Nathan Gill, former leader of Reform UK in Wales, sentenced to 10.5 years for bribery and corruption

@ArishMell I think the Greens are the true opposition now

@SW-User Could be, along with the Liberal Democrats. though I am not sure what either of those stand for. I'd have to read their manifestos.

@ArishMell They are trying to. The most interesting question is why did Gill stick his neck out for a pro-Russian Ukrainian businessman. There is circumstantial evidence that Farage already had business links with the man who paid the bribes.

@SunshineGirl There may be, but whilst I am no Farage Fan "circumstantial evidence" is not evidence of wrong-doing even if he and the Uknainian did have business links.

Given his past though, I wonder how long Reform will last even without any shady activities by any of its members.

@ArishMell I am certain that by the time of the election Reform's support will have ebbed substantially. They will have plenty of MPs but nowhere near enough to form a government.

@SW-User Difficult to say how it will go, but you could well be right.

@ArishMell There's a lot of grumbling around the budget (oddly enough particularly in the billionaire-owned rightwing media), but I think it could well begin to bear fruit, particularly with the two-child benefit cap being lifted. Also, if growth is higher than expected then maybe taxes won't need to rise.

@SW-User I don't know what the billionaire-owned media of either Left or Right have to say about it, but ironically a lot of support for keeping the benefit cap is from Labour politicians and supporters.

So it's hard to know what effect it will have on voting.

The taxes will likely rise anyway. The Budget is a set of proposals to Parliament but they are normally passed without much altering, and that will be long before any real difference in growth appears.

@ArishMell It is not definitive evidence of wrongdoing, but it does raise questions that an honest politician should be prepared to answer.

@SunshineGirl I agree.

@SW-User The two child cap on benefits was arbitrary and cruel. Labour will lift half a million children out of poverty with this simple reform and pump money back into the economy. That is something to be proud of.

@SunshineGirl Handy things to politicians, are children. I do wonder if 500 000 is correct but I suppose it's based on the number of claiming households.

"pump money into the economy"... No, just circulate what money there is, in another way.

I think the biggest harm to the economy is the one the politicians of all parties fail to see through: the "inwards investment" myth.