Only a week into the General Election campaign – already feels like a lifetime- and once again the most interesting man in politics is Nigel Farage.
Although early days, he’s had a couple of good wins against the hostile Lefty media already. The first was on Sunday when he appeared on the Trevor Phillips Sky News show.
It’s unusual for somebody with Farage’s views to be a guest with Phillips. I did one show before being slung off for having the cheek of pointing out that another guest, the Quatari ambassador in the UK, was representing a nation that was sending £500million a year to Hamas.
But Trevor’s numbers are so awful (GB News wipes the floor with them on Sunday mornings) that interviewing a Righty was clearly the way forward.
Farage warmed up by saying the following; ‘’ We have a growing number of young people in this country who not subscribe to British values, who in fact loathe much of what we stand for.’’
When asked by Phillips if he was talking about Muslims, Farage responded; ‘’We are. And I’ve found some of the recent surveys saying that 46% of British Muslims support Hamas, a terrorist organisation that is proscribed in this country.’’
Surely this isn’t controversial. We are a Liberal Western nation and the Muslim male attitude towards women, gays, democracy is not acceptable.
The usual suspects, the Greens, Plaid Cymru, the Lib-Dims all piled in but Farage had made his point and gave Reform a much-needed PR lift. Good that Reform leader Richard Tice is, he’s no Farage.
A couple of days later he received a boost from an unexpected quarter- the Lefties who run the BBC.
In Dover to highlight the tens of thousands of illegal migrants who have crossed the Channel, he cited comments from Donald Tusk, the Polish Prime Minister, about ‘’aggressive young men’’ organising the smuggling.
BBC News then cut away from his speech and from the studio the news reader Geeta Guru-Murthy, 56, said: ‘’Nigel Farage with his customary inflammatory language there at the Reform UK press conference.’’
Farage was quite calm about that reaction simply going on social media saying; ‘’What happened to impartiality?’’ I would have been a lot stronger but that’s why he’s such a successful politician.
BBC chiefs, and there are plenty of them and you are paying them, clearly told Guru-Murthy who is chief presenter on the station, to get back on air and apologise.
She then said the following; ‘’When we came away from his live speech, I used language to describe it which didn’t meet the BBC’s editorial standards on impartiality. I’d like to apologise to Mr Farage and viewers for this.’’
The apology wasn’t worth a bucket of warm spit. The reality is that her off the cuff remarks represented a) what she thinks of him and b) what all BBC journalists think of him. The BBC is a left of centre cesspit and the sooner it scraps the News Channel the better.
Impossible to have impartiality when all the employees are partial...to a good dollop of Labour.
In his Dover speech, I loved him describing the 3,800 boats and 125,000 illegals coming across the water as ‘’slow motion D-Day in reverse.’’ A great phrase considering the celebration of the real D-Day is only a week away.
His explanation for not running this time was interesting. He said he been wrong-footed by Rishi calling the Election and needed more than six weeks to get his message across, but said he would be at the helm for the next six years when Reform would replace the Tories.
A journalist pointed out he was not getting any younger. He agreed that someone younger could come along. He added; ‘’I am blooming 60. I’m in better shape than for many years.’’
I’ve chatted with Farage about how much better he looks today than a few years back. He said prior to appearing on I’m A Celebrity he saw he doctor who said, at his age, he should go on statins.
He refused but went on a keep fit regime. He worked out and lost 20lbs. He didn’t, as his colleagues would agree, give up a bottle of red at lunchtime.
As he explained to me he refused an autocue when on air as reading moving words with a few drinks inside him, it would become clear to viewers all was not well.
What is well is that Farage is up and pumping and remains the most dynamic figure, with the most interesting policies, in politics today.
