Feeling sorry for Nigel Farage?

 Blimey, I never thought I'd write those words. But if you can't be honest, what are you? This morning, I read an article in the Guardian, which explored the claims that as a a teenager, Nigel Farage flirted with full blown fascism and admired the Hitler youth. I read the article and was fascinated reading the memories of teachers and fellow pupils of Nigel Farage. Some of them were, shall we say, worrying.  Here is one of the worse “Yet another colleague described how, at a [combined cadet force] camp organised by the college, Farage and others had marched through a quiet Sussex village very late at night shouting Hitler Youth songs"

Farage is a couple of years younger than me, so we were at school in the same era. My Dad was a former RAF pilot and despised Nazi's and I would have been battered half to death, had I even squeaked such a thing. It was drummed into me that Nazisim and Fascism was despicable. We had  a Jewish family living over the road from us. I was in and out of their house all of the time. To this day, the older of the boys, Frank is a mate and lives up the road still. Through such people, I knew the real price of Fascism, so reading the article, I was horrified. Then I got to Farage's explanation.

“Let’s get one thing straight, I joined the Conservative party in 1978 and thought all of the far-right parties/movements to be ludicrous/barmy/dangerous. There were some hard left class-of-1968 masters [who] joined the college and several of us thoroughly enjoyed winding them up. Terms of abuse thrown around between 15-year-olds were limitless; there were no boundaries. I think red-haired boys fared especially badly.”

Now reading this, I found myself having a bit of a moral dilemma and feeling sorry for Farage. I recall being a schoolboy at Finchley Catholic High School in 1978. Political correctness had not been invented. The school banter was racist, sexist, homophobic and by todays standards completely unacceptible. I absolutely recognise Farage's sentiments about winding up teachers. For a moment, I felt myself to be a complete hypocrite for judging Farage. It is quite reasonable for him to point out that the standards of the time were very different. No one enjoyed winding up teachers more than I did.

But then I thought, hang on a second. Lets read his statement again. When I think of my behaviour I am horrified now. I do think that being a fifteen year old in 1978, clearly without a Dad like mine who instilled a sense of right and wrong in the way my Dad did, is a perfectly reasonable excuse. If Nigel Farage was now the Archbishop of Canterbury and there was another paragraph, explaining how life had taght him the error of his ways, I would be the first in the line defending him.

But Farage is not the Achbishop of Canterbury. He is the leader of a hard right party, which wants to deport perfectly law abiding citizens, who have spent their working lives in the UK, contributing to the UK with indefinite right to remain. People like the bassplayer in my band, for the last 25 years, who also happens to be the chief recording engineer at my studio. Farage is a man who wants to withdraw the UK from the European Court of Human rights. He doesn't want to reform the organisation, he wants to remove the protection of the court for all of us. The court is far from perfect, but once you remove legal protection for people from human rights abuses, we are all game. Just suppose Reform got a big majority, it all went wrong and then, rather than a Labour government, the UK electorate chose a hard left government. Farage and all his hard right fans would find themselves fair game. If Reform ever were to win a majority, I would expect the UK's politics to descend into chaos, which would open up an opportunity for a leftist government. Farage has a unique talent for falling out with people who agree with him, such as Rupert Lowe. God help the rest of us who don't. If a Reform government collapsed, then a hard leftist party could make a reasonable argument that Tories, Labour and Reform don't work, so they would become the new hope for the dissaffected millions of voters, who always get let down.

As I said, for a moment I felt sorry for Nigel Farage. It is clear, though, that he thinks his behaviour as a schoolboy was just fine. It is clear that he is on the hard right of British politics. It is clear that millions of hard working people would have their lives upeneded if he was elected and enacted his policies. I doubt that Farage is a Nazi, who would send Jews to gas chambers. I doubt he's a fascist, who would shoot train drivers when  the trains ran late. But I have no doubt at all that he is a beast of the Hard Right, a man who despises immigrants and doesn't conceal this. 

