Reform? Whats in a name?
Broken councils?
We in the UK have just "enjoyed" a bunch of elections to see who runs our local councils. The people that (don't) fix our potholes, run our education, fire service, police and not to mention pay for all our social care.
Labour have taken a pounding, closely followed by the Conservatives (but who cares about them?). This has sent Labour into a spin. I am of mixed opinion on this subject though. I think from a national point of view it should be sending shivers down the spines of the Labour party. Reform have advertised themselves as the party of change. They will sweep out the old and bring in a breath of fresh air and solve ALL our problems.
There are plenty of good websites out there that will explain in better detail just how this view is not true but will also point out it is almost but not quite deviously untrue. The issue is the same as the Brexit party. Nigel Farage does all the talking - and he is quite good at it, but scratch a little deeper and you start to find an unsavoury element lives within.
The major problem for me is that Reform is a right wing organisation. Funded by seriously rich right wingers. So right wing that Maggie Thatch might even wince. I am not sure that all the people who voted for it are aware of its true colours. How many people voted for Reform as a kind of protest vote? I am hoping that most of the previous Labour supporters did this.
As I said earlier I have mixed feelings. I am not a Reform supporter but I do like the fact that councillors who previously took us all for granted are now seeking new employment. I have lived under several councils, red and blue who have thought they were untouchable. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. It is good to see the electorate giving 2 fingers to the incumbent rulers.
In my opinion though the electorate will suffer the consequences. By and large Reform have not had a great time in charge of anything. Kent county council appears to be a case in point. Most other Reform run councils have had to cut services and raise council tax. the electorate may just have shot itself in the foot.
What this does point to though is that we have just had 15 years of bad luck/management economically. From Credit crunch, Brexit and Covid. It has been a long haul for the low to middle incomes. 2 steps forward and one step back for the last 15 years. One thing the Labour government should be concentrating on is a small short term hit for consumers. A short VAT holiday worked quite well for Labour in 2009. Raising the tax allowance would also gift people some more of their hard earned cash. Thanks to Trump - not just in Iran - with just about everything he touches, inflation is going up. Giving it back to people will stimulate the economy. We don't earn enough to hoard it. We want more holiday, beer and food and cars. In no particular order.
