Nigel Farage emerged from his summer break today to kickstart his party’s No campaign. The Ukip leader hit out at Eurosceptic Conservatives who he believes are lazy and ‘there is no No campaign’ at present. But he won’t be putting himself forward as a candidate to lead the official No campaign — instead focusing on his grassroots efforts with a tour of the country in September.
I caught up with Farage, who appeared refreshed after ‘trying to keep away from people like you’. He denied that by attacking Tories, he is beginning Ukip’s No campaign on a negative footing:
‘You will have seen in national newspaper columns this week a shed load of abuse thrown at me by some of these people. I’m not throwing it back, I’m urging them; I’m urging them: if you believe in what we’re trying to do, please get off your up back side and come and help us, come and share a platform with us. I couldn’t be more and friendly than that.’
Farage faces the challenge of keeping himself and his party relevant. Ukip is in a significantly weakened position after failing to breakthrough in Westminster. Given that David Cameron is now setting the agenda on Europe, there is a chance that his same old message of the evils of Europe is a little out of date in the brave new world of a Tory government. Farage denied this and believes his core principles will keep Ukip in the game:
‘Do I think being self governing and democratic, and being able to control your own borders and make your own trade deals around the world, and to be free to reengage with the Commonwealth friends? If that’s out of date, then we’re all finished.’
So much has changed since Ukip was last making news, not least the heightened potential of a Grexit. Farage believes that the Greek crisis has been a turning point for the left and he welcomes them to the Eurosceptic cause:
‘I think one of the shifts has been that the left have really begun to really wake up to what the European Union is. I think many people who would call themselves democratic socialist are just mortified at the way Greece has been in treated in the wake of a referendum, which said to the government “you must not do this thing’”.’
So, could he imagine himself sharing a stage during the campaign with Unite’s Len McCluskey and Guardian columnist Owen Jones — two notable figures on the left who have changed their stance on the EU:
‘Of course, I don’t believe the divisions of left and right mean a blooming thing compared to whether we have our own democracy and the self-governance of our own nation. I would be very happy to share a stage with those guys if they would with me.’
Comments