Nigel Farage is becoming a jet setter. Yesterday evening, he addressed the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) of Republicans in Maryland. Later today, he is delivering the final speech at Ukip’s spring conference in Margate. It’s a tough life, but why did he bother going 3,000 miles for a 20 minute speech? His friendly style appeared to go down well with the Americans, far more customised to his style of politics, but it he did not draw a huge crowd:
I’d estimate 250 people listening to Farage in a vast room that can seat 5,500. But those here are loving him. pic.twitter.com/0TRkieUGxo
— Raf Sanchez (@rafsanchez) February 27, 2015
The topics were mostly the same stuff we’ve heard before. Farage told the gathered Republicans of the ‘unelected old men’ in Brussels and defended his stance on immigration:
‘All I’ve ever said is that Britain is actually a very small island and that we can not go on absorbing a net inflow of up to a third of a million people, two British cities, every single year.’
Ah yes, those immigration figures. The same ones he was unable to comment on yesterday. Farage said he cares deeply about the future of Europe:
‘I actually care what happens a lot in the rest of Europe. My family were French protest Huguenots who fled and took refugee status in the United Kingdom. I’m married to a girl from Germany so nobody needs to tell me about the dangers of living in a German dominated household.’
After a round of applause, he admitted that his wife, Kirsten Farage, is not a fan of that well-rehearsed joke:
‘She always begs me not to tell that one but never mind. I enjoy it and that’s what really matters isn’t it? And hey, shouldn’t politics be fun anyway? Of course it should! Of course it should!’
Farage attempt to draw parallels between Ukip’s success of appealing to ‘a group of people left behind’ by the European project and the Republican Party, who he criticised for failing to reach out to blue collar workers:
‘If the Republican party is going to win the next presidential election, I think the Republican party needs to get the kind of people voting for it that were voting for it 30 years ago. Do you remember the Reagan Democrats? [applause] These were people who worked hard. These were people who were patriotic. These were people who aspired and wanted to get on. And I don’t think at the moment the Republican party is actually attracting those kind of people. So I would say to you: you’ve got to reach out to the grassroots and you’ve got to try and get those kind of voters voting for you.’
As well as talking up Judeo-Christian values, which went also drew some hollers, Farage argued it was time for Britain and America to reconsider the military interventions. But he told the CPAC crowd ‘I want liberal democracy in the West to succeed. If we want that, we’re going to have to stand up and fight for it.
Although the speech was well received, not everyone was a fan. Chairman of Conservative Way Forward Donal Blaney was present in the room and (unsurprisingly) felt Farage’s speech failed to hit the heights of CPAC favourite Dan Hannan:
‘Hannan’s speeches at CPAC were written for the audience, appealing to the audience’s gut, hearts and minds. Farage just gave the same stump speech he gives everywhere he goes with a couple of perfunctory remarks about America. He misjudged the audience and missed a great chance to make a mark to America’s conservative leaders and donors.’
One does have to wonder whether this was a pure vanity trip. Given that Farage was in America on the same day of the long-awaited migration statistics, might his time have been better used in a less glamorous fashion back in London? Or preparing for his keynote speech in Margate? We’ll see this afternoon whether his global traveling was a mistake.
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