialists Sound Like the Right – “Soul-Searching on the Left”
Duncan Chapel, a revolutionary socialist based in Scotland, hosts a blog which explores big political and social changes in the world we live in.
The article below addresses many troubling developments on the left which have erupted in the 21st century. These trends exist everywhere – Duncan is very familiar with awful examples from the British state.
Readers on the left in in Ireland may be familiar with the example of “Counterfire” which is degenerating rapidly :
The red-brown disease can spread further without inoculation. Organizations at risk like Counterfire in Britain, while maintaining left-wing rhetoric, have consistently aligned with authoritarian positions internationally, acting as surrogates for Assad, Putin and Trump. Their opposition to supporting Ukrainian resistance and their hostility to transgender struggles reveals the logical endpoint of politics that prioritize “anti-Western” positioning over genuine solidarity with the oppressed.
| Mapping the Conservative Left: Why Some Socialists Sound Like the Right | Four conservative left tendencies: each represents a different form of capitulation |
The rise of the far-right across Europe and North America has prompted urgent soul-searching on the left. From Trump’s return to power to the growth of Alternative for Germany (AfD), from Giorgia Meloni’s ascendancy in Italy to the surge of Reform UK, reactionary forces are capitalizing on widespread social discontent. Yet a troubling phenomenon has emerged alongside this rightward shift: sections of the left itself have begun adopting positions that sound suspiciously similar to those of their supposed political opponents.
Source :
Mapping the Conservative Left – Why Some Socialists Sound Like the Right
This “conservative left” represents a fundamental betrayal of socialist principles. Rather than offering a genuine alternative to capitalist crisis, these currents have absorbed key elements of right-wing discourse—from economic nationalism and anti-immigrant sentiment to cultural traditionalism and geopolitical authoritarianism. Understanding this phenomenon is crucial for any socialist strategy that seeks to build genuine working-class unity against our real enemies: the capitalist class and their political representatives.
Rod Stewart Sails Away from Our Values – Farage Support Betrays Celtic – Racist at Glastonbury
The singer Rod Stewart has racist far-right form. 50 years ago he publicly supported the vile right-wing racist ideas of Conservative Westminster MP Enoch Powell. Everyone makes mistakes : this rocker has had plenty of time to reverse course. He has not changed. Stewart is a prominent supporter of the Glasgow soccer club Celtic, which has strong anti-racist, anti-imperialist, and inclusive values.
Celtic fan Andy Muirhead declares :
his recent endorsement of Nigel Farage and Reform UK isn’t just a wrong turn; it’s a direct slap in the face to everything Celtic stands for
Rod Stewart has sailed away from our values – Farage support betrays Celtic
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Every time Rod Stewart opens his mouth about politics, it makes me sick that this ageing rocker has anything to do with our club. For years, he’s cultivated this image as a true Celtic fan, draped in the green and white, belting out club anthems, soaking up the adulation. Certain fans in our support love it, the club’s hierarchy definitely love it, and the media just can’t help themselves when they catch him on camera.
But his recent endorsement of Nigel Farage and Reform UK isn’t just a wrong turn; it’s a direct slap in the face to everything Celtic stands for. It’s proof that this ageing rocker doesn’t get our club, and that his supposed love for Celtic is nothing more than a convenient, money-making facade.
Let’s be clear: Celtic Football Club was founded by Brother Walfrid to alleviate poverty among Glasgow’s Irish immigrant community. Its very soul is rooted in charity, social justice, and an unwavering commitment to inclusivity. We are a club open to all, regardless of race, religion, or background. Our history is one of solidarity with the oppressed, a beacon of hope in challenging times. This ethos, this fundamental decency, is what makes Celtic “A Club Like No Other.”
Read the rest of this entry »European Law might overrule bigoted British Supreme Court Anti-Transgender ruling in 6 County bit of Ireland – since Brexit, the north is different from Great Britain
Voters in the 6 County bit of Ireland rejected Brexit in the 2016 British State referendum by a large margin : 55 to 45 per cent. This was a unique political event – opposition to Brexit broke down the normal sectarian divide on an important constitutional development in the north of Ireland : Almost all nationalists voted against Brexit, and they were joined by a significant number of Unionist (perhaps ex-Unionist) voters.
