Nigel and an Opportunist's Dilemma

 I'd rather not be blogging about Nigel Farage (NF) again so quickly, but the current controversy over his refusal to condemn the Southampton riots - fully justified in being regarded as disgraceful - is lacking in one respect, I think. The Prime Minister spoke accurately when he said, in reply to NF's two-tier policing" speech about the Henry Nowak murder,  in the House of Commons:

“His [Mr Farage’s] response has been to appeal for rage, rage. That’s his response to a father who has lost his son and asked for that not to happen. Exploiting this tragedy to create grievance and division would be wrong in any circumstances, but to do it when the family are expressly saying ‘please don’t’ is unforgivable. It shows exactly who he is.”

It certainly shows NF to be an opportunist, as he always has been. We have, for example, seen him attempt to exploit anti-Semitism, among other topics, to his advantage. He keeps quiet about it now, but:

"In 2017, Farage came under fire for antisemitism after an LBC interview in which he described the so-called US “Jewish lobby” as a concern of his.
He has spoken of a "new world order" and the threat of a "globalist" government, often singling out Goldman Sachs and George Soros".

He has sought to ingratiate himself with both Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin:

"Farage ... defended Trump’s infamous "grab ’em by the pu**y" comment, saying that, "men say dreadful things sometimes".
If all of us were caught out on what we’ve said on a night out after a drink, none of us would be here," he added."

As for Putin: 

"Vladimir Putin is a nationalist Russian. He wants to get back — at least I thought he wanted to get back — the Russian-speaking areas [of Ukraine] into his country," ... He (NF) said that the invasion was "abhorrent" but also "predictable", and blamed Putin’s actions on the EU and Nato provoking him".

It may be fanciful, but I am certain that, in the awful event of NF becoming Prime Minister, we would see him welcoming Trump and Putin on state visits to this country - perhaps both at the same time.

But this is not the main issue here. I said above that the main issue about NF's blathering over two-tier policing and the anger over his refusal to condemn the riots in Southampton last week is lacking an appreciation of one unspoken fact.

 

This fact is that NF is caught in a dilemma when it comes to violence of this type - but don't expect him to admit it. He cannot afford to be seen as condoning lawlessness - crime is a major Reform UK issue - but neither can he afford to alienate the angry individuals who attend such riots, or the right-wing rallies that blight our capital city periodically. Still less can he afford to upset the organisers and inciters of these events, such as Tommy Robinson, Paul Golding, Katy Hopkins, Laurence Fox, Elon Musk, etc,etc. All these extremist luminaries have supported NF and Reform UK in various ways, but in particular, at the last General Election. If they turned against him, he would lose a lot of popular (not to say populist) support. That, I believe, is why NF is so ambivalent on this issue.

But there could be another problem for NF if he condemned right-wing populist violence, even though he might not be aware of it. The extreme Right thrives on violence, be it physical or online. They are by no means averse to using violence and terror tactics against those they class as being traitors, and while NF might have bodyguards, the neo-Nazi psychopaths, of whom we see many on anti-migrant protests or "Unite the Nation" marches, could well target Reform UK members and officials. 

In other words, NF and his followers could become a persecuted minority. They might then appreciate the feelings of other such minorities, in this country and elsewhere. 

And why so many become refugees...

Nigel Shares the Love!

 

Nonsense, of course, but I thought it would attract your attention. You, dear reader, might be an admirer of Nigel Farage (NF) seen above. If so, you will appreciate the picture. If, like me, you are not someone who appreciates NF, the picture will not be acceptable. Perhaps not, but you, like me, will be amazed that so many people regard this man with such affection. And that is a good starting point for this blog post.

NF, I think, is becoming a complete megalomaniac. As we know, there is understandable controversy over the horrible murder of Henry Nowak and his death under arrest by the Southampton police. As we know, there is an issue of racism involved, and questions raised about "two-tier policing". We know from previous incidents, such as the Southport murders in 2024, that NF feels impelled to speak out publicly on such matters. NF blamed the murders of the three young Southport girls on Muslim asylum seekers. Well, we know how accurate that was. NF blamed the police for not providing full information, but that didn't stop the rioting in Southport and elsewhere. He is at it again, seeking fit to "address the nation" on the topic. This, to me, is evidence of NF's megalomania. Only the Monarch or a religious leader has the authority to "address" the nation. 

As for NF's "address", he says of the Henry Nowak murder: "... the rights and privileges of white people matter less than ethnic minorities”, adding that “white lives matter…” and there needs to be “an end to anti-white prejudice”. This echoes what Zia Yusuf, a Reform UK associate of NF, has said elsewhere: “White people are now demonstrably the biggest victims of racism in Britain”.

The Byline Times comments: "Now I’m not sure what definition of “demonstrably” Yusuf and Reform are using here, but official figures demonstrate that black people in the UK are around 16 times more likely to be the victims of racial hate crime, per head of population, than their white counterparts, with Asian people being around nine times more likely".

Not that such details will concern NF. He has other fish to fry. Henry Nowak's father has appealed for calm, but he has been ignored by NF, along with the right-wing press, the Tories, Tommy Robinson and the Far Right. In much the same way, appeals for calm by parents of one of the three murdered Southport girls were ignored by NF and the rioters in Southport, who staged a violent confrontation with police outside the  Southport Mosque, despite the fact that the murderer did not come from a Muslim family. Well, as NF would say, quoting Lenin, you can't make an omelette without breaking eggs. NF had his reputation to consider - and an opportunity to exploit, as he has now. I believe he has condemned last night's rioting in Southampton, but I cannot find any trace of it. What is remembered of NF's address is his call for the public to act with "pure, cold rage". There is a picture of it below.

This leads to a question that has not been examined yet. In fact, I haven't seen any comment about it anywhere. The riots that happened in Southampton last night concern me because they have been organised suspiciously quickly. I don't know how many of the rioters were locals, but I remember that, during the post-murder riots in Southport, 2024, the majority of the rioters were said to be outsiders, inspired and mobilised in part by Daniel Thomas ("Tommo"), an associate of Tommy Robinson, who was on holiday in Cyprus.

Well, Tommy Robinson was present at the protest/riots in Southampton last night. Thanks to Searchlight magazine, we know that other far Right luminaries: Paul Golding (Britain First); Nick Tenconi (UKIP); "Tommo" and Laurence Fox were also present. And there were overtly fascist and neo-Nazi elements in the crowd. Searchlight says here: 

"Then, following a call from Robinson himself that Digwa’s family should be driven out of Southampton, the demonstration moved towards Digwa’s family home in Portiswood.

Now, the mood and character of the demonstration changed. Masked figures moved to the front, nazi salutes were being thrown and ‘White Power’ was being chanted.

Officers were targeted with stones in St Denys. Bins were set alight and rolled towards police lines. Riot shields went up. Hampshire Constabulary deployed its helicopter, additional riot vans and mounted officers as the situation deteriorated across multiple locations. By late evening, the violence had not abated".

To conclude, I think that we should be concerned that many non-political people are being drawn to such events and are being influenced by extremist ideas. I can only hope that there will be no more riots inspired by the Nowak murder and/or Farage's "two-tier policing" nonsense. I also think that we who oppose right-wing extremism should review our ways of dealing with it. The beast needs to be tamed and caged.