Nigel Farage, Unbowed After Milkshake Splash, Vows To Be a ‘Bloody Nuisance’ in Parliament in Defense of Brexit
His terse announcement — ‘I’m back’ — evokes General MacArthur’s pledge to the Philippines — ‘I shall return’ — and the message sent to the fleet when Churchill returned to the Admiralty prior to World War II — ‘Winston is back.’
While Nigel Farage’s return to the electoral fray, marked by the announcement “I’m back,” evoked General MacArthur’s pledge to the Philippines — “I shall return” — and the message sent to the fleet when Winston Churchill returned to the Admiralty prior to World War II — “Winston is back” — his first day on the campaign trail proved less than auspicious.
The Reform UK leader had a banana milkshake splashed over him by a young woman, who is facing charges for alleged assault.
When the 25-year-old OnlyFans model, who previously posted on social media “Vote Labour for the many not the few,” was asked why she threw the milkshake at Mr. Farage, she replied simply, “just felt like it.”
The candidate for Clacton-on-Sea made light of the incident, his second splashing in 5 years. “My milkshake brings all the people to the rally,” he joked, in reference to a 2003 song by the American singer Kelis.
Ex-Reform leader Richard Tice was less forgiving. “The juvenile moron who threw a drink over Nigel has just gained us hundreds of thousands more votes,” he said. “We will not be bullied or threatened off the campaign trail.”
The former Reform candidate Tony Mack who stepped aside so that Mr. Farage could run, was magnanimous. “I will do all I can to ensure Nigel’s victory in Clacton,” he said. “I believe Reform UK have the right policies to guide our nation going forward and would be the best government for our country.”
Mr. Farage was in the Essex town to kick off his campaign to be elected a member of the House of Commons. “We made an offer to the British people,” he said, speaking of the 2016 EU Referendum, “we could get back our independence and control of our borders. But what has happened?”
The Reform leader laid the blame on the Government. “The Conservatives have betrayed that trust. They’ve opened up the borders to mass immigration like we’ve never seen before. And they deserve to pay a big price for that.”
With polls showing a Labour landslide and a Tory wipeout, Mr. Farage continued. “That breach of trust from the Conservatives means they are finished, they are done,” he said.
With Labour in power and the Conservatives supine before the Establishment, Mr. Farage then asked rhetorically: “Who is going to be the voice of opposition?” Never without an answer, he replied: “Send me to Parliament to be a bloody nuisance.”
For Prime Minister Sunak and the Conservatives, the nuisance factor is already begun. The Reform leader is casting an eye toward Canada and an Alberta-born political party, also called Reform.
At the 1993 general election, the nascent organization siphoned off votes from the governing Progressive Conservatives and left the party of Sir John A. Macdonald with only 2 seats in the House of Commons.
Mr. Farage, who renamed the Brexit Party as a tribute to this feat, is hoping for a replay. “If Reform succeeds in the way that I think they can, then a chunk of the Conservative Party will join us.”
No one expects Mr. Farage to follow exactly the Canadian example — the Reform Party under Preston Manning won 52 seats at Ottawa. Few foresee Reform UK electing even a handful of MPs to Westminster.
As the Austrian School rule for ending the boom-and-bust cycle is to purge malinvestment from the economy, so Reform UK first sets out to purge Parliament of those faux Brexiteers, known by the acronym “Brinos.”
That is why Tuesday night’s first debate between Premier Sunak and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer is so important for the Conservative Government. They are not only fighting to remain in power, but for their political skins and, just perhaps, for the life of the Tory Party.
