Bradford law graduate dines with Reform voter at Romaldkirk pub

Fraz, a 22-year-old law graduate from Bradford training to be a commercial solicitor, met Pete, a 48-year-old software engineering manager from Barnard Castle who most recently voted for Reform, for a meal at the Rose & Crown in Romaldkirk, County Durham. Fraz said he was born in Pakistan and that his father claimed asylum in the UK when he was two; his parents spoke little English when they arrived.

He describes himself as “pretty central” and was only eligible to vote at the last election. Pete said he has voted for many parties, describes himself as “slightly right of centre,” and designs and maintains a mobile trainspotting app. The pair discussed immigration at length. Pete said immigration levels are too high and argued the country is poor at building housing and services to match incoming numbers, which he said causes problems for people already here.

Fraz said most incoming migrants are skilled workers, that asylum seekers and illegal migrants are a tiny proportion, and that the root cause is a UK skills shortage; he added that integration is a two-way street and that a government role in facilitating it is needed. They also found common ground on taxation: Pete said income is taxed more than accumulated wealth and that the system fails to tax billionaires sensibly.

Fraz noted he was surprised Pete agreed with him on a wealth tax.

Key Topics

Politics, Reform, Immigration, Wealth Tax, Fraz, Pete