To timidly suggest that Nigel Farage is not a racist

[Millyonthefloss]

Can I just start by saying that I am not a racist. Thanks.

This is my AIBU.

Lots of people on mumsnet say Farage is a racist.

But this is what I think.

He is a geezer. He is a city boy. He smokes. He wears dodgy coats. He looks weird. He says non PC things, like my FIL does. He doesn't like overcrowding and change.

But I am beginning to think that he is not a racist.

What he is in fact is a man with an absolute obsession with British parliamentary democracy and an absolute hatred of EU waste, extravagance and unaccountability. He is totally obsessed with getting the UK out of the EU and independent again.

He is enraged and infuriated by the wasteful things the EU does like moving the EU Parliament from Strasbourg to Brussels all the time and wasting millions and millions of British taxpayers money that could be spent in his beloved UK.

I don't even think he is that interested in immigration.

But he is so obsessed with his aim of UK independence that he will work with anyone. So when free movement of labour became the big issue - years after he started his campaigns - he was willing to embrace it. And there have therefore been racists in UKIP. He is not choosy.

But I don't think Farage himself is a racist.

He seems to be genuinely delighted now that he can stand on a platform with Kwasi Kwateng or Frank Field.

He does his weird grin when he is with people like them.

All he wants is UK independence.

What do you think? AIBU?

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dog-whistle_politics

worth a read particularly the bit about Australia.

In schools only English should be spoken. It doesn't help children to integrate if they are all in their little cliques speaking different languages, it is divisive.

I think Cleo means that other languages should be banned from the playground. Not sure how that would be enforced though.

English is the language of the country and therefore that is what should be spoken within schools within England, within Wales - Welsh and English. Of course people might have different first languages but in a country where English is the language then then that is going to be the prevailing language

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-eu-referendum-36496203

He told the BBC the EU was "broken" and "undemocratic" and told the Sun many Labour councillors would "shock" Westminster with their referendum vote.

Veteran Labour MP Dennis Skinner has also said he will vote to leave the EU.

He said he had tried putting the case for and against in public meetings but had "found it impossible to argue the case for because the EU's fundamentally broken, it's undemocratic and even when you want to get changes - as David Cameron tried - you can't get them".

He said, on immigration, the EU's free movement of people did not allow the UK to plan for pressure on its public services.
olsover MP Mr Skinner told the Morning Star he did not believe progressive reform of the EU could be achieved.
"My opposition from the very beginning has been on the lines that fighting capitalism state-by-state is hard enough. It's even harder when you're fighting it on the basis of eight states, 10 states and now 28.
"What [the EU] should be doing, if it wanted to convince people like me, is have a directive to get rid of zero-hours contracts across the whole of the EU. That's what I'd be looking for."

^What a tizzy some socialist voters must be in

I never said other languages should be banned from the play ground i said I enjoyed hearing all the different ones in our playground,
Its a mix which I like but the prevailing language is English, the main nationality is British.

the other school is 80% non English speaking and I am not keen on that school for my DD.

Ego - where I live in London I rarely hear English spoken on the street. It is like being permanently abroad in a foreign land. Some people may enjoy this - that is indeed why many people go and live in foreign climes for that constant feeling of difference.

But this is not a "holiday" that I chose. This is my hometown, my home, and it has become foreign around me. For me, and many others, the net result is a feeling of alienation and isolation. The direction of travel of all of this, certainly without Brexit, is for more immigration. As assimilation is now a vain hope when faced with such numbers this increase in foreign-ness isn't going to lessen over time it will only get worse.

If that's what you want by all means vote Remain. For me a nation should be a home not a hotel and I feel we have gone too far in the wrong direction.

scatter Allison Pearson quoted a rabbi on QT last night,

a home or a hotel, what do we want.

I feel people treat home with more respect and hotels perhaps less so. I want home. I do not want vast numbers of transient people, I want people who want to make a commitment to our country.

I imagine the racism was far more overt when we had the Commonwealth immigration. I think it was on a much smaller scale too.

I am not sure Ego, I think in terms of racism we have come along since the 50;s and many leader of communities speak out in praise of our liberal and welcoming society.

I also do not recall immigration ever being such an issue in my life time until the early 2000's.

The sole reason it became an issue then was not because of race but because of volume.

Absolutely yes, I would tell them not to speak in another language while they are on school premises.

If he thinks people are inferior because of their skin colour, he is a racist.

Seeing as he doesn't, he isn't a racist.

Problem solved.

He's just too sophisticated to act like Enoch Powell.

It doesnt seem to matter how many people post evidence that yes NF is racist, people still want to bury their heads in the sand.
He has links with far right Nationalist groups, and no one but a racist would do that.

www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/oct/20/ukip-does-deal-with-far-right-to-save-european-grouping

Who is the 'we' who is going to tell other British people what they should speak in the classroom, playground or anywhere else? Britain is a multilingual nation.

scatterolight I totally agree with you.

Too many people were invited in by Blair. They don't want to assimilate and they don't have to. They don't see themselves as part of British society. They are here for what they can get out of Britain, not what they can put in. Many of them have lived here for 20 years or more (prior to Blair adding more) and they can't speak a word of English. They are unemployable and get interpreters to help them apply for all their benefits.

If I take myself off to another country, which I may well do, I will learn the language and accept the customs of that country. I won't be screaming for the indigenous population to change their customs to suit me. I'll also be self-supporting.

"Environment" - people on minimum wage don't get to enjoy too many new environments. Therefore, their home town environment is what they are voting for - see Frank Field blog. They are the ones living with the huge changes happening in our society because Goldman Sachs etc has a lot more money to make on new, poorer countries to join - Montenegro etc

Who is speaking for the poor today - not Labour. UKIP is making hay exactly because Labour won't listen to the British poor.