The Guardian article was a follow up to David Lammy's charge that Farage was a man who admired the Hitler youth. I really think that Lammy showed extreme naivity in this attack. He even made me feel sorry for Farage for a millisecond. If you are going to mount an effective attack on Farage and the polices that Reform spout, you have all the material you need in what he is saying right now. I am sure my former Headmaster at FCHS would have been more than happy to slag me off, if he were still alive and I was the leader of a party. There was plenty of material in my school file, which demonstrated that when I was 15 I was not fit to run a whelk stall, let alone a country. I would hope that anyone who judges me, does so on the basis of what I do now, not as a schoolboy. Likewise, I judge Farage on his statements now, not then. Sadly for Nigel, I think any reasonable person will conclude he's a racist and a charaltan.

Nigel Farage declares war on my band, The False Dots

 I literally couldn't believe what I was listening to when I watched the news last night. Nigel Farage has declared war on LEGAL migrants. He clearly stated that it his intention to revoke the right to remain for non UK citizens. On top of that, non UK citizens will not be able to claim benefits. Now, I guess that if you don't like foreigners, that is a wonderful policy. But the effects of this will be catastrophic for millions of people in the UK. Lets get this right, people who came here perfectly legally, worked for years, or decades and have paid taxes are at risk of being kicked out. I know dozens of people who this may affect. People who have a right to remain but are not British citizens. All contribute huge amounts to the UK economy. But there is one person particularly, who it concerns me. That person is the bassplayer in my band, he has been in the band since 1998. Not only that, he has worked for me at the studio for 30 years. I know he pays taxes, because I do the payroll. He has three children, all born in the UK. He came over when the UK was part of the EU and got a right to remain after Brexit.

Under Farage's rules, if he got ill and incapacitated, he'd get no benefits, despiter over three decades of contributions to the system. As a percentage of his income, I suspect he's actually paid more tax than Farage has. I suspect he's also contributed more to the UK economy than Farage, who was the architect of Brexit, which has cost the UK billions (even Brexit supporting James Dyson has admitted that). 

Joseph Stalin once said "If you kill one person it is a tragedy, if you kill a million, its a statistic". Farage is clearly interested in making headlines with statistics. He is not in the least bit interested in the tragedies he will cause. For my band, our bassplayer is irreplaceable. For me, he is a friend. For my business, he is a key member of staff. If he is kicked out, what his son will be uprooted from the life he was born into. If he gets ill and needs to claim benefits, he will get nothing in return for the tax he's paid. Most people I know are not concerned about people who have spent decades obeying the law, living legally, working and paying taxes.

With his statement, Nigel Farage has caused everyone affected stress and upset. For me personally, he has declared war on my band. I am not the only musician in this position. Us creative types collaborate with people with diverse influences.  I am simply not prepared to let a two bit fascist like Farage give my friends, my band and the economy of our nation a beating without fighting back. Farage has drawn a line and millions of decent, law abiding citiziens, who pay taxes and contribute are on the wrong side of it. I am still fully processing my response to Farage. Should I write a song, make a band video, or something else? I honestly don't know. What I do know is that now is the time for Rock Against Racism to be revived.

Here is a clip of our band in action. This is what Nigel Farage wants to destroy

Farage's Nuremburg style rally demonstrates the lack of political savvy of Reform

I don't agree with Reform's politics at all, but I didn't write this blog to criticise their policies. I assume anyone reading the Barnet Eye is perfectly capable of making their own minds up. I know a few Reform voters read the blog and we often have interesting chats over a pint at our local pubs. It is fair to say that they are more excited and animated than at any stage since the Brexit referendum. So what is this blog about?

This blog is more about a couple of absolutely schoolboy errors Reform have made, as a political campaign machine. I've just been watching the Reform rally on Sky News. I was flicking the channels and there it was, a live stream from Birmingham. I was fascinated to see Farage in action. There can be no doubt that he's an excellent public speaker, if you like that sort of thing. Every seat had a bum on it in the hall, Sky said there were 5,000 people in there. Without anyone to scrutinise him, he really was on good form. He was able to debunk many myths to his loyal supporters. He was also able to set the record straight about various scandals etc that have befallen the Reform campaign. I am sure everyone in the hall lapped it up and thoroughly enjoyed their afternoon.

I actually spoke to someone who voted Reform using a postal vote on Friday. I was surprised as they were not someone I'd expect to touch Reform with a bargepoll. What they said was quite illuminating. The truth is that Sunak has comprehensively lost the team. I asked if the Tories had canvassed them, as they are a registered postal voter and a former supporter. The answer was no. The Tories locally are usually brilliant at this. I can only assume that they've given up on Hendon and are putting their full efforts into seats that they think they can win. I think Reform will poll better in Hendon as a result and the Tories a lot worse. But it won't translate into winning the seat. This is why I think the rally was a huge tactical and strategic mistake by Reform.

