Farage’s racism

[CuriousKangaroo]

I haven’t yet seen a post about this story: Twenty people allege he has a racist past. He denies it. Who’s telling the truth about Farage’s schooldays? | Nigel Farage | The Guardian

Farage no longer categorically denies these incidents, and is now trying to fudge things by saying he didn’t mean any harm and it was a long time ago - presumably because he knows it is true and realises that 20 separate people saying it means only the truly deluded wouldn’t believe he was a racist.

But what I am interested in is does this actually assist his election chances? We already know that many of his supporters are racists - does it actually work for him that this blatant racism from him shores up their support? Are they secretly (or perhaps not so secretly in some cases) pleased?

And what do those of you who are Reform supporters but believe yourself not be racist think? Does it make you change your mind about him or Reform?

Oh absolutely

just because you remember a few times that you heard racist behaviour being pulled up doesn’t mean it wasn’t for many an acceptable part of society and an issue people had to deal with day in day out it was so normalised

I don't think I ever said that it wasn't an acceptable part of society for some. And that remains the case today, doesn't it? But as @SerendipityJane rightly says there were then and are now also plenty of people not subject to racism calling it out.

That said, the music was great, so if anyone commented that not 100% of the attendees were behind the message, I wouldn't argue.

I remember being shown photos from the opposite side Rock against Communism,adult men in SS uniforms,Nazi brown shirts amongst teenage skinheads .I knew some involved in extreme far right and the NF organiser was in his 40s for our area liked the company of teen skinheads.
The said organiser was busted in the 90s with child abuse imagery...weirdos to a man.

I think you have completely misunderstood what I was saying!

But anyway, the main thing is that we agree Farage is still a racist and totally unfit to be PM.

The 70s and 80s were different times?

https://www.thelondoneconomic.com/politics/inside-carlton-club-bash-where-guests-laugh-at-hitler-jokes-and-sing-were-all-racist-now-387819/

It’s becoming increasingly crystal clear now what the long term plan is, they’re all in cahoots together. Brexit was always about deregulation and destabilisation to pave the way for Putin to invade Europe, and of course Donald wants a slice of the pie, too.

If the EU collapses, it makes the job a lot easier. Brown people/muslims are a convenient scapegoat to go to war under the guise of ‘’saving Europe’’

It’s very scary we are sleepwalking into this. All the conspiracy theorists that think they are so clever have been done up like kippers. They shot themselves in the foot, it seems 🤣

news.sky.com/story/white-house-europe-unrecognisable-in-20-years-or-less-13479931

I worked for a comms firm in the 80s, 90s and 2000s in the SE & London, plenty of black technicians, totally respected and highly skilled.

But i also know for certain they experienced racism, not least by the cops, black techies were far more likely to be stopped in their new company cars than a white technician.

In the wider community, far less so.

I 've never lived in a bubble, quite a tough upbringing, poor schooling and working in some hard areas of London.

Farage is just trying to dig himself out of a hole with his BS about the BBC ... utterly irrelevant compared to singing songs glorifying Gas Chambers.

I really hope this brings him down, along with the rest of his clan.

It won’t bring Farage down

Those supporting Reform couldn’t give a fuck what he said 40 years ago and won’t give a fuck about jokes made recently

attack him you attack his supporters, look at what’s happened with Trump it’s the same here they play the same game

So once again we shouldn't call out racism because it might hurt feelings and make people vote Reform?

These guffawing public school educated buffoons dislike ordinary people because they're not their kind of people.
They're useful to do the dirty work to create division.

No I never said that I said attack him you attack his supporters it’s exactly how Trump works and look what has happened there. The constant attacking of Trump on a personal level has worked wonders for him

but the constant attack on Farage has never ever lessened his appeal it’s done the opposite he will always manipulate this watch him on debates he will deliberately say something that will create a stir with others and they turn on him, he has been doing this for years and got it down to a fine art

attack his policies highlight his connections with Russia this I believe may shift opinions

we all know he is racist his supporters know he is racist that why the majority like him

We can do both, highlight his racism and his Russia links.

It not about his supporters, it's about people who might want to vote Reform because they are not Labour for instance, the undecided voter who think he is funny, a man of the people, the voter who thinks they are all the same.

He gets away with so much, it's about time questions get asked.

Yes that can happen

but what often happens more often that now is a lot of telling those who already have strong opinions of Farage and his supporters just how awful he is and stupid they are

a form of preaching to the converted

and it plays directly into his hands I doubt one supporter of his has changed their mind on the recent Guardian exposure or had an impact of those who are thinking of voting reform

he is two steps ahead in this narrative like I said look how well it’s worked for Trump and has for Farage in the 10+ years he has been prominent in our politics

that he shouldn’t even been in the HOP and it’s shameful he is unfortunately is irrelevant

Again, this is not about his core supporters. They agree with Farage's views.

