Category Archives: nigel farage

Nigel No Mates: How The Tory Leadership Hopefuls Are Running A Mile From Farage

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It was all so different less than a year ago.

At the Conservative party conference in Manchester last year, Nigel Farage was in attendance, albeit in his capacity as a GB News presenter.

Nevertheless, he looked very much at home as he danced with Priti Patel at a late-night party, the pair of them bellowing out Frank Sinatra’s ‘I Love You, Baby’.

Ten months later, however, the mood has changed. Since then, Farage has made his political comeback as leader of Reform UK, and even managed to become an MP at the eighth attempt.

He heads up a five-strong Reform contingent on the opposition benches, alongside the 121 Tories who survived Labour’s landslide general election victory.

There is a school of thought in some right-wing Tory circles that the party needs to reach an accommodation with Farage – who has spoken of mounting a “takeover” of the Conservatives – in order to take on Keir Starmer.

But this week it became clear that whoever succeeds Rishi Sunak, that will not happen.

Even Farage’s former dance partner Patel, who is never confused for a Tory wet, has made it clear that the former Ukip boss is persona non grata.

An ally said in June: “Priti has dedicated over 20 years to the Conservative Party. No one with such a record would welcome someone to the party who has repeatedly stood against Conservatives.”

James Cleverly – described to HuffPost UK by a source in a rival camp as “underpriced” in the leadership stakes – also made it clear to the Daily T podcast that he saw no place in his party for Farage.

“The difference between Boris [Johnson], for example, and Nigel is Boris has never said that he holds an ambition to destroy the Conservative Party,” the former home secretary said.

“I think that is a very significant difference to my open offer to Conservatives who might want to come back into frontline Conservative politics and someone who’s basically said that he wants to destroy my party.”

Robert Jenrick, seen as Kemi Badenoch’s main challenger to be the standard bearer for the Tory right in the contest, has also ruled out allowing Farage into the party, despite previously saying he was “not opposed” to such a move.

Polling by Savanta and seen by HuffPost UK shows why, for now at least, the leadership hopefuls are right to distance themselves from the Reform UK leader.

Farage’s net favourability rating with the public is a derisory minus 19 – lower than every Tory candidate bar Patel, who languishes on minus 30.

Among Tory voters his rating is zero, while among Lib Dems – millions of whom the Conservatives need to win back in 2029 – it is minus 52.

Chris Hopkins, Savanta’s political research director, said: “Conservative leadership candidates must first endear themselves to the current Conservative voter base which, while considerably smaller in number now than they would’ve expected two years ago, isn’t all that enamoured with Nigel Farage, according to our research.

“Courting Farage, therefore, is counterintuitive for Conservative leadership candidates at the moment, and risks letting a fox into the henhouse for no obvious gain.

“But I also think there has also been a wider acceptance that winning back Reform UK voters is neither particularly easy, nor enough. Even if everyone who voted Reform in 2024 and Conservative in 2019 hadn’t switched, the Conservatives still would’ve got a pasting at the election.

“Any new leader needs to expand the Conservative coalition to include former Lib Dem and Labour voters, and younger voters as well. The best way to do that will be by appearing competent and not in it for themselves – no mean feat from the opposition benches.”

One Tory aide said: “Farage has made it his business to ‘destroy’ the Tory party at every opportunity. Why on earth would you want someone who hates you to join the party in the hope it would succeed?

“You wouldn’t let vegans run the BBQ and hog roast, would you?”

A source on one campaign team told HuffPost UK: “The way to beat Farage is to eat his lunch. We need to come up with a firm, realistic offer to the country on how we will bring down immigration.

“That will push him further to the extremes, which is where he makes mistakes.”

A Reform UK spokesman, however, was sanguine at the Tory opposition to their leader.

He said: “It’s like six lepers telling a healthy man that he cannot join their colony. Why on earth would he want to?”

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Tory Leadership Hopeful Tom Tugendhat Slams Elon Musk And Nigel Farage

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A Conservative leadership hopeful Tom Tugendhat has hit out at Elon Musk and Nigel Farage in his first major speech since announcing his bid to lead the Tories.

Musk, who owns the social media platform X, has criticised PM Keir Starmer repeatedly over his response to the far-right riots in recent weeks, and even claimed “civil war is inevitable” in the UK.