The first mistake was holding a rally like this on the last Sunday of campaigning. I have to assume that Reform packed the hall with 5,000 of their best activists. These are the people who go out and knock on doors and change people's minds. Today is a Sunny day, people are in good moods and many will be at home getting ready for the football. I've done a lot of campaigning and canvassing and the last weekend before the election is the one where you put every last ounce of energy into turning those few voters who may win you aa seat. Except the activists were all at Birmingham. You may say "Well far more will watch Sky News than could ever be knocked up". This is, of course, true but one of the main purposes of canvassing is to identify your supporters, so you can get them out on election day. We all know what Nigel Farage looks like. We all know he's a more dynamic speaker than Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak, then again my goldfish is. Most people do not watch long speeches by party leaders, unless they are already converted. However if those 5,000 supporters had been put into, say the 50 most likely target seats, that would be a 100 door knockers in each. If each knocked on 100 doors today, that would be 10,000 engagements in key marginals. If they could turn, say 2,500 Tory waiverers, that would be the difference between winning and coming second. Whatever effect the TV coverage of the rally has had, the butter is spread thin and not targetted. By my estimates, every seat that Reform miss by less than 400 votes on Thursday, they would probably had won if they'd had the 5,000 out there knocking on doors rather than having a love in with Nigel. 

The second mistake is that it was clear that a huge amount of logistical effort has gone into the rally. I have to wonder whether the resources of the party have been sensibly used in spending the time sorting this out. You could've plonked Farage down with some Reform supporting celeb, fed him tame questions and got the same output. Reform may feel that showing Farage parading and swooning to a home crowd will make him look presidential, but I suspect that most normal people will just dismiss it out of hand. It very much seemed to me that Farage was more there to soak up the adulation than to win votes. I do wonder if they have any real strategy at all to win seats. As a member of the Lib Dems, I know how hard it is for a third party to break through. You have to target areas properly and do a lot of work in them. If the Lib Dems win more seats than Reform, it will not be because the system is broken, it will be because the Lib Dems know how to get the best bang for their buck.

Which brings us onto the third thing that I think Farage got horribly wrong. Again it went down well with the home audience, but I suspect it will play badly with the wider voting public. It seems that every mishap was the fault of someone else and a conspiracy by the Liberal Elite. Hostile questions from the audience? That was because the BBC picked an audience of Reform haters. Racism from his campaign team? That was the fault of Channel four emplying dodgy actors to wind people up. Then there was his rant about the governor of the Bank of England. Clearly a baddy, although I doubt too many of the 5,000 really had a clue why he'd earned Nigel's ire. I may be stupid and naive and know nothing of politics, but having a rant about someone 90% of your audience have never heard of, about something they don't have a clue about, just makes you look like you are going off on one.

Another mistake is that Farage has done this in the period after most people have done their postal votes. Most people receive them and do the more or less immediately. This sort of political TV evangelism is ideal for postal voters, but most have been done. Now we are into the in person voters. That is why door knocking is important. 

The final point which I think they got horribly wrong is the timing. Farage and Reform were clearly hoping that the rally would be the top story on the news tonight. That surely is the point. This shows how clueless they are. The story will be England v Slovakia. By the time News at Ten is on, everyone's memory of Nigels massive rally will be a dim memory. Planning a keynote event before the biggest football match this year was bonkers. If he'd had it on Scotland or Wales, he may have got a better reception. 

It is pretty clear to me that Reform will do well in terms of numbers of votes. I know plenty of people who will be voting for them. Most are disgruntled Tories. What is much less clear is whether this will transform into actual seats. If they under perform, I predict that Farage will blame everyone, without looking at how naively he marshalled his resources the weekend before the election. Where the Tories are really fighting Reform, they will have people out walking the streets, cajoling waiverers to keep the faith. I'm really not sure that Farage wants to be the Prime Minister. He's seen how quickly the public fell out of love with Boris when the promises evapourated and his true character was exposed. I think Farage knows his limitations. He's a great orator, he is a showman, as he claimed he has charisma. He claimed this was necessary for dealing with ISIS and Putin. Sadly I don't think this is true. What you need is someone who understands the problem and understands what the UK can and can't do. If Farage really believes, as he claims, that Charisma is the key, then I suspect like the result on Thursday, he will never really be given the platform to put things to the test. 