Afterwards a decision was needed : would a new European Union (EU) – Britain border divide the 6 and 26 county bits of Ireland – or would a new border emerge, dividing the island of Great Britain from all of Ireland?
Everybody knew a new Brexit border could not be imposed on Ireland. The British government needed window-dressing for its Unionist allies : the “Windsor Framework” was unveiled with a walk-on part for the reluctant British monarch King Charles.
This rickety constitutional construction kicked a sleeping dog. The 1998 Good Friday Agreement. copperfastened an imperialist crime – the 1922 partition of Ireland. A promise that partition could be ended through an internal 6 county referendum is part of the GFA – but this was never meant to happen. The architects of the GFA reasoned, correctly in 1998, that an anti-partition majority in the north of Ireland was extremely unlikely. The Unionist Veto was safe. After Brexit, not any more.
The former Fine Gael leader and taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, is saying out loud what many people know is true but do not want to hear :
A Nigel Farage-led UK goverment could herald a united Ireland – Varadkar
Read the rest of this entry »Elon Musk, Nigel Farage, and the Gruesome Twosome of the British Tory Party
On the western and eastern sides of the Atlantic Ocean a ferocious viper war has erupted.
US President-elect Donald Trump’s favourite attack-dog Elon Musk is trying to remote-control British politics.
Reform leader Nigel Farage’s typically British stiff upper-lip response is described below : it is like the Fawlty Towers episode when Basil Fawlty failed to produce a Waldorf Salad for a tyrannical American diner who had paid the bungling guest-house owner a generous bribe :
Before long Trump will dispose of Musk, just as Russian strongman Putin bumped off Mr Prigozhin.
Musk might, at some point, jangle some of his loose change in the direction of far-right Irish political operators. The nearest Irish equivalent to Musk’s suggested Nigel Farage – Tommy Robinson marriage is a direct link between the beggar-gombeens of the Dublin Dáil and the convicted kick boxer/rapist Conor McGregor. The Independent Ireland (II) party had to dump a McGregor associate, Phil Sutcliffe, from its candidate list after Nikita Hand won a court victory over the kick-boxing rapist.
Read the rest of this entry »British General Election 2024 – Highlights and Lowlights – Loveless Landslide, Sandcastle Majority. Far-Right Hiding in Plain Sight, House of Paisley Falls in Antrim – and a Message of Hope from new MP Shockat Adam, Leicester South
Let’s start with positive news :
Shockat Adam MP, Leicester South – “This is for the people of Gaza”.
When you listen to this June 25 car-crash interview with former Leicester South Labour MP Jonathan Ashworth, you would be forgiven for thinking he was a member of the far-right racist party, Reform.
Shockat Adam was not alone. Five pro-Gaza independent candidates (including former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn in Islington North) are members of the new Westminster parliament :
Read the rest of this entry »Major Donor to Nigel Farage’s Reform Party Owns Russian Assets
Link :
Major Donor to Nigel Farage’s Reform Party Owns Russian Assets
We thank Councillor John Lyons (Dublin City, Artane-Whitehall) [Independent Left] for this story.
Major Donor to Nigel Farage’s Reform Party Owns Russian Assets
Reform’s leader has been criticised in recent days for claiming the west provoked Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
By Adam Barnett and Sam Bright
Jun 26, 2024
One of the biggest donors to Nigel Farage’s anti-net zero Reform UK during the general election campaign has significant Russian business interests, DeSmog can report.
Natural resources investor David Lilley donated £100,000 to Reform on 10 June – a week after Farage announced that he was returning as the party’s leader. Lilley’s donation was the third largest to Reform during the campaign so far.
As revealed by The Mirror and Good Law Project in the former’s print edition, Lilley controls a series of companies that own 12,000 hectares of farmland in the Stavropol region of Russia, in the south west of the country, used to produce cereals and oilseeds.
Lilley confirmed to DeSmog that he still owns this land, saying that “I have never made a secret of my assets in Russia.” He said that he had made no profit on these assets since February 2022 and that he had been prevented from selling them by the Russian state.
Farage has come under fire in recent days for suggesting that Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine was provoked by the west, and for calling on Ukraine to enter peace talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Good Law Project executive director Jolyon Maugham told DeSmog that Reform is “starting to feel a bit like Russia’s unofficial British Embassy.”
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Tomás Ó Flatharta 