"You get that? Nah?"

In a democratic society, political parties are the cornerstone of public discourse. They are meant to be a forum where individuals with shared values can come together to advocate for their beliefs and shape public policy. However, what happens when an individual's personal opinion, even on a seemingly minor issue, clashes with the party's official stance?

This is a dilemma that many politically active citizens face. While party unity is often seen as essential for success, it should not come at the cost of individual freedom of expression. A healthy political party is one that encourages open debate and respects the right of its members to hold and express personal opinions, even if those opinions differ from the party line. When a party suppresses dissenting voices, it not only alienates its members but also risks becoming a rigid, monolithic entity that is out of touch with the very people it claims to represent. It sends a clear message that conformity is valued above all else, and that personal conviction is a liability. This can lead to a chilling effect, where members are afraid to speak their minds for fear of being ostracised or removed from their positions.

The right to express a personal opinion is a fundamental aspect of a healthy democracy. It is a right that should be protected and cherished, not punished. Political parties should be a space where diverse perspectives are welcomed and debated, not silenced. In the end, the strength of a political party lies not in its ability to enforce a single, unified voice, but in its capacity to embrace the rich diversity of opinions and ideas held by its members. Only then can it truly claim to be a representative of the people and a champion of democratic values.

Over the last couple of weeks, I have been openly mistreated by Reform UK in Ceredigion & Pembrokeshire; where the Chair has removed me from all WhatsApp Groups. The Chair continued to make fun out of the way I spoke - with other Board members even agreeing that his actions were extreme and should not have warranted the response he gave - BUT, did they speak up for me? No.

Over the last few weeks, I was open about schools of sanctuary which is. programme where schools write anonymised cards which are usually kept in a classroom but some go to asylum seeker support groups. I expressed that I did not agree with this and named all schools in the UK which are currently part of the programme. Due to this, and myself being asked for a statement on my personal opinion, the Chair threw his toys out of the pram and removed me from all communication as I "should have followed party policy", even though none of the members are officially voted in yet.

Messages from the Chair to myself - "You get that? Nah?"

This is the message thread of how my conversation went with the Chair in Ceredigion & Pembrokeshire. Bare in mind, I paid £25 for membership, £50 for my application to become a Senedd Candidate (which I had passed the vetting process) and then a further £150 to complete an assessment for the Senedd position - all of which, I later found out is a rigged selection process as the Chair and those close to him are the ones who will be automatically selected as candidates for the Party in the local area.

Going back to the Schools of Sanctuary project, they stated the following:

"We know that false and inflammatory material about our Schools of Sanctuary programme is circulating online. Contrary to what these dangerous misrepresentations claim, our programme promotes compassion, understanding, and safety. Whilst we are not directly involved in the delivery of activities in schools, we know that the activity in question, undertaken in a very small number of schools, did not involve children writing personal Valentine’s cards to adults in the asylum system. It was a simple act of welcome – pupils wrote short, anonymised messages to show support and solidarity. These were expressions such as “Welcome to our town” or “We hope you feel safe here.” The vast majority of these were displayed within the classroom, in a small number of cases, schools gave them to local refugee support groups. No personal information was shared, and the activity was age-appropriate, teacher-led, and in line with rigorous school safeguarding policies.

The Article written by The Pembrokeshire Herald with myself and Dan from Voice of Wales.

The official statement, directly from their webpage stated that a small number of notes were given to local groups. End of Story.

The following is the article which was published, yes - it is not that bad. I shared the article and openly stated that I still have the lists of schools that I am willing to share with people.

Reform UK in Ceredigion & Pembrokeshire openly admitted that I should have "nothing to do with Dan from Voice of Wales" because he was convicted of Fraud. My belief is that everyone has a past and sometimes it is easier to move on from the past, but being in such a public facing position means your past will get dragged up no-matter what, whether you like it or not.

I want to reiterate that I am NOT against Asylum Seekers. What I am against is men and other people coming over on the boats, using our resources such as the RNLI to save them when they're in distress. We should be focusing on people who are coming from war-ridden countries such as Ukraine - but our demographic does not understand the public and emergency effort that goes into having people who are not vetted, claiming benefits in our country when our own people are struggling as it is.

What about our Veterans? What about people in our own home who are homeless? We clearly do not care about these people, but can give someone who throws a temper tantrum full blown housing in a hotel, hot water, security, warmth, bedding, showers, free food, no tv licence, no bills and a WEEKLY allowance. Families are struggling in the UK. Families are struggling in Wales & this is how our government repays our own hardworking individuals.

Reform may be the best option for the UK, but they are not the best party for Wales - that is fact & that is a promise. Their 'leaders' have dropped from their positions, including leaders who have criminal convictions such as drink driving and had their licences suspended - but we expect all this to be okay and just ignore it.

I may not have the best past, but we all have a past. One thing I do not have is a criminal conviction, I also have my driving licence, never been in 'trouble' by the police & if I have, it has always been cleared or no further action, or unsubstantiated.

We need freedom of speech, we need transparency, we need openness. The people of Wales need their voices heard by people who god damn care.

I have since requested an apology, with people agreeing with me - they have since blocked me from their Facebook Page. I have escalated this matter to Reform HQ, but I am still awaiting a response. I'm also in two minds to start a political party but for Wales only.

We'll see as time moves - I will update in due course.