did you miss me when i was away?
In a comeback only marginally less well-received than that of serial paedophile Paul Gadd (aka Gary Glitter), Nigel Farage is back and, as clearly demonstrated by his facetious one-line-sound-bite pantomime performances on last week’s Question Time and the Andrew Marr Show, he’s more dangerous than ever. It would appear nothing can stop the irrepressible the Honourable Member of the European Parliament for the South East of England in his tracks, not a plane crash, a lifetime on the booze & fags, six-time electoral failure, Isle of Man tax-avoidance shenanigans, dubious assignations with tiny-hands Trump, multiple resignations and even a membership punch-up in the hallowed halls of downtown Strasbourg. How he’s managed to not be cast as an evil Machiavellian character within Game of Thornes remains a mystery.
Five years ago, this man-of-the-people (privately-educated, ex-commodities broker and long-time admirer of Enoch Powell, who, in his youth, had been rejected as a Dulwich College prefect for openly fascist views) stormed to an unprecedented victory in the European elections by luring millions of Tory voters to the UKIP fold and it was this result that ultimately kicked-started the process that lead to Cameron’s 2016 EU referendum. Three years on from this and, having catapulted what Dave once called the ‘fruitcakes, loonies and closet-racists’ of society, he looks set to do it all again. Rumour has it that up to 50% of Tory councillors are planning on voting for his Brexit Party.
What’s perhaps worse is that those with the counter view are making it all too easy. It would’ve made sense for the Lib Dems, Greens, SNP, Change UK/Tiggers and Plaid Cymru to have pooled resources on a joint, unified ‘remain’ ticket but they haven’t. And, by ignoring the majority of his members, still no-one clearly understands Corbyn’s stated policy of ‘constructive ambiguity’.
But hold on a mo, has Uncle Vince and his middle-of-the-roaders finally grown a pair? With their somewhat radical EU manifesto slogan of “B*llocks to Brexit” the Lib Dems have countered Farage’s simplistic and populist approach: They’re fighting fire with fire and the early signs are that it’s working. From the White House down, direct, straight-forward, albeit coarse messaging, is now the name of the political game. There’s certainly no misjudging the current motivations of the Lib Dems and they’re going to benefit greatly from it at the polls. Furthermore, immigration is no longer the catch-all firebrand it once was and universal (European?) collaboration on issues such a climate change and world trade seem far more pressing. The ground may just be shifting.
Notwithstanding, the only way of halting Brexit that I can see is for UEFA to announce that from next season participation in the Champions League will be limited solely to clubs within the EU. Support for leaving would fall through the floor, and not just in West Lancashire and North London! If there’s one thing we’ve learned this last week, when it comes to dramatic, high-stake comebacks in Europe, anything’s possible.
