Britannist

Here's a report I've written up about the Nigel Farage interview which was on TalkSport radio last night/this morning (for those who want a copy of the text and/or for those who missed part or all of the interview):

The following is a slightly abridged written record of the interview of Nigel Farage MEP (leader of the UK Independence Party - UKIP) on the James Whale ‘Show’ on TalkSport Radio from 10.10 pm on 19.10.2006 to 12.57 am on 20.10.2006:

James Whale (JW) started the interview by asking Mr. Farage (F) if he was partly of French origin in view of his (what Mr. Whale thought was a French-sounding) family name. “No I’m completely English going far back a long way” Mr. Farage replied. Mr. Whale then said “It would help dispel the claim by Conservative leader David Cameron that you are anti-foreigner and that UKIP is just a branch of the British National Party (BNP)”. Mr. Farage replied “David Cameron is fearful of us (UKIP). He knows that millions of his voters agree with what we (UKIP) say. We are pro-European - but anti-EU. My wife is German.”

JW: Have you been working part-time as an MEP since you became leader of UKIP (last month)?

F: How long does Blair work in Sedgefield (his parliamentary constituency)? I didn’t go to Brussels to do a Monday to Friday job (at the EU ‘Parliament’) just to claim the attendance allowance. I’m there to find out what’s going on and how it affects my country. I then report back over here.

JW: Can you see any need for the EU?

F: None at all. We don’t need tens of thousands of hangers on – the EU ‘Parliament’, European Court etc. just to have friendship and trade with the EU.

JW: I saw you on television on Sunday (on the BBC 1 ‘Sunday AM’ programme) and this prompted me to get you on here. How can you lead a political party without being a member of the House of Commons?

F: All the power is in Brussels. It’s certainly not in the House of Commons. That’s where I am for some of the time.

JW: I don’t want to live in a multi-cultural society.

F: We have been encouraged to do so. The Labour/Conservative and Liberal ‘Democrat’ parties deliberately encouraged multi-cultural and the race relations industry.

JW: David Cameron says UKIP is allegedly linked to the BNP.

F: Nonsense.

JW: Would you get rid of the posts of ‘Diversity Managers’.

F: Absolutely. The whole concept of Diversity Managers is crackers.

JW: The female teacher (of the Islamic faith) in the news with the veil and the covered face with slits for her eyes to see through – she is like something out of ‘Star Wars’.

F: What Jack Straw (Leader of the House of Commons) said (he said he asked women who covered their faces to remove the covers when they met him at his advice surgery) was the first sensible thing he has come out with since he was elected to the Commons in 1979.

W: The 24-year old Muslim woman teacher (in Dewsbury, Yorkshire) with the covered face except for eye-holes looks like Darth Vadar out of ‘Star Wars’. This is culturally unacceptable in this country. If my teachers had looked like that I would not have been happy.

On other matters, Mr. Farage commented as follows (in subject alphabetic order):

BASIC RIGHTS

We are in danger of losing our basic freedoms. We are heading in a dangerous direction regarding the possibility of losing our basic freedoms.

BUSINESSES

On Monday of this week on the front page of the Financial Times there were the results of a poll which showed that – for the first time – a majority of 1000 businesses interviewed do not want the UK to be in the EU.

CRIME

I am one of tens of millions of people who read about the early release of prisoners in the newspapers. We must recognise that the crime base in the UK is getting bigger. Criminals need to be put away in prison for longer and we should build more prisons. The victims of crime are ignored.

Conservative leader David Cameron’s ‘hug-a-hoodie’ remarks were crass. He said don’t get tough with troublesome youngsters. In fact, the very opposite is the case. We need to get tough with them.

DEFENCE

The defence of the nation is falling apart. Hurray for Richard Dannett (the Head of the Army who said the UK should now pull its troops out of Iraq). I am not in favour of increasing spending – but one area where there must be more spending is defence.

DEVOLUTION

With the position of Scottish MPs voting on specifically English matters in the Commons (the same such issues which those same Scottish MPs cannot vote on in regarding their own constituencies because those matters are dealt with by the Scottish Parliament) – we have really got ourselves in a mess on devolution.

EDUCATION

The comprehensive system has not been seen as a success. We will re-introduce selection. Some people are suited to vocational (and not academic) training. The Government target of sending 50% to university is ridiculous. It was a target invented by politicians – most of whom went to university.

