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Nigel Farage and the Brexit Party

(65 Posts)
Chestnut Sun 15-Dec-19 15:39:32

In all the post-election threads there has been no mention of Nigel Farage so I thought I would remedy that. If nothing else, it will give the remainers a chance to vent some more bile as I know they love to hate him. But before they start tearing him to shreds just consider this.

There were many pre-election comments accusing him of self-glorification and putting himself before the country. I can’t think of anyone less deserving of that allegation. Here we have a man who worked tirelessly for 25 years towards one goal, and who effectively fell on his sword for the sake of achieving that goal. In handing his voters to the Tories on a plate he sacrificed his political career, hardly the actions of a self-serving career politician. Over the last few years, other parties have consistently stolen his policies when they realized it was what voters wanted. Consequently, he has influenced the political landscape more than anyone else and without even entering Parliament. That is an amazing achievement. I heard someone describe him as ‘the most influential politician of the post-Blair era’.

Whether you love him or hate him, that is a factual description, and I think history books of the future will probably recognize his achievements far more than we do.

Chestnut Mon 16-Dec-19 16:20:36

As far as I know I never 'spit bile' as you put it, I mostly remain quite factual. I have never made any vile and nasty comments about MPs like some people do. This thread like any other is meant to promote discussion. If people can't do that without throwing personal insults that is not my fault.

inkcog Mon 16-Dec-19 17:56:09

I like Trump. He is a decent honest chap. Melania is slim and beautiful. He has built a wall and he will make America great.

NF would be ideal as his buddy.

varian Mon 16-Dec-19 19:13:46

What wall?

What greatness?

What buddy?

Perhaps they could team up for a lying competition, but it would not be that easy for them to tell more lies than Boris Johnson.

inkcog Mon 16-Dec-19 19:28:23

Who could work out the truth though?

varian Mon 16-Dec-19 19:56:50

Even now, in spite of Ttump and Johnson, there is such a thing as the truth and most decent people can still recognise the truth. There are ways that facts can be checked and although we are all exposed to propaganda and fake news, some things are still obviously true.

When you see a politician who is a proven liar, you must question everything he says.

For instance, when Johnson was visiting a hospital and was spoken to by the parent of a sick child who questioned him about the NHS and said "you're just here for a photo-opportunity", he said "there's no press here" when he was standing right next to a press cameraman.

He lied. We could all see that. It is what he does. He is, like Trump, a habitual liar and none of us should ever trust either of them.

inkcog Mon 16-Dec-19 20:02:50

Plenty of people trust him to run the country....... strange times

SirChenjin Tue 17-Dec-19 07:31:29

Ahhh...but he’s going to get Brexit done. Forget all the other lies he’s told the Queen and the people and the UK - he’ll come good on Brexit. Allegedly.

SirChenjin Tue 17-Dec-19 07:31:47

Of the UK

Chestnut Tue 17-Dec-19 23:38:14

To get back to the subject of this thread, I actually think that Farage has done what he set out to do and without getting a single seat! In the 2015 GE he got 3.8 million votes for UKIP and that clearly rattled the Tories who then gave us the referendum in 2016. Then we voted to leave. Farage tried to retire, but things went down the pan for the next three years while remainers fought against Brexit. So he had to come back to shake things up again. UKIP had fallen apart by then so he started the Brexit Party. Within just a few weeks they turned the country Brexit blue in the 2019 EU Elections, thus confirming that the country was still behind him. That rattled the Tories again and Boris realised he could win the 2019 general election by following the path Farage had shown him, and by delivering Brexit. It was so obvious that was what people wanted. Farage stepped down to allow him to do this and hey presto! We have the intended result and Brexit is back on track. Farage can celebrate without even having won a single seat. Hence the original post, stating that he has influenced the political landscape more than anyone else by forcing the Tories to submit to the will of the people.

Labaik Wed 18-Dec-19 00:44:30

I never disagreed with the fact that he has influenced the political landscape. It's just that he did it by tapping into the nastiest elements of society; racism, bigotry etc etc. Not something to be proud of imo….

growstuff Wed 18-Dec-19 01:01:27

The people doesn't have a collective will.

Chestnut Wed 18-Dec-19 09:54:53

Labaik - you are confusing right wing with the far right. Racists follow the far right groups who we (quite rightly) hear little or nothing about on mainstream media. However, lots of people are concerned about the numbers of people entering the country following Blair's open door immigration policy and it is unfair of you to accuse them of racism.

varian Wed 18-Dec-19 10:34:49

One difference between Eu and non EU immigrants is that non-EU immigration has always been entirely controlled by UK govts.

Another difference is their net contribution to the NHS, which refutes to pro-brexit propaganda

Chestnut Wed 18-Dec-19 14:27:46

Agreed that EU immigrants have contributed hugely to our NHS and in many other areas. However, a population increase of 8 million people since 1997 is just too much for one small country. Housing, schools and hospitals are struggling to cope. Our roads are gridlocked. We can’t blame everything on old people. And we can’t keep solving our problems by bringing in more people, or where will it end?