Nigel Farrage - does he have much influence ?

I think Farage sometimes asks good questions but his answers are simplistic and I don't agree with them.

Farage is a grifter who jumps on to campaigns which may benefit him and mobilise his faithful of which, regrettably, there are many. Happily not enough to elect him into Parliament though. He is just the kind of bore that I would avoid with his fake 'fags and beer' man of the people presentation. People give him too much credence.

It has been noticed that Sunak and others gave more air time to Farage and his fall out with Coutts than they initially did with the Post Office/ Fujitsu crimes.

MaizieD

^I do think the BBC was at fault on this. They seem to have been driven to feel that they must always have someone who holds the opposite opinion.^

Emily Maitlis explained after she left the BBC that this was done in the name of 'balance'.

As a person who has quite frequently held a 'minority view' on a range of things over my lifetime I feel conflicted about this. After all, 'minority views', on rigorous examination of the evidence, sometimes turn out to be correct. But a short media piece presenting both views are not the place for rigorous examination of the evidence. They just serve to confirm biases. Is that a good or a bad thing?

Nail on head Maizie

Excuse bad grammar, forgot to proof read.

'..a short media piece is not the place...'

I do think the BBC was at fault on this. They seem to have been driven to feel that they must always have someone who holds the opposite opinion.

Emily Maitlis explained after she left the BBC that this was done in the name of 'balance'.

As a person who has quite frequently held a 'minority view' on a range of things over my lifetime I feel conflicted about this. After all, 'minority views', on rigorous examination of the evidence, sometimes turn out to be correct. But a short media piece presenting both views are not the place for rigorous examination of the evidence. They just serve to confirm biases. Is that a good or a bad thing?

I do think the BBC was at fault on this. They seem to have been driven to feel that they must always have someone who holds the opposite opinion.

He obviously has some doubtful influence on the BBC - what that was may come out eventually.

However, if we were discussing whether the earth is round or flat, and there was only one person to put the arguement that it is flat, does that make it a stronger argument?

varian

Farage has had undoubted influence on the politics of the UK in spite of having failed seven times to be elected as an MP.

Why did the BBC invite this failed candidate to appear on Question Time no less than 29 times in the years before the fraudulent referendum of 2016?

Why was QT employing a member of his party to select the QT audience?

No-one can deny that Farage has had a great influence - in my view a very malign influence on this country.

Questions should be asked of the BBC.

I quite agree varian, I did not know one of the QT team was a ukip member, it explains a lot though, now they've been outed on it we have Isobel oaksuott & similar too.

I don't like his views at all, but he is a good speaker and he passes what some people see as a good indicator of who to vote for, the 'man I'd like to chat to down the pub' test.

I don't vote for policies so much as what a party has done, I can see what the Tories have done to the NHS so I won't be voting for them.

Labour started the NHS, support welfare (not to excess as Tories often claim), education etc so they get my vote even if they put Mickey Mouse in charge.

I’ll also add that last year he was instrumental in getting the home office to remove a speaker (rabble rouser) from Pakistan.

This man was here on a tour of mosques and community centres and was known for his dreadful anti western views and speeches. He preached violence and encouraged his followers to reject our western values. Depressingly his tour was sold out!

NF highlighted this man’s visit and demanded to know why the Home Office wasn’t doing its job. I remember when a Dutch anti Islamic speaker was turned away once he’d landed on UK soil.

The Pakistani man was removed and the rest of his hate tour cancelled. A video was shown on GB news of him complaining it was because of someone named Nigel Farage.

If that stopped just one more person becoming radicalised he deserves a medal and the Home Office should be made to explain why they turn a blind eye to some and not to others.

petra

MayBee70
We won’t have to pay until 2025. Then it will cost the eye watering amount of £6 which will last for 3 years.
But, those over 70 and under 18 won’t pay.
This new visa won’t just affect ( I know, £2 a year😱 ) us in the uk but 57 other countries.

Voting to end Free Movement was a spiteful racist move, egged on by misleading dark advertising and rhetoric implying that the UK was on the verge of being overrun by a massive wave of brown skinned people who were going to intensively use our NHS, crowding out the native Brits, who were going to steal everyone's jobs and do them for less wages, while simultaneously claiming free housing and state benefits. Lies driven by both Leave campaigns.

To imply that the only inconvenience it has caused UK citizens is a triennial £6 visa fee is just an extension of the lies.

MayBee70
We won’t have to pay until 2025. Then it will cost the eye watering amount of £6 which will last for 3 years.
But, those over 70 and under 18 won’t pay.
This new visa won’t just affect ( I know, £2 a year😱 ) us in the uk but 57 other countries.

maddyone

I neither love him nor hate him. Actually I feel pretty much that way about politicians in general. However lots of people love to hate him. Waste of emotional energy in my opinion. Nothing we can do or say bothers him or any other politicians. They only care about where we put our cross in the ballot box. After that they don’t care. Farage did care about Brexit and he managed to achieve his aim, which as I said previously, has had an enormous effect on the country. Whether that has been a good or bad effect I’ll leave you to decide, but I didn’t vote for Brexit. Whatever, I do think he has highlighted a very important issue with regard to the banks.
He is a multi millionaire, he is highly educated and intelligent, and he can afford to do whatever he likes within the law.
Incidentally I saw a good many clips of him speaking in the European Parliament, of which he was a member, so I think the idea that he only attended once is complete and utter rubbish, pedalled by those who particularly dislike him for whatever reason.
As I said, I can’t be bothered to summon up the energy to care much about him one way or the other, although I did think he was entertaining and showed character and a certain amount of backbone in I’m a Celebrity, unlike most of the other contestants.