You do seem to suggest we shoudn't mention Farage's racism.

No it’s not that I feel it shouldn’t be reported but keep the focus on his remarks who is annoyed/upset/angered by it sadly few people are apart from those who dislike him anyway. He is pleased though

when it comes to voting comments that have been made will be justified over 70 million people knew about Trumps locker room comment did they care no and what did he do with that he used it to his advantage

Something has to shift in how we deal with such political manipulators because what we are doing now simply has not worked

Exactly that. His core voters will back him come what may, hopefully his horrible past and current racism will mean he doesn’t attract swing voters.

Reform have a base, sure, just like the Tories or any party has but thats different from having enough people backing him to form a Government.

There is also the fact that younger people can vote for the first time in 2029, as far as i can see, polling doesn't reflect their views.

If his racism was just towards Blacks and Asians, then i think it wouldn't be enough (everyone knew that) but he made fun of gassing jews and the vast majority find this v offensive... there were no comedians or music shows making fun of the Holocaust in the 60s or 70s, it'll be much harder to ignore.

We aren't the US and Farage is no Trump, Bojo was a better comparison and he soon fell out of favour.

TBH i think the Russian stuff is something he can easily ride out, it didn't affect the Tories.

It will be interesting to see which way opinion divides regarding the Russian connections. This is the first time a serious criminal charge has been proven to a jury’s satisfaction and a substantial prison sentence given.

People voted for a public school educated man who they thought was funny in 2019, who turned out to indirectly kill over 20,000 people by his inactions the following year. A man so lazy he missed five crisis meetings in a row to spend time whilst with his mistress (now wife).

Don't make the same mistake twice of voting for someone who 'a bit of a laugh' or 'a nice bloke in the pub', or whatever you think Nigel Farage is.

I do understand your feelings but watching the appallingly named, 'Immigration Special' Question Time, which lets face it, these days, usually features a very unbalanced panel, I was heartened to see and hear that collectively, the audience were very anti dehumanising immigrants and there was limited applause for Reform's Zia Yusuf. This is in spite of the BBC's ample airtime given over to Reform as they want to appear balanced but really it is because they're too timorous to highlight them for what they are!

Many young people I'm around seem to find the Green's appealing so who knows what the future holds! The wealth inequality stuff really is speaking to this generation.

I am hoping and I think there is a high chance of Reform imploding before the next election but is it concerning what Dominic Cummings has been saying over this past year and if he gets on board with Reffiem though they may not win they will have a significant number of MP’s to really make a difference. Listen to the language even Labour are now using their influence is becoming significant

I really don’t think many when it comes to voting in the next election as many people as we would like will be bothered about remarks made 40 odd years ago or even recent so called jokes. People can push aside what they do not like for election promises. We all knew Boris Johnson was a liar but that didn’t matter when it came to voting for him to be PM, voters liked him. I also don’t think think people necessarily want a nice person as PM, someone who is a bully will have traits that many feel is right for the job. NF connects with people he appears to be listening and this is where we keep getting it so wrong about him

young people and anti semitism mmm that’s a tricky one with the strong feelings over Gaza and Isreal being very much an issue many young people feel strongly about I am not sure many will feel offended enough to not vote for him his popularity has grown with younger people who feel left behind not the uni students who are protesting or being vocal about politics

For years I have felt we have ignored or mocked or just not taking him seriously enough people like and connect with Farage and it’s been a huge mistake to ignore this fact. Look where we are now he has had a huge influence over our politics in the last ten years and he has only been an MP for what 17 months and it’s growing

it’s fucking tragic

From a Times article

Nigel Farage won't apologise for his history of racism because "if he apologised, he would be turning to his own support base and saying, ‘You’re all guilty too,'"

I think reform have reached the limit of their apparently unstoppable growth. Pure mathematics would prove this.

The dilemma that is now going to haunt them - possibly permanently - is they are trying to bring together diametrically opposed views. I mean let's look at the Brexit their Fuhrer delivered. Why would a person who supported remain be attracted to Reform ? Bearing in mind that is 50% of the electorate.

And if we see an economic uptick from the small measures towards mitigating Brexit, it will be a difficult sell to say "We'll reverse all of that and go back to 2021".

The Greens and LibDems are going to do well enough to shatter any idea of a two party hegemony. Which is why electoral reform is the quiet dog at the moment.

The small bit of hope that I have is that Trump isn’t looking too well these days and I’m hoping that MAGA be brought down by his death and by extension it will take reform down with it since they are so closely interconnected. What pieces of shit each and every one of them are.