Tugendhat, a former security minister, responded to those remarks on Tuesday afternoon, saying: “Frankly I found those comments delusional and simply false.

“The question as to how we operate on social media is a difficult one.”

He added: “I refuse to be on TikTok because the algorithm is set by a foreign dictatorship. Others make different choices.”

He did not say politicians should quit X though, after a handful of Labour MPs left.

Tugendhat also ruled out making a deal with populist party Reform UK if he became Tory leader, and said he would not allow the party’s leader Farage into the Conservatives.

He claimed that Farage has been “deeply irresponsible and dangerous” over the riots in trying to amplify “false information”.

The Reform leader had suggested the police were withholding information from the public over the Southport stabbings.

Tugendhat slammed Farage for criticising the breakdown of law and order, “but not the riots themselves”.

Tugendhat also discussed the conspiracy theory that there is “two-tier” policing in the UK, which claims the authorities treat some protesters more kindly than others.

Musk has even called the PM “Two tier Kier” over this claim, which Starmer – and the police – have vehemently denied.

Tugendhat, now the shadow security minister, said he did not believe there was a two-tier approach, but claimed there is sometimes “inconsistency”.

He said: “A two-tier approach suggests there is an active choice to treat communities differently. I don’t believe that that is the case.”

He claimed “inconsistency” leads to “lack of predictability”.

He added: “As security minister, I constantly had to encourage the police to make arrests on the day as crimes were being committed rather than waiting until after the protest had finished.”

Tugendhat will be competing alongside James Cleverly, Priti Patel, Robert Jenrick, Kemi Badenoch and Mel Stride to lead the Tory Party.

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Russia – And Possibly Farage – May Be Looked At By Security Services In Riots Probe, Ex-MI6 Head Says

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The former head of MI6 claimed the intelligence services will be investigating Russia, Tommy Robinson and possibly even Nigel Farage in their probe into how the far-right riots started.

The UK was hit by a wave of far-right extremism and violence earlier this month, triggered by social media disinformation around the suspect in the Southport stabbings, where three young girls were killed.

Various accounts falsely claimed the person behind the horrific incident was an asylum seeker and on the MI6 watchlist – allegations which then acted as a catalyst for the anti-immigration riots.

Former MI6 spy, Christopher Steele, previously put together a dossier on Donald Trump’s relations with Russia.

He worked for MI6 between 1987 and 2009, and believes intelligence services will now be looking at who evoked the riots.

He told Times Radio on Sunday he believes Russia was involved, while also noting that English Defence League (EDL) founder Robinson, and Reform Party leader, MP Farage, could also be under the spotlight.

Steele said: “I think the Security Service will be looking very carefully at the instigators of these activities, including people like Tommy Robinson, even conceivably Nigel Farage, who incidentally said that we were being misinformed by the government about Southport.”

Farage falsely claimed the police were not telling the whole truth around the tragedies in Southport shortly after the stabbings first happened, and suggested the suspect was already known to the security services.

Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, has been encouraging the riots online while on holiday in Cyprus.

Steele continued: “The Security Services require warrants, obviously, to do some of that.

“But I think essentially, looking at communications, looking at travel, looking at financial transfers is the heart of this problem.

“And if we’re going to get to the bottom of it, certainly the government should be doing those things in terms of the instigators. Now, whether Nigel Farage in the end is defined as an instigator of this, I don’t know.”

He added: “They’ll be looking at things like their travel movements, who they’ve been in touch with, monetary transfers, and so on, because that will reveal or not, as the case may be a pattern of behaviour, which can lead to some conclusions about the degree to which Russia has been interfering in this situation.”

Steele explained that he thinks think it’s “clear” there is some Russian involvement, but added: “The degree to which that’s happened and the effectiveness I think is still out for question.

“I mean, when you look at the original disinformation that surrounded the Southport killings, that does seem to have come from a Russian linked website.

“It’s in very much Russia’s interest to destabilise countries like Britain and the United States.”

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James Cleverly Accuses Nigel Farage Of Spreading ‘Gossip And Rumour’ After Southport Killings

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James Cleverly has accused Nigel Farage of spreading “gossip and rumour” following the killing of three young girls in Southport.

The Reform UK leader posted a video shortly after the murders suggesting “the truth is being withheld from us” by the police.

