Nigel Farage held another event in Westminster this morning to announce the dates of his ‘Say No – Believe in Britain’ tour, through which he hopes to drum up support for a Brexit. While the venue and message were identical to his press conference in July, the Ukip leader did reveal some details: twelve regional co-ordinators have been chosen, 300 events are planned over the next few months and six million leaflets will be delivered by Christmas.
In light of the British Future polling on the toxicity of Ukip’s immigration message, Farage was keen point out he will work with anyone to achieve a Brexit — even Jeremy Corbyn. He said that a Corbyn victory in the Labour leadership contest would be a ‘good result’:
‘I don’t really find myself in agreement on anything with Jeremy Corbyn. However, however, under his leadership, which looks all but certain, I am absolutely confident there is going to be a proper debate about the European Union that goes on within the centre left of British politics.
‘I welcome a Corbyn victory. And yes, even though we disagree on almost everything, I’d love to share a platform with him in the run up to this referendum.’
Farage did acknowledge that not everyone will take a shine to Ukip, but he said the party is taking a positive approach towards the referendum:
‘If people are put off by what they’ve heard this morning well I can’t do much about that. But I would suspect that the majority of people who are open minded, who’ve heard where we stand on this issue [immigration] will actually agree with us. And far from us trying to badmouth or push people away, we’re try to bring people together.
‘I accept not everyone is going to think Ukip is fantastic or I’m fantastic…but that’s why we need the centre left — whether it’s Corbyn or somebody else — appealing to those voters as well.’
Despite these challenges, Farage believes the Eurosceptics can win and persuade the British public to back changing the status quo:
‘I genuinely think this referendum can be won by our side of the argument. What have to do is show that the risk of staying in the European Union — given all its problems and its massive policy failures in many areas — is greater than the risk of us returning to self governance. That’s our challenge, we have to overturn the status quo.’
The question remains as to whether the ‘Say No’ tour will help or hinder the Eurosceptic cause. The kippers seem convinced they are going to lead the grassroots charge while everyone else is ‘sitting on their hands’. But it how well will Farage and co work with other parties when the time comes? For now, they seems quite content doing their own thing.
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