Where’s Nigel?

Maremia- I so wish Meandrogog might have an answer to our question. My answer- it would- but pigs might fly- you're living in the land of make believe expecting that to happen....

LemonJam

Meandrogrog

foxie48

AGAA4 Yes, I know butI rather like playing ping pong especially when it's clear I'm dealing with facts rather than fantasy!

Agaa4, you can okay ping pong all you like but it does not alter the fact that Starmer accepted freebies, it wasnt a good look.

Meandrodog- to avoid doubt and alteration of fact- Starmer declared his comparatively low value suits and glasses in the proper manner. Starmer did not receive a high value £cash gift to speak as he liked that he kept secret from a cryptocurrency billionaire seeking meetings with the Bank of England to make decisions in crypto millionaires best interests! .

Farage kept his £5million cash gift to spend however he liked from a cryptocurrency billionaire then sought a secret meeting with the Bank of England to lobby the BoE to make a decision in the best financial interest of his crypto millionaire secret gift giver.

However do you square to difference in the facts of both scenarios?

How do you know all this, is it from the Guardian?

My guess is, he feels he is at a crossroads.

Politically, and maybe personally as well.

The £5mill investigation wont be helping either.

foxie48

Well over half the elected MPs (63%) have accepted gifts, it may not be a "good look" in your eyes but I definitely think KS looked better in smart glasses and a decent suit. British Prime ministers do not get a clothing allowance but they are expected to represent Britain on the world stage, as is their wife, who also doesn't get an allowance. It is also of interest that KS does not claim the whole of the additional salary that he is entitled to. This is a tradition started by Cameron to show solidarity for the austerity started by his government in 2010. Farage on the other hand has accepted nearly £1m worth of gifts in addition to the £1m a year he's earned besides his MP salary and the £5m he got as a bung from Harborne.

I really do not think he needed a clothing allowance!

When gifts are made, regardless of value, the giver obviously will expect something in return.

I honestly believe it is partly why he became so unpopular.

foxie48

Well over half the elected MPs (63%) have accepted gifts, it may not be a "good look" in your eyes but I definitely think KS looked better in smart glasses and a decent suit. British Prime ministers do not get a clothing allowance but they are expected to represent Britain on the world stage, as is their wife, who also doesn't get an allowance. It is also of interest that KS does not claim the whole of the additional salary that he is entitled to. This is a tradition started by Cameron to show solidarity for the austerity started by his government in 2010. Farage on the other hand has accepted nearly £1m worth of gifts in addition to the £1m a year he's earned besides his MP salary and the £5m he got as a bung from Harborne.

I didn’t know that about Keir and Cameron.I do know about Burnham banging on about donating to charity. Usually only find out about people’s charitable deeds after they die eg George Michael.

Meandrogrog

foxie48

Well over half the elected MPs (63%) have accepted gifts, it may not be a "good look" in your eyes but I definitely think KS looked better in smart glasses and a decent suit. British Prime ministers do not get a clothing allowance but they are expected to represent Britain on the world stage, as is their wife, who also doesn't get an allowance. It is also of interest that KS does not claim the whole of the additional salary that he is entitled to. This is a tradition started by Cameron to show solidarity for the austerity started by his government in 2010. Farage on the other hand has accepted nearly £1m worth of gifts in addition to the £1m a year he's earned besides his MP salary and the £5m he got as a bung from Harborne.

I really do not think he needed a clothing allowance!

When gifts are made, regardless of value, the giver obviously will expect something in return.

I honestly believe it is partly why he became so unpopular.

Using that logic, Farage should be so unpopular that his negativity rating would be so high that he wouldn't even dare to open his mouth - yet people still vote for his party. It defies all logic.

I am yet to see a pair of specs or a suit which costs £5 million.

Meandrogrog

LemonJam

Meandrogrog

foxie48

AGAA4 Yes, I know butI rather like playing ping pong especially when it's clear I'm dealing with facts rather than fantasy!

Agaa4, you can okay ping pong all you like but it does not alter the fact that Starmer accepted freebies, it wasnt a good look.

Meandrodog- to avoid doubt and alteration of fact- Starmer declared his comparatively low value suits and glasses in the proper manner. Starmer did not receive a high value £cash gift to speak as he liked that he kept secret from a cryptocurrency billionaire seeking meetings with the Bank of England to make decisions in crypto millionaires best interests! .