But then again, what do I know. Over the last ten years I've woken up after votes to shocks on serveral occasions and voters are a fickle lot. But if I''m right, I think this blog may tell you why. 

Nigel Farage is a Tik Tok sensation, not a politician

 I have to admit that I spent yesterday laughing my head off. It started when I heard that Nigel Farage was making an "emergency announcement". Recalling that the last such emergency announcement that received such wall to wall media coverage was Boris announcing lockdown, I wondered whether Nige had contracted a contagous form of viral IBS and had infected everyone at The Reform Party conference. Then the news broke. Mr Farage, a bloke who'd stood for Parliament seven times and failed miserably every time was standing as a candidate in Clacton. In terms of politics, the concept that a fringe figure should attract so much publicity for such an unimportant announcement is quite amazing. I must admit I have nothing but admiration for the self promotional capabilities of Nigel Farage. What is he famous for? Here's a short list

1. He likes to drink beer. 

2. He's got a French name

3. He's got a German wife

4. He thinks Donald Trump is Ace

5. He survived a plane crash

6. He has 1.8 million followers on Twitter (X)

7. He's had over 10 million likes on TikTok despite following no one

You may say "Why haven't you listed his political achievements?". Well apart from being elected under PR to the European Parliament, he hasn't got any. As far as I can tell he isn't a politician, he's simply a very good single issue campaigner. His chosen subject? BREXIT. We all assumed that when Brexit was done, he'd go away. Sadly for us, Nige loves being in the spotlight, so he has a new ruse. Brexit has been betrayed. It seems that Nige thinks the reason that the UK is swamped with migrants from non EU nations is because the Tories betrayed Brexit. He doesn't seem to have twigged that the £4.7 billion we had to divert from preventing drugs and illegal immigrants entering the UK has had to be diverted into checking perfectly legal tourists, businessmen and goods crossing our borders. Nige clearly believed the pledge from Boris that when we left the EU, we'd have £365 million a week to spend on the NHS when we left. We were promised it and he's right we were betrayed, but sadly this was mostly because everything he said was simply made up nonsense to win a few votes.

There is a myth that "it was Nige that won it for Brexit". The sad truth is that it wasn't. It was David Cameron and his side kick Gideon Osborne (AKA George) who completely cocked the whole thing up. They called a referendum, believing it would end squabbles in the Tory party, without ever thinking how they might win the argument. Their campaign was nearly as dishonest as the #VoteLeave campaign, when it really didn't need to be. One talent Nige has is that he is brilliant at claiming any sorts of success he can and pretending all of his failures have nothing to do with him.

Serious politicians have policies for all areas of the challenges facing the UK. Schools, Health, Transport, Policing, Defence and the Economy. What is Nige saying "Ban all immigrants", He is like an old vinyl 7" single, stuck on the first groove. Schools need fixing "Ban all immigrants and there will be plenty of places for our kids", The NHS needs fixing "Ban all immigrants, there will be plenty of beds for us", Transport is in a mess "Ban all immigrants, there will be less cars on the roads", The Police are overstretched "Ban all immigrants, there will be no crime", The Army is a mess "Ban all immigrants and, erm, well it will be cushdy boo", The Economy "Ban all immigrants and there will be more money for the rest of us". Of course he does have a couple of other policies. He doesn't like transgender people and he likes smoking ciggies when he's having a pint. 

The fella is not serious. In truth, he's a wonderful construct, a Tiktok sensation with ten million likes. If you want to see how to be a great self publicist, he is second to none. I suspect he may even finally win a seat in Clacton, it is the perfect place for an end of pier act, at a washed up seaside town that has seen better days. Like all such characters, if he does win, he won't actually bother turning up too often at the House of Commons (except when the telly cameras are in town for a big story) or doing much work. He'll probably sit with his mate from the Brexit trail George Galloway, preening for the cameras. 