EU

We (UKIP) want to re-negotiate a genuine free trade agreement (with the EU) which is what we thought we were getting in the 1970s (with the ‘Common Market’/EEC – now EU).

EU COMMISSIONERS

If you think Mandelson is bad, wait until you hear about the French EU Commissioner, Jacques Barrot. He was convicted of embezzlement and was given a suspended prison sentence (in his own country) and then awarded a Presidential pardon my Chirac. That’s the way they do things in France.

EU POWER

The British House of Commons has become a branch office of the EU. A total of 75% of our laws originate in the EU. If members of the House of Commons admitted it (that most legislation they deal with is EU-instigated) they would lose their perks and half of them would have to go because they would have to cut the number of MPs elected to the Commons (if it was accepted that it is no longer a fully functioning sovereign Parliament). We still have control over judicial matters but there was an attempt only three weeks ago to get rid of the national veto on judicial matters in the EU. Blair says fight from within (the EU). But it is clear from over thirty years’ membership of the EEC/EU that we are a round peg in a square hole. We don’t fit in and should get out of it.

The media is part of the same ‘Westminster bubble’ as members of the House of Commons (who won’t admit that the EU is now the primary legislator in our country). The new age discrimination laws introduced the other week were presented as a Government initiative. In fact, the law originates in the EU, but the Blair Labour Government did not admit to it. Minister Alistair Darling went to just about every (television/radio) studio in the country to promote it as UK Government legislation.

I want to stop this massive flow of EU legislation. Our civil servants seem to gleefully over-interpret these EU Directives and regulations. In the last few weeks we have had EU laws on age discrimination and booster seats in cars. But every effort is made to hide the fact that such laws come from the EU.

EURO

Inward investment into the UK last year is four times what it was to France. Because (unlike France) we are outside the euro. We are more attractive to foreign investors than euro-using countries. Yet Labour/Conservatives/Liberal ‘Democrats’ (LD) – and you can’t tell the difference between any of them – all said before the euro was launched that if we didn’t go in it we would suffer financially. In fact, more euro trading is done in The City (of London) than in all of the other major EU capitals combined.

Our labour (working) regulation laws are still better than France or Germany. Unemployment in the 3 western european EU nations not using the euro (the UK, Denmark and Sweden) is almost half what it is in the eurozone (the 12 nation area of the EU using the discredited and ailing european single currency). Thank goodness we stayed out of the euro. I can see debts building up over here. It would be even worse if he had joined the euro.

EXCHANGE RATE MECHANISM

I did not vote in the 1992 General Election because Lab/Con/LD all backed the Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM). Membership of the ERM cost a million jobs. It was a disaster.

FISHING

I will bang the table and stick up for our fishermen in the EU. I want a completely different relationship with the EU.

FRAUD

The EU accounts have not been approved for eleven years. Ye the EU had the cheek to tell Romania the other week to get its house in order over fraud (before it joins the EU on 1.1.2007). The EU is not going to change - it is going to get worse.

IMMIGRATION

Michael Howard (the last leader of the Conservative Party) abolished embarkation controls. Genuine refugees are fine. Let’s not use this term ‘asylum seekers’. But genuine refugees are tiny in number. We have had amnesties for refugees here twice under the Conservatives and Labour involving up to a third of a million people. Amnesties send a clear message to the world that we (the UK) are a soft touch. We’ve told countries like Bulgaria and Romania – where the average salary is £25 a week – that as many of them as they want to come here can do so (when they join the EU in 2007).

Jack Straw MP (demoted from the important Government post of Foreign Secretary to Leader of the House of Commons after the May 2006 local elections) and others like him have created the multi-cultural situation. It was great news that Trevor Phillips spoke against multi-culturalism. He was the first person from the Commission for Racial Equality to say this.

We cannot control our borders because we are in the EU. We are obliged to give free movement of goods, services and people. We are forbidden by the EU from having embarkation controls on people coming into/out of the UK from/to EU countries.

We are an overcrowded country and I think it was very irresponsible of Labour to have let in over one million new people (who have been made British subjects) in the time they have been in power (since 1997).

IRAQ ‘WAR’

The Iraq ‘war’ was a mistake. We (UKIP) favour the withdrawal of the UK quickly (from Iraq). By being in Iraq we have made the situation worse. No single state democratic solution is possible (in Iraq).