Farage kept his £5million cash gift to spend however he liked from a cryptocurrency billionaire then sought a secret meeting with the Bank of England to lobby the BoE to make a decision in the best financial interest of his crypto millionaire secret gift giver.

However do you square to difference in the facts of both scenarios?

How do you know all this, is it from the Guardian?

Other sources are available.

Meandrogrog

LemonJam

Meandrogrog

foxie48

AGAA4 Yes, I know butI rather like playing ping pong especially when it's clear I'm dealing with facts rather than fantasy!

Agaa4, you can okay ping pong all you like but it does not alter the fact that Starmer accepted freebies, it wasnt a good look.

Meandrodog- to avoid doubt and alteration of fact- Starmer declared his comparatively low value suits and glasses in the proper manner. Starmer did not receive a high value £cash gift to speak as he liked that he kept secret from a cryptocurrency billionaire seeking meetings with the Bank of England to make decisions in crypto millionaires best interests! .

Farage kept his £5million cash gift to spend however he liked from a cryptocurrency billionaire then sought a secret meeting with the Bank of England to lobby the BoE to make a decision in the best financial interest of his crypto millionaire secret gift giver.

However do you square to difference in the facts of both scenarios?

How do you know all this, is it from the Guardian?

The question is are you aware these facts Meandrogog whatever you favoured choice of newspaper? If you don't like the Guardian, the BBC, etc etc that's your choice but facts are facts.

It's hard to dispute facts- but feel free if you feel thats the case. In context of these facts how do you square the difference in Farage's behaviour re his undeclared £5million gift and meeting with the Bank of England to lobby for his benefactors interests compared to Starmer declaring his glasses and suits in the proper manner which you brought up as though it had some relevance or equivalence? It doesn't

I’ll point again to the link that MaizieD gave in another thread, Inside The Reform Party, from Robbie Lammas about how toxic and divided the Reform Party is:

conservativehome.com/2026/06/17/robbie-lammas-i-made-a-mistake-defecting-to-reform-they-are-not-a-serious-party/

Extract:

… just how many in Reform really dislike Nigel Farage. They see him as a ‘necessary evil’ due to his communicative talent. They are resentful at the entryism of late comers who they feel will dilute the spoils owed to them for getting the party off the ground.

The Tories – they privately admit how much they miss their former Party and how concerned they are with the dysfunction within Reform. They say ‘focus on what you can get out of it’ and ‘just go with the flow’. Many share my concerns but unlike me they are afraid to admit they made a mistake.

I can imagine there is a lot of opposition to one latecomer - the extremely aggressive Zia Yusuf who parachuted in with a (smallish by Reform standards) bag of cash two years ago when Reform was technically insolvent, owing £1.4 million to Tice.

Since then he has been moved from post to post. First Tice, who had been bankrolling Reform, was shoved aside so Yusuf could be made Chair to “professionalise” the party. His donation was used to reduce the debt to Tice. Then he was head of DOLGE for five minutes, then Head of Policy (now James Orr) and now “Shadow” Home Secretary - which would have been news to Chris Philp who is Shadow Home Secretary.

What Yusuf shares with Farage is his need for self-aggrandisement with little substance and no mandate.

Former employees have described the working environment at Yusuf’s former concierge app company as toxic. I have wondered why his former business partner and majority shareholder left a year before, leaving Yusuf having to sell the company.

He made an utter fool of himself on BBC QT yesterday. When the usually Reform-friendly Fiona Bruce tears you off a strip, you know you have crossed a line.

And now David Bull, who has himself stepped down as Chair, says Farage should take a break.

The party constitution says they can’t get rid of Farage until they have more than a 100 MPs and they or half the membership submits a motion of no confidence so he would have to go of his own volition.

Meantime, only five working days to go until 4:00pm next Friday for Reform to put up a candidate for the Greater Manchester Mayoral Election. Maybe Yusuf fancies a crack at that if Nigel will let him.

Wonder if Farage will throw everything at it for the Grter Manchester Mayoral election? He did that in Makerfield and the best he could offer was the dire Robert Kenyon.

Cant wait to read more about the candidates.