Now you might think I am fed up with him standing, quite the opposite. As a blogger, he's golddust. The campaign was threatening to be the most boring ever with Starmer Vs Sunak, the deadly duo. Having a top TikTok superstar to distract us from the real issues can only be a good thing, bringing some relief and gaeity to the campaign. Although I don't agree with anything he says, he will smoke out the true Rishi Sunak. Will Sunak lurch to the right to shore up his vote or will he reveal his inner Liberal and try and appeal to the good sense of the soft right? I think it's quite likely that Farage will spark a mini civil war in the Tories, with a fight for the heart of the party. If the hard right win, then their path will mirror Labour's in the Corbyn years. Lots of excited activists and abject failure at the polls. If the softies win, maybe they will manage to pull things together to at least act like an opposition. 

Whatever happens, Farage will spend the post election period in the USA, massaging the ego of his mate Donald Trump. Don't expect to see too much of him around, whether he wins or loses.

Euro Elections - My thoughts on Nigel Farage

If Farage was what he claimed, a man who doesn’t believe in the EU and believes the EU Parliament is nothing but a fake talking shop, he’d have refused to take his seat or draw his salary. But what does he believe? One thing Farage has made crystal clear is that he despises the NHS. He’d love to see it opened up to Trump supporting US corporations who have ensured that working class Americans live in fear of serious illness.

I actually feel sorry for #Brexit supporters. It is not their fault that a complete Bell End like Farage has inserted himself at the head of their campaign. What sickens me is the way he seeks to airbrush out the honourable figures on both left and right who campaigned for #Brexit. I don’t agree with the likes of @KateHoeyMP, Tony Benn, @DavidDavisMP, Rees Mogg etc, but I object to the way Farage has sought to airbrush their decades of support for Brexit out of the picture and try and claim all the credit for himself.

Galloway supporting Farage is not new, it is a logical alliance between racist reactionary authoritarians. What is more concerning is that nobody seems to be questioning why George Galloway considers Labour's head of comms to be his "closest friend". pic.twitter.com/J68ih0TZ3g

— Oz Katerji (@OzKaterji) April 17, 2019

Anyone who followed the Tories, from John Majors problems with Portillo and Redwood style bastards, would know Cameron thought calling a referendum would silence them. It was the support of the likes of Boris that swing it, Farage was a peripheral figure. It is worth recalling that Farages parting gift to @UKIP was to destroy it. That is why he had to start a new party.

In a democracy, the way demagogue takes power is to hide his true nature.

He cannot be trusted.

The Friday Joke 28/11/2014 - UKIP can't tell a Cathedral from a Mosque

Earlier this year I visited Westminster Cathedral and posted this tweet

Rog T ‏@Barneteye

Visiting Westminster Cathedral. Saw this. A timely reminder as to why I wont be voting #UKIP

 

Little could I imagine that the cathedral would form the centre of a Twitter storm, as Nigel Farage's UKIP branch mistook the Cathedral for a Mosque! The Guardian tells the full story here

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/nov/27/-sp-ukip-mistakes-westminster-cathedral-for-mosque?CMP=fb_gu

It seems that the BBC were doing a straw poll outside the Cathedral on whether Nigel Farage has what it takes to be Prime Minister outside the Cathedral, and UKIP took exception to this.

Of course we all make mistakes. I suppose that it is quite easy to mistake the largest Roman Catholic Cathedral in the UK for a mosque if you are a bit dim. Luckily it seems that the people of Great Britain are only too happy to help to educate UKIP as to exactly what isn't a Mosque, to avoid further embarrassments. If you do a twitter search under #Thingsthatarenotmosques - Check it out (especially if you are a UKIPper and want to avoid embarrassment).

https://twitter.com/search?f=realtime&q=%23ThingsThatAreNotMosques&src=tyah

Here are a few of my favourites.

Nigel Ohno ‏@nigelohno 4m4 minutes ago

Nigel! Oh No! moley345: RT sturdyAlex: #ThingsThatAreNotMosques Nigel_Farage

Helen Anderson ‏@Persipan 19m19 minutes ago

#ThingsThatAreNotMosques - It does contain palm trees, so could be confusing... 

Yrotitna ‏@yrotitna 20m20 minutes ago

@ukip_sththanet Moscow is a city not a design & build company specialising in mosques #ThingsThatAreNotMosques

Finally, we thought we'd add our own picture from Mill Hill, just in case!!!

