Live webchat with UKIP leader Nigel Farage, Thurs 24 Feb, 1-2pm

[KatieMumsnet]

Our live webchat guest this week is Nigel Farage. He is the leader of UKIP and has been a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) since 1999.

Known for his straight-talking, Nigel has made the headlines with forthright speeches, once telling the EU President he had the charisma of a 'damp rag'.

He is a regular on programmes including BBC Question Time.

If you have a question you'd like to put to Nigel, please join the webchat this Thursday lunchtime, 1pm - 2pm. If you won't be around then, please post your question here.

Question:

I am a US citizen married to a UK citizen. We are expecting our first child who will be born in the UK. Since moving to the UK three years ago, I have worked full-time (and pay the highest income tax rate). Do you think I should have a right to become a UK citizen? What if I decide to quit my job and become a full-time mom? Do you think I should still be eligible for UK citizenship?

Thank you for this, MmeLindt .

My question for Nigel was originally posted by Captain Nancy:

How do you defend Godfrey Bloom MEP heckling the German MEP Martin Schulz with the words "Ein Volk, ein Reich, ein Führer" last November?"

Hi

I've got some questions about your education policies...

"UKIP will make sure that Schools teach the three Rs effectively as this provides young children with the proper foundation for their school careers."

How exactly do you propose to do that? To me that sounds like a completely vague statement designed to appeal to people with no understanding of the education system, which teaching system is it that you're objecting to? No political party states that they want to make education worse, so other than the implication that education isn't what it used to be, what is it you are going to do to improve it?

"UKIP will abandon the policy of ?inclusion? and allow parents to choose special schools for children with learning disabilities."

What need is there to abandon inclusion? The problems with inclusion are not always about a lack of special schools at all, but more usually about a lack of funding. Wouldn't the needs of disabled children be better served by making sure that inclusion is better funded and properly delivered rather than segregating a section of society?

You could also ask: how exactly will bringing back corporeal punishment improve our school system? And I do mean how, I want an explanation (based in firm, reliable research evidence) that this form of discipline improves behaviour in schools, not some empty rhetoric.

Nigel

I thinm you're a lovely guy - so cheerful and full of energy with an engaging smile. Why don't you join the Lib Dems, change some of your opinions and get to the top? You are wasted in UKIP and I'm sure you can't really believe all that they stand for?

Because the LibDems are all lying career politicians and are also eager to push through a united states of Europe?

Test

Nardwuar the Human Serviette (born John Ruskin, July 5, 1968) is a Canadian celebrity interviewer and musician from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.[1] He is the lead singer and keyboardist for The Evaporators and plays in Thee Goblins.

ROFL at LeninGrad

Rinseoff: why don't you let Nigel do the talking, before you embarrass him further?

Ok so Nigel Farage is here at Mumsnet Towers in the hot seat. He'll be getting going in a minute or two.

Wow please don't be that witty.

Hello,
A big thanks to Mumsnet for inviting me on. You have now become the most feared political audience in the country - I'm braced and ready, fire away!

How many marshmallows can you fit in your mouth?

Hi Nigel!

why did you ask to come on MN?

@LydiaDustin

In light of some of the posts above I would like to ask Nigel how he can help dispel the theory some people have that UKIP & the BNP are the same when clearly they are not. I?m guessing there is no easy answer to this though.

I would also like to ask how he thinks voting for yes to AV will help UKIP because I can?t see how it will.

Let's make one thing absolutely clear, that UKIP is, always has been and always will be a non-racist, non-sectarian party. There have been repeated attempts through the early years of the party to smear us, but nobody in the British press believes it anymore.

My question for Nigel is-

Do you think David Cameron is euroskeptic on any level? And would you consider going into a coalition with him, should the unlikely scenario materialise?

My question for Nigel is-

Do you think David Cameron is euroskeptic on any level? And would you consider going into a coalition with him, should the unlikely scenario materialise?

@hymie

Mr Farage,

What do you think you can do to distance your party from the perceived 'common ground' it has with extremist parties like the BNP ?

In terms of political philosophy, UKIP and the BNP are polls apart. They are authoritarian, we are Libertarian. They are protectionist, we are pro-free trade. We want less government in our lives, they want more. They are a racist party, and we are not. Lastly, they are anti-Europe, we are pro-Europe but anti-EU.

@ZeroMinusZero

My question for Nigel is-

Do you think David Cameron is euroskeptic on any level? And would you consider going into a coalition with him, should the unlikely scenario materialise?

David Cameron is utterly committed to our membership of political union with the EU so much so that he doesn't even want to give us a referendum on the subject. If in the future there was the possibility of a coalition with him, we would demand a referendum on our EU membership.

@scottishmummy

Nigel,you regularly misrepresent statistics eg you said europe now makes 75% uk laws.this is untrue.do you use such tactics to incite indignation and create misplaced ire?

i am working thursday but will follow thread

Hi Scottishmummy, Former German President Roman Herzgog commissioned research into the percentage of the German national laws that originated in EU and came up with the 74%. Maybe I overstated 1 percent.

So what is the difference between UKIP and the BNP apart from the with/without whippet dilemma?