KILROY

Robert Kilroy-Silk MEP did us an enormous amount of good in the run-up to the 2004 EU Election, of that there is no doubt. But after that, would he have been a good leader for UKIP? I don’t think so. He was a man in a hurry. He wanted the leadership of UKIP but did not accept that we are a democratic party and that the leadership is a decision of party members. I just say Hello to him if I see him in the corridors (in Brussels) but that’s about it. Veritas and One London are insignificant little splinter groups and the people in the them should come back to UKIP. Even the founder of Veritas, Robert Kilroy-Silk, has left it.

LACK OF DEMOCRACY

I am fearful that people will only be left with civil disobedience when they realise that they cannot remove the people (in the EU) who make their laws. It is a charade in the House of Commons. Those that criticise them (the pro-EU parties in the UK who are involved in a conspiracy of silence not to talk about the EU) are derided as being cranks and gadflies (the term used by the Howard-led Conservatives to mock UKIP just before its stunning gains in the 2004 EU Election – a heavily-criticised tactic seen by most to have backfired).

NEW MEMBERS

UKIP was the only British party to vote against the EU expansion in 2004 (in which 8 eastern european countries as well as Malta and Greek-speaking Cyprus) joined on 1.5.2004. We will be the only UK party to vote in a few weeks’ time against Bulgaria and Romania entering the EU.

NHS

The NHS is our safety net. But we may need to redefine what it is for. Should there be cosmetic surgery or IVF on the NHS? We may need a compulsory insurance scheme as on the continent (of europe). Those that attend faith schools should be taught to show respect to other faiths/religions. Faith schools have caused a lot of problems in Northern Ireland. But I respect faith/church schools. They do a good job. We will not get rid of good schools – one in four school pupils can’t even read or write (in the non-faith schools).

NO BENEFITS OF BEING IN THE EU

There are no benefits whatsoever to the UK of being in the EU. In seven years as a member of the EU ‘Parliament’ I’ve been looking for the benefits and can’t find any. They (the EU) take our money; keep a bit for their (EU staff) pensions and give us a bit back. There is nothing we do in the EU with the other 24 EU member nations which we can’t do from outside the EU as a friendly trading neighbour.

PERKS FOR EU RULING ‘ELITE’

There is no such thing as EU money. The money we send to the EU is our money and it is spent on chauffeurs for ex-Labour Party leaders (such as it was on Kinnock and now on other senior Labour Party figures such as Mandelson). For every £20 we give the EU, we get £10 back. We give the EU £40 million a day and only get half of that back. Even some of what we get back has conditions attached (by the EU) on where, when and how it can be spent.

POLICE

The EU is putting together a new EU police service. Members of it will have lifetime immunity from prosecution. If I said something beastly about the French which is an easy thing to do, a couple of gendarmes (French police) could come to my door and arrest me using the European Arrest Warrant.

RAILWAYS

Track and train services in the UK were separated because of an EU regulation. I said this on the Dimbleby programme on that other organisation we pay a huge amount to (the BBC). Separating track from train services was a mistake. Only Holland has met the requirements of that EU Directive apart from the UK.

REFERENDUM ON THE EU

I am one of 25 million people in this country under the age of 50 who has never had the opportunity to vote on the question of British membership of the EU. I was too young too vote in the 1975 referendum on whether the UK should stay in the EEC (now EU).

‘REGIONALISATION’ OF ENGLAND AND THE UK

The EU wants the UK broken up into competing factional regions answerable to them rather than to Westminster. In the north-east of England referendum (on setting up an elected regional assembly), 78% of voters said no to Prescott’s plan. In the south-east of England area which I represent in the EU ‘Parliament’ the south-east regional assembly housing plan supersedes the wishes of the local authorities in the area. Despite the vote against an elected assembly in the north-east of England, the Government wants to keep unelected ‘regional’ assemblies. We continue to pay for these unelected assemblies through the County Councils. We have, under this Government, multi-layered Government by stealth. Layer after layer of bureaucrats. In the time Labour have been in (Government) they have set up the Greater London Assembly, the Scottish Parliament, the Welsh Assembly etc. The anti-EU campaigner Paul Sykes has just started a campaign against ‘regional’ assemblies and in favouring of having a referendum on the return of many powers from the EU.