He also repeated false claims that the alleged killer was being watched by the security services.

A vigil for the victims, who were all under 10 years old, later descended into violence, sparking far-right riots throughout the country.

Farage has since admitted that he was repeating false claims made on social media by, among others, Andrew Tate.

He has defended his actions by insisting he was only trying to find out “the truth”.

On Times Radio this morning, Cleverly, who is running to be Tory leader, said Farage “needs to decide is he a politician or is a social media content creator”.

He said: “I think some of the things that he has framed as questions are clearly designed to generate traffic, generate digital content, and he needs to decide is he a politician or is a social media content creator because there is a friction between those two functions.

“As politicians, we have a duty to think very very carefully about what we do and very very carefully about what we say. What we must do is not intentionally reinforce gossip and rumour, particularly if it has serious real world implications.

“The question that he will need to ask himself and perhaps others as well is do you believe parliament is an important institution where serious decisions are made and the country is governed or is it just part of a PR operation for clicks and likes and monetised content.

“That is the question I would pose to anybody and everybody when commenting about very sensitive issues like the brutal murder of those little girls in Southport.”

Another Tory leadership candidate, Mel Stride, has also attacked Farage’s response to the Southport killings.

He told Sky News: “His suggestion that the police might not have been telling the truth about that situation, I think helped fuel conspiracy theories around what was happening [and] was deeply unhelpful.”

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Nigel Farage Reveals 1 Unexpected Element Of Life In Parliament – And It’s To Do With Brexit

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Nigel Farage expressed surprise that this was a “Remainer” parliament in his maiden Commons speech today.

The Reform UK leader, who was elected to the Commons for the first time earlier this month after seven failed attempts, revived some old EU tensions.

The famous Eurosceptic said: “I spent nearly 21 years as a member of the European Parliament in Brussels.

“I have to say, this place is very different indeed.

“It’s smaller, there is no chauffeur driven Mercedes available for each member, no large lump sums of money which you don’t have to spend on anything or show receipts for, and I wonder, perhaps that is why so many in the British political system love the European Union so much – it is a rather wonderful place to work.”

But, he added: “What I perhaps didn’t expect was to come here and find I am more outnumbered here with my Reform team than we were in the European Parliament.

“There are more supporters of Brexit in the European Parliament than I sense there are in this parliament of 2024.

“This is very much a Remainers’ parliament, I suspect in many cases, it’s really a Rejoiners’ parliament.”

There are five Reform MPs in this parliament, having had just one before the election – Tory defector, Lee Anderson, moved to Farage’s party earlier this year.

Reform was previously known as the Brexit Party, and used to advocate for no-deal with the EU – the harshest version of Brexit possible.

The Brexit Party also won the most seats at the 2019 European Parliament election in the UK, but won no seats at the general election that year.

And now, eight years after the referendum and four years since the UK officially left the trade bloc of the EU, it seems more people would like to return to the European fold.

A Techne survey for Independent Media from June showed 43% of voters are in favour of rejoining the bloc, compared with 40% who want to stay out.

Meanwhile, Farage has come under criticism for going to the US days after he was elected to support his friend Donald Trump.

Farage said “it was the right thing that I came” after Trump faced a failed assassination attempt.

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‘You’re A Racist’: Nigel Farage’s First Post-Election Rally Interrupted By Protesters

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Newly-elected MP Nigel Farage was interrupted by several different hecklers at his first rally since getting into parliament this afternoon.

The Reform UK leader, who won the seat of Clacton last night after previously failing on seven different occasions, was accused of bigotry and racism by protesters at the central London event.

A handful of furious attendees shouted “you’re a racist” and “you don’t represent the working class” to the new MP.

But Farage hit back, accusing one heckler of being “absolutely steaming” asking: “Are you down wind of a couple already?”

He then called the protester “boring” and joked: “Well, this is good preparation for the House of Commons, I suppose.”

Most of the hecklers appeared to be escorted from the venue amid boos from the audience and jubilant waving from Farage.

Despite facing a period of intense chaos with its candidates selection over the last few weeks – with two even defecting over the Conservatives while accusing the party of not responding strongly enough to racism – Reform now has four seats in the Commons.

The exit poll predicted the populist party would return 13 new MPs in total, but actually only Farage, Tory defector Lee Anderson, party chair Richard Tice and Rupert Lowe made it into parliament.

