It’s not often I go in on a political party without balance… but after seeing videos of Nigel Farage partying at the Conservative Party’s conference, I’m genuinely too seething to even give the event an ounce of daylight. It’s ridiculous beyond words but I’m gonna try. So here goes.
And why not start with the man of the hour, partying with those leading our country? A man whose career has almost wholeheartedly consisted of demonising people foreign to his country and religion. Especially those of the Jewish persuasion.
I’m not one to judge people for their actions as a child, nor should anyone… but when carrying the past with you, showing no remorse and, instead, an active unwillingness to change… it starts to become entirely relevant.
This man, as a youth, had several red flags growing up… but the worst must be the several reports of severe bullying towards his Jewish classmates at school. The kind of discrimination any sane person would want to bury deep in their minds and do anything they can to make up for it in later life.
Perhaps it had something to do with Enoch Powell’s visit to his school, who he, from there on, called his political hero.
Powell, of course, famous for that speech in 1968, in which he warned fellow Brits that “in 20 years, the black man will have the whip over the white man” and as he looked ahead, “I am filled with foreboding; like the Roman, I seem to see the River Tiber foaming with much blood.”
This open and shameless endorsement of racial segregation perhaps inspired Farage. Who knows… maybe Powell was on his mind when, according to his classmates, he joyously sang “Gas ‘em all, gas ‘em all” skipping through the corridors of Greenhayes Grammar School in West Wickham.
I mean… he almost definitely did when unveiling that 'Breaking Point' billboard during the Brexit campaign. So abhorrent, that it was reported to the police for inciting racial hatred; an anti-immigrant poster indistinguishable from footage used by the Nazi party in Germany in their desperate attempt to ‘other’ Jewish people. It had the most extreme of Leave campaigners, such as Johnson and Gove, quickly distancing themselves from the messaging in utter shock. It was disgusting.
Still think it’s a stretch? Well, it was enough for The Board of British Jews to call out his “dog whistles” when repeatedly using language and themes associated with far-right conspiracy theories to attack billionaire hedge fund manager and philanthropist, George Soros, a regular target of his.
Writing in a Newsweek column, Farage talked about “unelected globalists shaping the public’s lives based on secret recommendations from the big banks”.
Goldman Sachs was the only bank he mentioned by name.
The Community Security Trust, a charity that works for the safety of Jewish people in the UK, said in a statement: “This is not the first time that Nigel Farage has used language that evokes antisemitic conspiracy codewords, but the deeper problem is that this search for scapegoats will keep requiring new enemies and new excuses, moving the national debate into more polarising and dangerous places.”
It would certainly ring true when you look at his compatriots throughout his political career.
Tony Lecomber, for instance… the editor of the Young Nationalist, a racist and antisemitic magazine. A violent member of the National Front and the BNP; injured by a nail bomb he was carrying to the offices of the left-wing ‘Workers Revolutionary Party.’ Only for the police to find grenades, petrol bombs and detonators at his home afterwards.
Oh, and he physically assaulted a Jewish person removing a BNP sticker on the London Underground, if that wasn’t enough.
Or how about his pal Speroni? Francesco Speroni. The man Farage co-chaired the Europe of Freedom and Democracy group between 2009 and 2014.
It was a Eurosceptic group. Harmless, right?
All fine and well, perhaps… up until the same Co-chair states his full support for Anders Behring Breivik, following the 2011 Norway attacks in which he killed 77 people and attempted a further 242, saying his “ideas are in defence of western civilisation.”
You’d also think the backing of such a terrorist would force a rethink of Farage’s partnership with Speroni… but they continued it for a further 3 years. Their love for anti-immigration precedes all. By any means. Apparently.
Farage’s family, by the way, came over to Britain as immigrants from Germany in the late 1800s. One for the irony fans.
Farage also claimed in 2014 that people speaking in other languages on a train in London made him feel uncomfortable. This may come as a surprise with his wife and kids being fluent German speakers.
More irony? Sure thing… around that time he also expressed discomfort at the thought of Romanians living next to him. He justified it by saying “I think we all know why” and went on to describe some of the issues he had with human trafficking.
It appears the stereotype can only coexist in his mind. He couldn’t, for example, express discomfort at the thought of human traffickers living next to him. It’s something about Romanians that spurs this thought on exclusively.
Farage was later photographed with Andrew Tate after he was kicked off Big Brother for striking a woman with a belt, with a big cheesy smile and a thumbs up. As we now know, Tate, of American-British origin, would be charged with human trafficking just months later.
Farage also goes on to indulge in tax avoidance. He’ll also go on to embrace misogyny after his buddy Donald Trump boasted about “grabbing girls by the pussy” claiming ‘that’s just what men are like.’ He’ll also campaign to dismantle the NHS and endorse the leadership practices of Vladimir Putin, another great admirer of Farage’s.
So aye… when I see him welcomed with open arms, partying away on my television screen as if he’s done nothing wrong or caused nae disruption to my country… forgive me if I go in, unequivocally, at those facilitating this charade.
Maybe it wasn’t just Nigel that made me ragin but. Maybe it was the recurring platform former Prime Minister Liz Truss seems to be getting. Spouting the same nonsense that plunged working families into despair with mortgage rates tripling at minimum.
A needless, undemocratic decision which put so many under ridiculous pressure in already trying times.
Or maybe it was Rishi, another unelected Prime Minister, fending off all but true accusations that HS2 will be stopping short of Manchester. The talk of the toon in… you guessed it… Manchester – where the conference was held.
Or maybe it was Clare Coutinho, spreading lies about Labour’s will to introduce a meat tax – an utter fabrication. Or Andrew Bowie, another Government Minister, saying local councils will be able to dictate how often you go to the shops in these supposed ’15-minute cities’ that Labour would introduce to cut carbon omissions – another utter fabrication.
Keep it coming folks. Tell me lies, tell me sweet humungous lies. Ones you obviously can’t disguise. Ones in the hope we’ll close our, close our eyes.
Cos that’ll be the only way Rishi wins the upcoming election. Lies and deceit.
Are we surprised his entire political agenda is based on a Fleetwood Mac song? Perhaps the only thing surprising would be him having a decent taste in music.
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