Farage has UK REFORM Ltd uk sewn up like a kipper in his best interests. Pity the Conservative MP defectors somewhat sewn up as kippers also.....

They should have realised the risks.....

Has a date been set for the Manchester mayoral election? As a matter of interest, is Manchester's student population eligible to vote?

Just answered my own question (should have Googled first). It's on 30 July. Students are eligible to vote, but will mostly have returned home. There are approximately 100,000 of them and the students union are encouraging them to register for a postal or proxy vote. Very few of them will vote for Reform.

30 July 2026. Here’s the timetable:

www.manchester.gov.uk/the-council-and-democracy/elections-and-voting/elections/the-next-election

Good question about eligibility to vote. Electoral Commission says:

Being registered at two addresses [e.g. if you have a term time and a different family address] doesn’t necessarily mean you get two votes.

You will need to choose one address and vote in only that area when you're voting in:

• UK Parliament elections
• UK referendums
•London Assembly and London Mayoral elections

You can't vote at both addresses at these elections. Voting in
more than one location is a criminal offence.

For other elections you can vote at both addresses.

You can choose to vote in either or both areas (as long as the addresses are in different council areas) when you're voting in:

• Local council elections in England
• Police and Crime commissioner elections and mayoral elections

Make sure you understand the rules for the election you are voting in.

So that means Manchester students can vote in the GMCA Mayoral election but I take you point about the timing.

fancythat, you may have a point.
He has lost so many elections recently, and each time his share appears to be dropping
No great break through in Scotland.
His councillors are failing to cope or even in some cases, understand their new duties.
His hero Trump is flailing in the USA. All that obsession with the Reflecting Pool, instead of resolving real issues.
And the problem of finding a convincing explanation of the 5 million, is not going to disappear soon.

It would cost Farage a fortune to throw everything at the GMCA Mayoral election. I doubt if even he has the money to do it and he hasn't got the number of people to canvas such a big area. Nevertheless, the Manchester Evening News reckons Reform is just three percentage points behind Labour with nobody else anywhere near. Most of the votes seem to be coming from former Conservatives. I suspect there will be tactical voting because I suspect there are more people who hate Reform than hate Labour. I know quite a lot of Stockport LibDems, who will hold their noses and vote Labour. Labour also has people already in place and will, no doubt, fight hard.

And Yusef was on the ropes on Question Time last night. A programme that used to be full of people cheering for Brexit and Reform.I honestly don’t think Farage will survive the 5 million pound scandal. He is the party. It won’t survive without him.

The other danger to Labour is coming frim the Greens, but quite a bit of shine has been knocked off their halo.

MayBee70

And Yusef was on the ropes on Question Time last night. A programme that used to be full of people cheering for Brexit and Reform.I honestly don’t think Farage will survive the 5 million pound scandal. He is the party. It won’t survive without him.

Some of the Manchester suburbs voted for Brexit, but as a whole Manchester voted to remain.

Was it from Manchester? I haven’t watched it for years and only did so last night because my partner switched over to it. I used to watch it every week pre referendum.

MayBee70

And Yusef was on the ropes on Question Time last night. A programme that used to be full of people cheering for Brexit and Reform.I honestly don’t think Farage will survive the 5 million pound scandal. He is the party. It won’t survive without him.

QT was from Kettering.

Emily Thornberry and Kevin Hollinrake gave Yusuf a roasting and it was much deserved. He even managed to alienate Fiona Bruce by more or less calling her a liar. Hard to know who is the biggest liability. Yusuf or Farage.

Jenrick’s history with Yusuf is well documented and now he’s saying that Farage needs to answer questions over the £5 million bung.

Jenrick must fancy his chances of leading the party if Farage takes Bull’s advice to take a break - whatever he means by that with the Manchester mayoral election looming.

Bull is said to have resigned the Reform chair to focus on his election prospects. Maybe he would like a crack at mayor. He was MEP for North West England so has a bit of form in the area.

MayBee70

Was it from Manchester? I haven’t watched it for years and only did so last night because my partner switched over to it. I used to watch it every week pre referendum.

No, it was from Kettering.

Gosh, now Jenrick is calling him out?

Be afraid, be very afraid, the oracle that is Piers Morgan has spoken.
au.news.yahoo.com/piers-morgan-says-nigel-farage-090830783.html