Nigel Farage: the interview

Nigel Farage was re-elected as leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) last November on a promise to be ‘strong and decisive and to push for what we believe in’. On accepting the leadership, the Member of the European Parliament launched an attack on David Cameron as he declared that UKIP was the only party that would offer a referendum on the European Union’s Lisbon Treaty. The Prime Minister’s international policy, he said, was ‘surrender, surrender, surrender’.

Some may consign UKIP as a mere ‘single issue’ party, but Farage insists it is about much more than just the European Union – ‘we have such contrasting policies with the old three parties that, at the moment, UKIP seems to be the only party that offers any opposition’. The party now has a full manifesto, from which Farage points out many issues on which UKIP has set itself apart from the main parties. ‘Think about votes for criminals, abolition of tuition fees, binding referenda on big national and local issues, opposition to the European Arrest Warrant – issue after issue we are on one side of the argument and the old three parties are together on the other.’

Farage is especially passionate on the subject of the European Union, as a long-standing advocate for the UK to withdraw from it. He ends up having to restrain himself and limit his answer in saying why he thinks this – ‘I’d say there are three main big reasons to leave: democracy, economics and freedoms.’ In terms of democracy, he is indignant at the fact that ‘75% of our laws now originate from the EU.’ This problem is compounded by the fact that the European Commission is responsible for initiating EU law – a Commission which is, as Farage adds, ‘unelected’. He goes on to lament that the ‘EU must be the only so-called ‘democracy in the world where the parliament cannot initiate or repeal legislation.’ In the face of this problem, he is forceful in his belief that the only people who should make laws in the UK are the government, ‘not foreign Eurocrats who don't have our interests at heart.’ On economics, Farage is more contemplative – ‘economics is the real killer for the EU project right now, isn’t it?’ He follows this with the wry comment that UKIP had been predicting the current problems ‘for years’, ‘as you cannot fit countries with vastly different GDPs and economic situations inside a single currency.’ He is resolute that the EU’s economic situation ‘can’t and doesn’t work’, adding that the UK is hampered from negotiating its own trade deals with the world ‘as that is conducted by the Commission.’ Anticipating any criticism, Farage makes a point of branding a ‘myth’ the idea that the UK does most of its trade with Europe: ‘in fact, Europe is one of the few places that we have a trade deficit’. Finally, on freedoms, Farage brands the European Arrest Warrant a ‘rather dangerous piece of legislation’. Due to the Warrant, a UK citizen can be deported to another country in the EU ‘without any evidence being shown to a British court as to why’. It is, he argues, further cause for disquiet as ‘it is merely a formality for an EU government to fill out a few forms and get a UK citizen languishing in a foreign jail!’ Farage offers two cases to illustrate this: that of Andrew Symeou, accused of manslaughter whilst on holiday in Zante in 2007, and the fact that it is being used to deport WikiLeaks editor Julian Assange.

On the other hand, Farage is equally as robust when asked what he thinks are the positive aspects of the EU. He pans the EU as a ‘political construct that tries to force countries into the same legal, economic and political prison’, but wants to make clear that the Europe he supports is the ‘land mass of different peoples, cultures and rich history’. When he finally tries to find positives in the EU, he muses ‘probably that people are now waking up to what a farce it really is!’ He adds that public opinion in Europe is ‘turning against the Euro and the EU’ as it ‘lunges from one crisis to another’, and so people are thinking ‘about what democracy and accountability really means.’

Yet, for those looking to the coalition to represent British interests in Europe, Farage is not convinced. Farage is doubtful that they are doing enough to protect British interests, even if they are led by the more Eurosceptic Conservative Party. ‘The increase in the EU budget at a time of cuts, votes for prisoners [see Pi Focus section pg. 11 - Ed], handing power to the EU to regulate the City; the list is endless. We heard old cast-iron-Cameron before the election say we'll have a referendum, he said that things will be different with the EU and we will take back powers. Well, once again the public were all hoodwinked, as more and more powers have been handed over to the EU since the election.’ Furthermore, Farage mentions that, as a Member of the European Parliament, he receives voting advice from the UK government on upcoming EU legislation.  However, he has not noticed any shift in the coalition’s advice from what he received from the previous Labour government. Thus he surmises that it is ‘business as usual’, with the government ‘kow-towing to the EU – but did everyone really believe it would be any different?’

On other political topics, Farage is on fighting form. In the same breath, he uses the Tories’ broken ‘cast-iron’ pledge of a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty to attack the Lib Dems for breaking their own ‘cast-iron promise’ on abolishing tuition fees. Due to this, UKIP is now left as the ‘only party to oppose’ tuition fees. Farage lucidly explains ‘we are against students starting life with thousands of pounds of debt’, and he expresses his preference for a ‘return to the grant-based system’.  Furthermore, on education Farage expresses his approval for grammar schools, as they ‘select on academic ability and allow those from poorer backgrounds a chance to really get a good education and social mobility.’

UKIP’s stance on the coming AV referendum in May is marginally less clear. Farage came out with his personal support for AV; however, the party ‘hasn’t got a settled policy on it yet’. Nevertheless, UKIP, he says, ‘would prefer a more radical option like AV+’ as it is ‘more representative of national opinion’. However, faced with the current voting system, Farage wants to move away from negative voting, which is what he considers an instance of ‘I'm voting Tory only because it will keep Labour out, but policy-wise I support another party.’ The UKIP leader expresses the need for a positive voting system, where people vote for a party that best represents them ‘and not just have a case of who do I hate less?’.

During the 2010 General Election, Farage broke parliamentary protocol by representing UKIP in a campaign to become MP for the constituency of Buckingham, currently held by the speaker John Bercow.  His campaign was struck by disaster as, on Election Day itself, Farage was in a light aircraft crash. Although his injuries were originally described as minor, his sternum and ribs were broken and his lung punctured. Farage is upbeat after the experience  – ‘I stand by the old saying, “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”, so if you thought I was brave before, I’m fearless now!’ Farage has survived a car crash, a bout of cancer, and still jokes that ‘I really dread to think what old Rumpy Pumpy would do if ever gets his hands on me!’ (Rumpy Pumpy is his nickname for Herman van Rompuy, the EU President). After the plane crash, Farage says it made him more focused. Moreover, he is very much optimistic about UKIP’s political prospects. ‘UKIP is on the cusp of something big – with the politicians going in one direction and the people going the other, eventually something's got to give, and very soon UKIP will be a major player.’