Farage alluded to the difficulties Reform had faced with its candidates in his speech, saying: “Those few bad apples that have crept in will be gone, will be long gone, and we will never have any of their type back in our organisation.”

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Trevor Phillips Destroys Nigel Farage With One Devastating Question

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Nigel Farage clashed with Sky News presenter Trevor Phillips after he was asked why Reform UK attracts “racists, homophobes and anti-Semites”.

The pair faced off against each other after the party was forced to ditch three candidates accused of making offensive statements.

Farage distanced himself from Edward Oakenfull, Robert Lomas and Leslie Lilley during a brutal grilling on the BBC’s Question Time on Friday night.

Reform UK has also gone to war with Channel 4 after it broadcast secretly recorded footage showing one of the party’s canvassers, Andrew Parker, advocating shooting people arriving in the UK on small boats across the Channel.

Farage has insisted it was a “set-up” because Parker is an actor – claims denied by the broadcaster.

On Sunday Morning With Trevor Philips, the presenter asked him: “Do you ever ask yourself this question, in the words of the immortal Mrs Merton, what was it about you, Nigel Farage, that first attracted these racists and homophobes and anti-Semites to your party?”

Farage, who took over as Reform UK leader earlier this month, replied: “The candidates that we’re kicking out came when I wasn’t there, that’s the first point to make.”

But Philips hit back: “Come on, Reform is your party, you own it, they knew it’s your party. So answer my question, what is it about you that attracted them?”

Farage said: “Ironically, destroying the BNP, means people who are minded that way don’t any longer have a home to go to, and some will gravitate in our direction. When we find out who they are they’ll be gone.”

The presenter then asked: “Why do you think that is? Why do they think that you are the person that’s going to give them a home?”

But Farage pointed out that at a Reform UK election rally in Birmingham later today, the “star of the show” will be Zia Yusuf, who he described as “a practicing Muslim who is going to say things about the growth of Islamic extremism”.

He added: “I can assure you that anybody who has a racist point of view, I don’t want to know.”

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Rishi Sunak Says He Was Left ‘Hurt And Angry’ By Reform Activist Who Called Him A ‘F****** P***’

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Rishi Sunak has told how he was left “hurt and angry” after a Reform UK activist was filmed calling him a “fucking P***”.

The prime minister said his two daughters should not have to hear racist insults being hurled at their father.

An undercover reporter for Channel 4 News secretly filmed Reform supporter Andrew Parker saying: “I’ve always been a Tory voter, but what annoys me is that fucking P*** we’ve got in. What good is he? You tell me, you know. He’s just wet. Fucking useless.”

Reacting today, a clearly-emotional Sunak said: “When my two daughters have to see and hear Reform people who campaign for Nigel Farage calling me an ‘effing P***’ it hurts and it makes me angry, and I think he has some questions to answer.

“And I don’t repeat those words lightly, I do so deliberately because this is too important not to call out for what it is.”

Channel 4 have also denied claims that Parker is an actor who was paid to be in the video.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage stoked the conspiracy with a post on X.

But a Channel 4 spokesperson said: “We strongly stand by our rigorous and duly impartial journalism which speaks for itself.

“We met Mr Parker for the first time at Reform UK party headquarters, where he was a Reform party canvasser.

“We did not pay the Reform UK canvasser or anyone else in this report. Mr Parker was not known to Channel 4 News and was filmed covertly via the undercover operation.”

Parker himself told the Press Association that he apologised for what he had said.

“Of course I’m sorry,” he said. “They were off-the-cuff things that everyone says.”

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Nigel Farage Mocked Over Reform UK’s ‘Deeply Unserious’ Plan To Cut Taxes And Raise Spending

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Reform UK’s plans to cut taxes while also massively increasing public spending has been branded “deeply unserious” as the party unveiled its general election “contract” with voters.

The document – which party leader Nigel Farage refused to call a manifesto – was launched as the right-wing party threatens to torpedo any lingering chance the Tories had of staying in power.

It included plans to boost public spending by £141 billion a year – many times more than either Labour or the Conservatives have proposed – while at the same time cutting taxes by £70 billion.

Other pledges include scrapping the UK’s net zero commitments, pulling the country out of the European Convention on Human Rights and freezing “non-essential” immigration.