TAX

The tax system does not provide the incentive to work for those without employment. We will cut tax and introduce a flat tax. Cameron (the Conservative leader) and Osbourne (the Conservative opposition Chancellor) appear to have forgotten to pledge to cut tax. Tax cuts stimulate growth. Our policy paper on the tax system a couple of weeks ago called for Inheritance Tax to go. The rich avoid paying it. Labour brought it in after World War II to tax the aristocracy. V.A.T. was introduced because we joined the EU. It was imposed by the Tories (Conservatives). No debate was allowed. Small businesses are now tied up in collecting it. We should get rid of VAT and have a sales tax.

UKIP – ABOUT THE PARTY

Our biggest appeal is to the millions of people who have given up on the professional political class and who do not now vote. The political class don’t speak for us (UKIP) or for them (the millions who have given up on voting). We beat the Liberal ‘Democrats’ in the last EU Election in the number of votes received and are firmly established as the fourth party in British politics. The last EU Election saw us get nearly 3 million votes – no fourth party in the UK has ever achieved that. The EU Election was held using the proportional voting system so people knew that voting for us was not a wasted vote. I’m not pretending its easy, but we have to get ourselves in the position of being a serious challenger in some target seats. That is now my ambition for UKIP. Our candidates have real experience of life, unlike the (candidates of) other parties and we (UKIP) will, at the next General Election, offer the most wide-ranging mix of people from all backgrounds – lorry drivers, barristers as candidates. The other parties have given up on believing in the UK and are now bound by political correctness. We are the only party representing millions of people. It is not easy setting up a political party but we do have a reasonable structure across the country. We are not going to form a Government after the next General Election but we are making gains in local elections in places like Hartlepool. We hope to win again there next year (in the May 2007 local elections). We are broadening our policy agenda to cover tax and education. We are the only non-racist, non-sectarian party offering liberty, freedom, democracy and sovereignty. To be frank, we don’t (yet) have the money we need to fight the sort of campaign at the next General Election that we would like to. But I promise you this. We will have over 500 candidates at the next General Election and all of them will be cleared by the police. They won’t be professional politicians. They will be fishermen, lorry drivers, school teachers and barristers. But they will all agree on what thing – that our children can grow up in a country we can call our own. Rusty Lee will be standing again as a UKIP candidate at the next General Election.

WORKING TIME DIRECTIVE

In response to a caller (Dave in Bristol) who said he would lose £6000 a year from his usual salary because of the EU (48 hour limit) Working Time Directive, Mr. Farage said: Proposals for laws such as the Working Time Directive, come from unelected civil servants in the EU Commission. These bureaucrats then pass their proposals to the EU ‘Parliament’ which approves them. Whether Brown or Cameron win the next General Election will make absolutely no difference. This is why I want a different relationship with the EU. Set our people free.

In response to a caller (Bob in Leeds, a lorry driver) Mr. Farage said: The UK Government has been very prejudicial against our own truck/lorry drivers. Your industry has been and is being heavily taxed by (Chancellor) Brown. We need the incentive of tax cuts.

USA

We will have a constructive relationship with the USA. The USA is not acting constructively at the moment (in Iraq). The British Prime Minister (Blair) appears to have encouraged them (not to behave constructively in Iraq).

USEFUL QUOTES FROM THE INTERVIEW

Jim in Doncaster telephoned the James Whale ‘Show’ on TalkSport Radio on 19.10.2006 at 10.45 pm to tell his guest, UKIP leader Nigel Farage MEP “You sound almost too good to be true. You should be in 10 Downing Street.”

James Whale, TalkSport radio presenter, said in his interview with UKIP leader Nigel Farage MEP at 10.59 pm on 19.10.2006 “I used to think UKIP were just fools. A one-issue party. But I’m now changing my mind.” James Whale’s studio assistant, Ash, said at 11.04 pm on 19.10.2006 “I’m thinking of joining UKIP, after what I’ve heard (from Nigel Farage MEP) tonight.”

James Whale, TalkSport radio presenter, said in his interview with UKIP leader Nigel Farage MEP on 19.10.2006 “Make prisons places where people do not wish to go back to. We outsource call centres to India. Why can’t we outsource the running of prisons to China. Send prisoners to China.”

Frank, a caller from Bristol, commented on Talk Sport Radio’s James Whale ‘Show’ on 19.10.2006 (in an interview with UKIP leader Nigel Farage MEP) “I find the veil (worn by some females of the Islamic faith) fearful, offensive and oppressive. The race relations board causes trouble and invents problems.”

