Friday, February 26, 2010
Nigel Farage.
Watching Question Time. One of the guests is former UKIP leader, Nigel Farage. Always thought he was an OK bloke - a bit of a wide boy, but I've always had a bit of time for him. But no more. His speech in the European Parliament yesterday was a disgrace. The remarks he directed at EU President, Herman van Rompuy were just appallingly rude and offensive. I'm all for a bit of robust debate, but Mr Farage was not clever, or funny, or in any way attractive. Probably generated a bit of support for the new EU President. He showed himself to be a verbal bully. I'm even tempted to give up a day to head down to Buckingham to campaign for John Bercow, to make sure that this extremely offensive man does not enter our Parliament.
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11 comments:
Better that the faceless EU politicians and bureaucrats are confronted with anger by means of loud words than nasty demonstrations on the streets against EU policies with deaths and serious injuries, something seen, e.g., in Denmark.
The worst thing about Mr Farage's speech was *how* it was delivered. If I had just seen it selectively quoted in a newspaper, I would have pictured a nice, mild, moderate delivery and been quite pleased that someone had expressed frank disapproval of a lacklustre President of the European Star Chamber. But instead I watched the video, and I was appalled by the sheer violence that was in Mr Farage's tone. It wasn't just that he shouted; it was that he did nothing but shout: it was actually quite scary to watch. I don't think I've seen anything like it since the merciful demise of a programme called Central Weekend that used to go out late on Friday nights on the other side of the border.
Anon - Agree with you. My post was about how my view of Mr Farage changed.
James - Agree with this too. It was entirely reasonable to challenge the position, and to comment on the ineffective way its being carried out. All Mr Farage did was make legitamate points which acheived the opposite of what he intended.
I agree with you about Nigel Farage. I think he was surprised by the audience reaction, he was probably thinking he would be basking in their esteem. Quite the reverse.
On another point on Question Time. Do you not agree it was disgraceful that there were not more Welsh faces on the Panel and not one question about Wales? They would not have dared to do this in Edinburgh.
Glynbeddau - Lot of agreement on my post today. I know that the BBC do not see Question Time in Wales as being about 'Welsh' issues, but it would be nice if there was a nod in our direction. But Elfyn was on quite good form I thought, even if there was no sign of the enmity that developed between him and Peter Hin that kept us all so amused for months last year.
I think Farage maybe could have made his points in the EP more effecively if he had challenged the position of the EU President and what it represents rather than the person himself, although anyone who puts themselves up for running that degenerate organisation deserves the hounds of hell unleashed upon them. I will not shed a tear for Von Rompuy. I think Farage was possibly expressing the frustration people are feeling over the way we are being denied any say over the way our freedoms are being eroded. Thanks a bunch Mr Cameron with his cast iron guarantee of a referendum. If a swarm of Tories go to Buckingham to support the Bercow, then we may feel compelled to help Farage in return. Better Farage than Bercow, despite his controversial speech in Brussels. Thank goodness someone has the guts to cast aside the slush, mush and gush of modern political back-slapping.
Never mind Nigel Farage on Question Time, you got a mention on Dragons Eye.
Roman> well put. Freedoms are being eroded in step with the erosion of Great Britain's sovereignty. Maybe Mr. Farage was too angry and attacked the man instead of role of the EU President but someone should let the EU President know that there are many citizens in the EU who are very unhappy about what's going on in their name with very little democratic accountability - was this President elected by the people of the EU? Nope. As a consequence the position of the EU President is undermined from the get-go when he/she is not elected by the people. The EU has become a vast undemocratic apparatus.
Anon - Sorry but I accidently reused your comment about my 'attack' on Mr Farage as being a tactic of the Conservative Party to divert attention from the message, which you reckon Conservative members agree with. You're correct in part, in that Many will agree, but would not dream of being so offensive - which is the issue.
Gary - Mark Hinge is a good judge. He's also a friend of mine!!
Anon - I would have thought that since you don't really want a President, one that has no profile would be jsut what suits you.
It's pretty clear that the Conservative Party is worried about leakage of votes to the UKIP and as a consequence is happy to diss the UKIP leader. Not that I blame the CP, if its a tactic that works so be it - the UKIP are not a credible party vis-à-vis winning against the Labour Party, and anything to stem the potential leakage of otherwise CP voters to the UKIP is fine in my book.
But let's not pretend here - the CP's tactics are all too clear to do anything within reason to diminish the leader of the UKIP who looks strong while David Cameron is looking increasingly vulnerable. Again: the issue that will win for the CP is jobs*jobs*jobs*jobs*jobs ... y isn't David Cameron focusing like a laser on this issue and providing credible solutions to creating real jobs for the people of Britain.
It’s the same in Wales – the Welsh Conservative Party is looking vulnerable – in fact the Welsh Conservatives are creating a vacuum instead of advancing their case and so are beginning to look like they don’t have a clue, like they don’t have answers to the growing Welsh job issue. All they seem to harp on about is lowering business rates – a great gesture – but doesn’t focus on jobs.
How does Wales create an indigenous private sector? Welsh people are not daft, they want to hear about solutions – they know there are structural problems in the Welsh economy c/o Welsh Labour – they want to hear about solutions, ideas that sound like they will fix the structural problems.
If the Conservatives were in the driving seat at the Welsh Assembly what would they do to turn the Welsh economy around beyond merely reducing the business tax rate? Why isn’t the Welsh Conservatives getting across their message to the Welsh electorate – particularly wavering Labour supporters looking for another party to vote for. How would the Welsh CP use expertise from every quarter to turn the Welsh economy into that envisaged by Prof Huggins?
Prof Huggins advocates for turning Wales into a “globally-facing country, with the small and medium-sized business community focused on international trade and remaining at the forefront of the world’s fastest-developing markets”; quote from Sion Barry’s excellent piece: “Wales needs to find its feet in international business”.
GIVE ME FARAGE ANY DAY OVER THOSE FACELESS LITTLE SOCIALISTS THAT RIDE THE GRAVY TRAIN TO CARDIFF BAY.HE MAY COME ACROSS AS SOME MAVERICK LITTLE ENGLANDER BUT AT LEAST THE MAN WILL STAND UP AND SAY WHAT MOST OF US ARE THINKING.
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