Rog T ‏@Barneteye 9s10 seconds ago

#UKIP_STTHANET #ThingsThatAreNotMosques Just in case there are any confused #UKIP members in Mill Hill, this isn't

UKIP win in Clacton but is Nigel Farage just a middle class John Prescott

UKIP now have their first elected MP. Clearly for the party, this is a momentus moment, but what does it really mean. Based on last nights results, UKIP would have an outright majority in the House of Commons. The Tories would have been totally wiped out and Labour would be reduced to its very safest seats. This would mean that Westminster would have a government where only one of their number had actually served previously in Parliament. The Home secretary, the Foreign Secretary and the NHS would all be put in the hands of people with absolutely no experience and no exposure to the protools of Parliament. Wheras Cameron went into No 10 with some idea of who his team were and what their strengths were, Nigel Farage wouldn't have a clue how good or bad any of his team were and how they would perform.

Perhaps the most interesting thing would be to see how the Sir Humphreys of the Civil Service would deal with this new lot. The first thing one presumes UKIP would do is organise a referendum on UK membership of Europe. This would grab the headlines, but the things that really matter to people are how the NHS is run, how schools are run, how the railways are run and how the police and prison service are run. One can just see how this new team, who have no experience of dealing with Civil servants would fare. This morning I've heard commentator after commentator saying Nigel Farage is a one off. I disagree. To me he is simply a middle class John Prescott. Most people remember Prescott as a bumbling stooge of a deputy Prime Minister, the buffoon to who acted as a merkin whilst Tony Blair did the real dirty business of government. If Blair wanted to see how a policy would be received, he'd get Prescott to announce it. The press would go bonkers and rip it to shreds. Blair would then analyse the criticism, fine tune it and say "Well thats John, what we are really doing is this". He did this time and time again and won three elections as a result.

What is less well remembered is what a fantastic job Prescott did as shadow Transport secretary before the 1997 election. Prescott in opposition was a star performer. It is easy in opposition, you simply have to say what a rotten job the government is doing and everyone agrees with you. Being a plain speaking northerner, he was seen as a man of the people. Prescott would make a point of being pictured with a pint. When someone thumped him, he didn't cry, he just turned around and decked him. Whilst the politcal classes reeled in shock, Prescotts ratings went through the roof.

To me Farage is just the same, except he's middle class and I suspect lacks the street brawler heart of Prescott. In opposition, it is easy. He can say he'll ban HIV carrying immigrants and convicted murderers. He can say what he likes, but it doesn't matter. It is when it actually comes to having to go through Parliament that it all goes wrong. Take the issue of convicted murderers. Sounds great doesn't it? I can see the appeal. I do why he didn't choose peadophiles instead. You may think this is a strange comment, but anyone who knows about crime knows most murderers are not repeat offenders. I have a friend who is a convicted murderer. He is now in his 50's. When he was eight, his mother remarried. His stepfather abused him for years. When he was 23, his then ageing stepfather attacked him. My friend, for the first time, fought back and killed him. Under a Farage law, he'd be banned from living in the UK, even though his crime was a completely understandable one off. Anyone who is familiar with the statistics knows that the majority of murderers serve their time and don't offend again.

You see it's typical of Farage. He makes policy up on the hoof. I believe that like Prescott this is fine in opposition, where it really doesn't matter. In government, it is different. Take his announcement on HIV positive immigrants. HIV is a virus that is treatable. Most people in the UK with HIV are on medication and live normal lives. I for one cannot see why HIV is different from any other chronic condition. It his highly discriminatory. In terms of cost to the NHS, would Farage ban people with Multiple Sclerosis or motor nerone disease? Both are incurable, debilitating and expensive to treat? If the answer is no, then why choose HIV. I daresay that Farage will say because the disease is contracted by lifestyle. Again this is highly ignorant. How can you ban someone who contracted HIV through a blood transfusion or who is monogamous and infected by a promiscuous partner. Farage may say that it is because HIV is infectious and he's acting to protect the public. In this case, surely the ban should be on anyone with a life threatening transmittable disease. This means that you'd have to include Hepatitis, HP, influenza, mumps, measles etc.

What stuns me is the hypocisy. Farage makes a big deal of being seen drinking alcohol and smoking. These cost the NHS far more than HIV, but to Nige they are part of the image. Don't get me wrong, I drink too much but I don't go around pontificating about HIV. Why not ban smokers? Passive smoke kills people. Drinking tea in a room full of HIV carriers is perfectly safe, if you did the same for 30 years with a bunch of smokers, you'd significantly raise your chances of lung disease and cancer.

