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?

sagaNorens

The way it was written suggests that Booming lives next door to a Romanian family who regularly shit in the street. It wasn't suggesting that is what Romanians do, it was suggesting that that is what THIS Romanian family do. Which TBH if true is pretty revolting.

"Not racist, but No. 1 with racists."

Perfect!

When we assess politicians we really need to research their backgrounds, what they have done to earn money, how they live, what they represent- the personal is totally political. Boris and Farage come across as reasonable and plausible 'men of the people'. Cameron too is presented to us by the right wing media- the BBC, as reasonable and plausible. But why on earth any ordinary working class person wants to vote for any of them is beyond me. They come down from the ruling classes, their ancestors were slave owner, ran the colonies, or sent children into factories. It isn't down to them that you we were educated or have a fantastic health system. They want to get rid of all the things that protect us- like the unions, the NHS and free education for all. It started with Thatcher and it has been going on ever since.
In what sense does a working class person identify with them enough to vote for them?
When workers vote Tory they are saying - I want to be like the next class up, I want to have what they have, and fuck my background, where I've come from, and all those from my class who are struggling.

I love hearing the different languages walking through the playground but the main nationality as it should be is British

It should be British should it? Why? Why do those you qualify as British enough (and what is that actually, that they speak the language? have the look? have lived here for x number of years?) have this automatic right to be in the majority on this little island? Why are they more worthy? Is it because of their heritage in this country? Their race??

Heavens, this to me is a more dangerous and deeply ingrained expression of racism than all the gollywog dolls in the world.

he blames everything he can on those coming into the country from overseas
does he really though?

I was more under the impression he has blamed issues on the volume of people coming from over seas and the impact that has on services. Because he seems keen to me, to keep immigration but just control its numbers?

Irish
"You try livin' next door to 'em"

UKIP and Brexit's official slogan

this is news to me - where is your source.?

Because British is the common language of this country eat and I would like to keep it that way.

May I timidly suggest that you have no idea who Frank Field is

Why do you have to 'timidly suggest' everything? Can't you just state your opinion?
And yes, Farage is a racist, regardless of the contrived persona he presents to the media. He sees a huge difference between people speaking German to each other and people speaking other languages. He complained that too many school children spoke a second language at home but said it was 'different' that his own children spoke German at home, to his wife.

Farage is intelligent and can build up a false image of himself. The members of his party are on the whole, pretty thick, which is why we regularly see them getting sacked when they can't maintain the veneer of respectability that is necessary in the public eye. But beneath the surface, make no mistake, Farage thinks the same as them. He is just clever enough never to say it.
Thankfully it seems that a lot of people do have the measure of him which is why he has dismally failed every time he has tried to become an MP.

from the dictionary:

"a man, often old or unusual in some way:
a funny old geezer
She got talking to some geezer in the pub."

I think there maybe another meaning of geezer that I am not aware of.

British is the common language of this country

Eh?

roses- I agree in part with what you say. Yes other parties reluctance to discuss immigration has been in UKIPs favour. But to me they are like The Sun newspaper, they say awful, often untrue things and insight hatred, it gets them heard and it gets them out there. It's abhorrent to me.

Your point about education is an interesting one, as that is my area of work. People often blame the failings of local schools down to the fact there are lots of children who have English as a second language, staff are struggling to communicate with pupils and so on, but schools were struggling way before we had the number of migrants we have now. Schools are failing due to a lack of funds and because it's a thankless profession. It's not made worse by the pupils.

it's just that he's so thick.

I don't think Farage is thick. I think he's clever. I think you have to be clever to articulate things to just the right degree without overstepping that line in the sand where the racist/not racist debate is undisputable (unlike a lot of his party members).

Being clever is what has separated UKIP from the BNP and Britain First and the like in many respects.

Being clever is what has made it acceptable to like UKIP.

I think you can be clever and educated and still say ignorant things. The difference between that and being stupid and uneducated is merely how much you can get away with saying those ignorant things. It doesn't make you any less ignorant though.

British is the common language of this country

He is the posterboy for a cockwomble. Utterly vile excuse for a human.

sorry I was so chocked and shocked at that post, English is the common language of this country.

is that racist now to say that?

British is the common language of this country

Oh dear lord.....

I would really like to know if some posters on here are actually advocating we all speak different languages and if to suggest we speak one, the language of this country its racism?

UKIP are just the BNP & BF in suits with a slightly better vocabulary.

There's a bit of a difference between:

'English is the common language of this country'

and

'the main nationality as it should be is British'

My using the word British - has really brought out these responses when someone has written such a post that equates using one common language as

"Heavens, this to me is a more dangerous and deeply ingrained expression of racism than all the gollywog dolls in the world" =

^^ Really?

The not being choosy who he aligns himself with goes much further than unpleasant ukippers though. He is part of a group in Europe containing far right parties and white supremacists. Joystir has posted a link already. I cannot comprehend that he can just be so obsessed with uk independence that he could possibly think his European alliances are necessary. No decent person who considered themself not to be racist would entertain the idea of such an alliance for even a second.

Maybe you should re-read what you posted, Roses - your post mentioned nationality, not language.

He's not a racist

but he used to sing Hitler Youth songs and even his teachers worried that he was a facist and a racist.

Leopards don't change their spots. He's a rich white public school boy. Not a geezer, but most definitely a racist by every definition.

Sorry Roses, I wasn't talking about language in particular but you said that British should be the dominant nationality in the playground; somehow that's morphed into language.

What I mean is British is likely to be the dominant nationality, but there is no god-given reason why is should be. There is no inherent superiority in British-ness, not even just because we're in Britain. That's why it's racist to say that, because in essence you're saying that your heritage and race given you some superior right to be here, regardless of all the other factors - like work status, education, contribution etc.

From above:

"He wanted ex-National Front candidates to run and I said, 'I'm not sure about that,' and he said, 'There's no need to worry about the nigger vote. The nig-nogs will never vote for us.'"

I'm still on the fence SwedishEdith, probably best to give him the benefit of the doubt.