But at the launch of the 26-page document in Merthyr Tydfil, Farage endured a rough ride from sceptical political journalists who queried.

The BBC’s Alex Forsyth said: “You’ve talked about the costings, you’ve talked about the spendings, but some of the stuff in here – a freeze on immigration, NHS waiting lists down to zero, more police officers.

“You accuse other parties of broken promises, but isn’t this a list of unrealistic promises – wish-list rather than a serious plan? Aren’t you doing what you accuse others of, which is chucking out a load of things which sound popular in the hope you get votes, that you never plan to deliver on?”

Farage replied: “It is a promise that this is what we’re going to campaign for over the course of the next five years.”

He said that Reform UK would not win the election, but would be “a voice of opposition to Labour” in the Commons.

“We’ve laid out very clearly where we stand philosophically, ideologically, on a number of things and this is what we’re going to fight for,” Farage added. “I see no inconsistency with that whatsoever.”

Sky News deputy political editor Sam Coates told Farage: “In your contract, your proposing to spend an extra £141 billion every year. That’s about 30 times the amount that Labour say they’re going to spend, 10 times the amount of the Tories and about three times what Liz Truss spent.

“You did say you weren’t going to win the next election, but the scale of this – it’s deeply unserious, isn’t it?”

Farage replied: “That’s right, it’s radical, it’s fresh thinking, it’s outside the box, it’s not what you’re going to get with the current Labour and Conservative parties, who are virtually indistinguishable from each other.

“Is this radical, fresh thinking on economics? Yes. Is it radical, fresh thinking on constitutional change? Yes. Is it very radical change on the way our education system is currently bringing up our young children? Yes.

“Britain is broken, Britain needs reform. That’s what we’re here for, that’s what we’re trying to do. We’re unashamedly radical – we want change.”

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Nigel Farage On The Rack Over Claim Rishi Sunak ‘Doesn’t Understand Our Culture’

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Nigel Farage was left squirming this morning over his claim that Rishi Sunak “doesn’t understand our history and our culture”.

The Reform UK leader made the comment after the prime minister left the D-Day commemoration early.

But on BBC1 this morning, Laura Kuenssberg said viewers “might imagine that you are trying, not very subtly, to emphasise the prime minister’s immigrant heritage”.

Farage insisted he was referring to the PM’s “class and privilege”.

But work and pensions secretary Mel Stride said Farage’s remarks were “deeply regrettable”.

In their interview, Kuenssberg told Farage: “I want to ask you about the prime minister’s early exit from the D-Day commemoration this week.

“After that, you said that he wasn’t patriotic and you said that Rishi Sunak didn’t understand our history and our culture’. What did you mean by that?”

Farage replied: “Absolutely right. He should have known in his heart that it was right to be there. I was there, I’ve been raising money for some weeks to send veterans back to Normandy.

“The vast majority of people in Britain felt this commemoration was important, and the last opportunity to honour those remnants that are still alive.

“By the way, I know what your question is leading at. Forty per cent of our contribution in World War One and World War Two came from the Commonwelath. He is utterly disconnected by class, by privilege, from how the ordinary folk in this country feel.

“He revealed that, I think spectacularly, when he left Normandy early.”

Laura: “But Mr Farage, when you say ‘our culture’, I think many of our viewers might imagine that you are trying, not very subtly, to emphasise the prime minister’s immigrant heritage.”

Farage replied: “I just made the point, 40% of our contribution in two wars came from the Commonwealth. Clearly, Mr Sunak doesn’t understand that.”

Asked what he thought about Farage’s comments, work and pensions secretary Mel Stride said: “I think they were deeply regrettable comments. I’m not entirely sure he addressed the question you put to him as to what he meant by that.”

He added: “It just seems to be to be an ill-advised thing to have said. I feel very uncomfortable with that.”

Shadow justice secretary Shabana Mahmood said: “This is a classic Nigel Farage trick – lean in just enough to signal a bit of a dog whistle and then lean back and sound perfectly reasonable and say some thing good about the contribution Commonwealth soldiers and ethnic minorities made towards the war effort.

“We can all see exactly what Nigel Farage is doing, he’s got form, it’s completely unacceptable. This is a man who has a track record of seeking to divide communities.”

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