No. The ‘once’ was referring to him in his role regarding the British fishermen, who he was supposed to be representing. No one said he didn’t speak in the EU parliament. Remember the time when he was speaking and someone held a sign up behind him saying ‘he’s lying’?He only ever did what he felt benefitted him and his agenda. Then, of course, there’s his infamous Brexit poster ( another lie). Didn’t he try to get a dual nationality passport after persuading the people of this country to lose their free EU travel? ( I need to re check that).

He has a lot of influence - which is why the left hate him. Some are so obsessed they set up fake identities to spy on him, and then wonder why they get no reply.

If it wasn’t for him we’d still be in the EU.
So yes, he has immense influence.

The left listen to politicians like David Lammy & think everything he says is wonderful. Which is fine if that’s what they like & all that.

Yes I agree

siope good post which I hope is being read by all on this thread.

Thank you Siope for your post. GN never fails to enlighten me.

There is so much that is dodgy about him, but just like Trump people would vote for him regardless of his moral compass or fraudulent history.

I have yet to make sense of that fact, because no one has ever said why they are keen to vote for such an unsuitable person. There surely must be someone right wing who nevertheless has moral authority and incorruptibility as their principles.

Smoking in pubs? I can’t imagine why anyone, anywhere, would want to do that. Same with relaxing gun control. Maybe he should go and live in the USA? Since the measures on gun control here by ex PM John Howard, the number of people killed by guns has dropped hugely though we still have a lot of guns around, too many for my liking.

When he was running UKIP he amassed a great deal of money for himself - he also wanted to copy the USA in relaxing gun control and wanted to bring back smoking in pubs. He’s a total fake.

merlotgran

Although I don’t support his politics I think he is a good speaker and unlike most politicians actually answers the questions.

Much easier for him. As he is not a politician, he us other going to be held to account.

I neither love him nor hate him. Actually I feel pretty much that way about politicians in general. However lots of people love to hate him. Waste of emotional energy in my opinion. Nothing we can do or say bothers him or any other politicians. They only care about where we put our cross in the ballot box. After that they don’t care. Farage did care about Brexit and he managed to achieve his aim, which as I said previously, has had an enormous effect on the country. Whether that has been a good or bad effect I’ll leave you to decide, but I didn’t vote for Brexit. Whatever, I do think he has highlighted a very important issue with regard to the banks.
He is a multi millionaire, he is highly educated and intelligent, and he can afford to do whatever he likes within the law.
Incidentally I saw a good many clips of him speaking in the European Parliament, of which he was a member, so I think the idea that he only attended once is complete and utter rubbish, pedalled by those who particularly dislike him for whatever reason.
As I said, I can’t be bothered to summon up the energy to care much about him one way or the other, although I did think he was entertaining and showed character and a certain amount of backbone in I’m a Celebrity, unlike most of the other contestants.

MayBee70 I believe he turned up once didn't he. If he's a man of the people I am obviously not people. He's pretty much top of my list of people I wouldn't allow across my threshold.

Nanna8 I would consider the term 'extreme' right winger to mean the far right, which are aggressive yobbos wearing hob nail boots and swastika tattoos. Farage is definitely not far right but he is right wing. I guess everyone has their own definition of 'far right' depending on how far to the left they are.

He has often had policies which were taken up by other parties, so in that respect he has made huge political changes. I remember him saying about 20 years ago that the NHS is a national health service not an international health service (probably on Question Time!) and everyone tut tutted as if he was such a villain. Yet now it's pretty much accepted that we cannot provide free healthcare for everyone in the world. He says what he believes whether it's popular at the time or not.

nanna8

Sounds as though he asks some uncomfortable questions then. People like that are really needed if only to get people to look at a situation from both sides. The banking thing sounds appalling, reminds me of the Americans chasing reds under the bed but in reverse. Blues on the loos ? So he would be an ‘extreme’ right winger- would that be right?

When he did have a real political role as an MEP he was supposed to represent the British fishermen. He very rarely bothered to turn up.

Sounds as though he asks some uncomfortable questions then. People like that are really needed if only to get people to look at a situation from both sides. The banking thing sounds appalling, reminds me of the Americans chasing reds under the bed but in reverse. Blues on the loos ? So he would be an ‘extreme’ right winger- would that be right?

It’s interesting reading the comments.

Whatever we think of Farage or Brexit, it is an unarguable truth that Nigel Farage has had a greater impact on this country than many other politicians, including Prime Ministers.

😁

Actually, IACGMOOH could be regarded as his finest hour.

The rest?