In short I think Farage is an ignorant buffoon. My only worry is that whilst Prescott had Blair to protect us from his buffonary, Farage is the top man. Who is his team? Well at the moment he has one MP. That man was a Tory MP who clearly wasn't up to higher office and quit his party in a fit of pique. I play football. I run a business. If I want to do well, I want team players. To me UKIP is filled with disaffected malcontents. What wasn't reported in Clacton is that there was also a Council election. The man originally selected to be the candidate in Clacton was a UKIP councillor. He quit in digust at his treatment. Farage didn't bother to tell him that he'd been replaced by Carswell. What does that tell you about Farage? To me it says that the man is not a leader and has no loyalty for his team. He dumps on his most loyal players if it suits him and hasn't even got the guts to do it face to face. I've had to give people difficult messages. You do it face to face and in a case like this the way is simple. You meet the man being replaced, you explain why it is vital for the party for Carswell to come in and you promise him the best seat you can get him elsewhere. You also praise him to the hilt for his contribution. Farage is not a leader so he clearly doesn't get it.

UKIP and the long range weather forecast

We hear that a UKIP Councillor has decreed that the recent flooding was the direct responsibility of MP's passing legislation allowing Gay marriage. I must admit I found myself laughing. So it seems that UKIP believe that you can predict weather patterns by the legislation passed in Parliament, whilst at the same time disbelieving the sound scientific evidence for climate change. This idea quite appeals to me. What seems rather odd though is how UKIP seem to think that God, who is all seeing, all knowing and all powerful reacts to such legislation with seemingly random flooding in areas not especially associated with Gay Marriage. Now if areas such as Hampstead Heath had found themselves under nine foot of water, one could perhaps see a pattern, but to the best of my knowledge God has arranged the flood to be in more rural areas and on flood plains (strange place to build houses?). Being raised in a God fearing house, I am very familiar with the bible stories, however usually it was people who upset God who attracted his wrath, not random people who had little to do with the decision. So perhaps UKIP have got it wrong? Maybe God is more upset with attempts to repeal the Foxhunting ban? Or maybe he's fed up with the number of people in the countryside who drive gas guzzlers.

One of our local MP's Mike Freer, was a keen advocate of Gay marriage. According to UKIP, surely Finchley and Golders Green should be under 20' of water now, especially given the large population well versed in the old testament of his constituency. Surely if God really was angry about the Gay marriage legilsation, he would have laid waste to Mr Freer's constituency. Which has to make us conclude that perhaps God isn't too bothered. Perhaps God has better things to worry about.

Personally I would quite like it if God's retribution came down occasionally on evil do'ers. In my book though, evildoers are not people who shut the curtains and don't hurt other people. I would like to see a few arms factories flooded. I would like to see a few mass murderers and tyrants struck by lightening. I'd even like to see a few greedy property developers see the horrible schemes washed away in a deluge. Sadly though, we live in a time when humanity seems to have to take responsibility for dealing with its own problems. I suspect God thinks we've grown up and should deal with the problems we've made for ourselves.

And before I am deluged with disgruntled UKIP supporters claiming that this particular nutcase is a rogue individual, may I suggest that they take some responsibility. Nigel Farage claimed that the bloke was really a Tory who had somehow slipped through the vetting process (see this story in the Evening Standard http://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/ukip-councillor-who-said-floods-were-punishment-from-god-for-gay-marriage-is-a-tory-extremist-says-nigel-farage-9071828.html?origin=internalSearch ). If this is how Farage will deal with such a crass and idiotic man, then it is clear UKIP are doomed. Oddly Farage claims that the bloke always held these views but they have only been reported now he's joined UKIP. Why on earth did Farage accept him if he disagrees?

He should have instigated a full review of their selection criteria and should be working to ensure that his party maintains discipline and doesn't give a platform to people who are clearly not the full shilling. As a party Leader, Farage has to take responsibility for the people in his party. It seems like we live in a society where no one will ever step up and say "We got this wrong". It is always someone elses fault. If you thought UKIP were different, think again. Every party has nutcases in its ranks. It is how they deal with them which defines the party. I think Farage has displayed a complete lack of leadership in this issue.