Mike sent a text to Talk Sport Radio’s James Whale ‘Show’ at 11.55 pm on 19.10.2006 (during Mr. Whale’s interview of UKIP leader Nigel Farage MEP) to say “Blair wants to let in as many people from the EU as he can so they can vote Labour. After four years in the UK these people can vote in our elections.”

James Whale, TalkSport radio presenter, said (during his interview with UKIP leader Nigel Farage MEP on 19.10.2006) “I believe that everyone is racist and prefers their own kind. We have to get over it.”

James Whale, TalkSport radio presenter, said (during his interview with UKIP leader Nigel Farage MEP on 19.10.2006) “There was a report the other day. We prefer curry to fish and chips. The first Christmas Card I get every Christmas is always from the owner of the Indian restaurant in the village I live in. I am against all this political correctness where we can’t celebrate Christmas or put up Christmas lights.”

James Whale, TalkSport radio presenter, called (in his interview with Nigel Farage MEP on 19.10.2006) “I have watched coverage of debates from the Commons and things like Prime Minister’s Question Time. They are all talking about nothing in the Commons.”

James Whale, TalkSport radio presenter, called (in his interview with Nigel Farage MEP on 19.10.2006) the EU bureaucrats who devised and prepared proposals for EU regulations “pillocks.”

Nigel Farage MEP said in his interview on the James Whale ‘Show’ on TalkSport Radio at 0057 hours on 20.10.2006 “I want a different relationship with the EU. Set our people free.”

* Mr. Farage also said UKIP publishes an e-mail newsletter about the EU (facts about the EU that the EU bosses would rather not be published) and that it is possible to go on the list of those wishing to receive the twice-monthly e-mail newsletter by visiting the official UKIP website at UKIP.org and registering.

** All of the remarks of Mr. Farage (as quoted above – many slightly abridged) were made in response to various questions put to him by presenter, Mr. James Whale.

*** TalkSport Radio is available through the set top (‘Freeview’) box as well as on satellite, cable, digital radio and internet. It also broadcasts on 1053 and 1089 AM (Medium Wave).

mkpdavies

Good work B.

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Britannist

Thanks MKP. I wanted to write the report straight after the interview ended, but it was too late (1 am). I expected Nigel Farage to do a one hour interview maximum. But he stayed for three hours. Still, it's all good publicity for UKIP. James Whale said very few politicians agree to be properly interviewed and to come to the studios. So I think they were pleased that UKIP respected them. As a result, UKIP got respect back - and three hours on air on the most popular radio programme at the time of night.

B.A.Ware

As i missed the interview i appreciate the effort you have put in posting it here.
well done Britannist

Oliver

Brilliant !
Thanks Britannist!

Pat_Pending

Excellent work Britanist, well done.

A pal of mine at the club who missed the show - he has to be in bed by 9pm so that he wakes at 2am to empty his bladder and then again at 5am ; too much information I know - rang Talksport and asked them to put it in their archives so that he acan hear it.

Might be an idea if we all emailed/rang them to say that everyone at work was talking about it etc.

Winston's Black Dog

I heard some of this on my way home last night and can confirm that NF came across very well indeed. James Whale also seemed more enlightened than most interviewers.

Doubtless he will end up being red carded like Charlie Wolf was when he regularly interviewed Richard North and Helen Szerelemy(?spelling) on his Friday night show. :cry:

komerad

Congrats Britanist on your James Whale/Nigel Farage posting.
Must have taken some time to compile.
Thankyou :!:

Hartlepool

Britannist,a great reportback again from you,thanks. :wink:

Britannist

Thanks to MKP, B.A. Ware, Oliver, Pat Pending, Komerad and Hartlepool for your kind comments.

I'm glad my report on the interview has been of some use. I'm glad Nigel Farage agreed, when asked by Mr. Whale, to keep staying on at the top of each hour.

It enabled UKIP and the anti-EU cause to reach so many people across the country for three hours - just at the time when Paul Sykes (who helped fund UKIPs 2004 EU Election efforts) is also advertising his campaign for a referendum on the EU.

Good of the official UKIP website to plug the (TalkSport interview with Mr. Farage) programme and for someone to post details of the interview beforehand in this forum. Because of this advance notice, I was - like others - able to telephone others and tell them the programme was on - and I look forward to hearing what they thought of the interview, too.