Farage is Back... Again!

 

Whether you love or hate him, nobody can say Nigel Farage ceases to surprise. He is one of the most capricious, and dare I say inconsistent, politicians Britain has ever had. He began his career as a hero for Brexiteers, long before the word had ever been coined. He then caused a split in his original party, UKIP, and founded the Brexit Party. This is technically a company owned primarily by Farage, but the electoral commission did accept it as a political party so it could run in elections. In 2021 it changed its name to Reform UK, a silly name in my opinion. Shortly after this, but not as a result, Nigel announced his second retirement from politics his first being the day after the 2016 Brexit referendum victory. Richard Tice took over as leader and became most notorious for sacking a number of candidates because Hate Not Hope ordered him to, see: https://hpanwo-voice.blogspot.com/2024/05/gb-news-vs-ofcom.html. Now, as we approach the eighth anniversary of Referendum Day, on the third of June, Nigel announced his return to the throne of Reform UK. What was really bizarre was that just a few weeks earlier he had revealed plans to abandon Britain altogether and travel to America to campaign for Donald Trump in this year's US presidential election. He admitted this was a mistake, which is admirable; it's far more than most politicians do. His reason for changing his mind is that he has seen "a rejection of the political class" in this country and he wanted to be a part of that revolt. He said the surge in Reform's popularity was "a new phenomenon" and he is encouraged by opinion polls on the continent ahead of the upcoming European Parliamentary elections for hard right populists like himself. Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdnzlDZ12pk.
 
Will I vote for Reform? Well if you look through their manifesto, see: https://www.reformparty.uk/our-contract-contents, I agree with almost all of it. I don't think we should abolish the House of Lords, but I am very keen that we should scrap HS2, stop NHS privatization and leave the ECHR, see: https://hpanwo-voice.blogspot.com/2023/10/hs2-north-scrapped.html. However, will Nigel Farage reinstate the candidates unfairly dismissed by Richard Tice? Will he apologize to them? A friend of mine and former UKIP activist, Daniel Bostock, has stated that he feels Farage betrayed the UKIP members in a similar way to Tice, see: https://www.bitchute.com/video/HZLaKdIzE6Q/. Is Reform nothing but controlled opposition? Possibly. I am suspicious of how Farage seems to be tolerated far more by the establishment than other populists like Jeremy Corbyn and Donald Trump. The answer is no, I will not be voting Reform UK. If I vote at all in this upcoming election it will be for another small party or an independent. If the IOA stand a parliamentary candidate I might support them again, see: https://hpanwo-voice.blogspot.com/2024/05/i-backed-winner.html. Nigel is standing in the Clacton constituency. He has replaced the previous candidate from his own party, Anthony Mack; who is now challenging Farage as an independent. Nigel has never been elected before; some define him as the most influential statesman who has never sat in office. It is likely this safe Tory seat will flip purple. We will see. As far as the election goes generally, I don't think I will cover it in any detail; it will simply be too boring! Labour is going to win, but their victory will be very pyrrhic and anticlimactic. The electorate are not backing Keir Starmer because they are captivated by his dream for a better Britain. No, they probably regard him as a corrupt slimy greasy haired knob just like I do. Labour will win by the default of apathy. The turnout is going to be a record low and most of the voters who backed Boris in 2019 will just stay at home or vote Reform. Maybe the despair of the outcome will be a lesson for us all. Democracy is one of the biggest buzz-words in the English language; it is loaded down like no other with emotional and cultural baggage. Wars have been fought over democracy which have cost the lives of millions. Some people will start weeping at the very mention of the word. The quest for democracy has produced some of the most dramatic tales in history. Yet most democratic countries, even very old democracies, are suffering from a terrible malaise. Democratic governments have a catastrophic credibility problem in their relationship with their citizens; some political leaders even have approval ratings in single figures. Citizens now usually vote for negative reasons instead of positive; meaning they'll vote for somebody they don't like in order to keep somebody they like even less out of office, rather than to try and elect somebody they do like. Democratic countries today are ruled by some of the most loathsome people imaginable; cruel, cowardly, weak, gutless, heartless, stupid, selfish and deceitful. Despite the fact that nominally we can "choose our leaders", these kinds of people always rise to the top and nobody seems to know why, let alone how to stop them. This malaise is growing. I can only hope that the obvious perception of the problem will finally generate a solution.
See here for background: https://hpanwo.blogspot.com/2019/10/brexit-portal.html.