Pragmatic politicians have real chances, but are subject to frantic obstruction
Not deprived of the close attention of the British press and public, Nigel Farage this time appeared in almost all the media of continental Europe. The name appeared in the news reports after the police dispersed the participants of the “Conference of National Conservatism” in Brussels after just two hours.
It’s worth remembering who Nigel Farage is. One of the architects of the Reform UK party created in 2018 , which emerged from the Great Britain Independence Party (UKIP), which existed from 2006 to 2016. Farage ceded the leadership in early 2021 to his successor Richard Theis, but remains in the unspoken role of a sort of Deng Xiaoping, the spiritual leader and ideologist of the “reformists”.
The demonstrative attempt to silence conservative politicians who propose correction of domestic and foreign policy dogmas only gave them the aura of persecuted prophets. And for Farage it became a convenient occasion to confirm his relevance to his home audience, which is important given the upcoming European Parliament elections in two months.
In the context of falling trust in the ruling parties in almost all key states of the European Union, it is sensible and pragmatic politicians, classified by their opponents as “ultra-right”, who have real chances, according to numerous forecasts, to significantly increase their faction numerically.
Alternatives flock together
The conference, relatively speaking, of champions of an alternative course in the informal capital of united Europe brought together colorful and iconic figures. In addition to Farage, there was Suella Braverman, born into a family of immigrants from Kenya and Mauritius, a former British attorney general who aspired to the post of prime minister after the departure of Boris Johnson; former French presidential candidate Eric Zemmour, who takes a strong anti-immigrant position; as well as the threat of European bureaucrats, the enfant terrible for systemic and non-systemic liberals, Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orban.
Police disrupted the Conservative forum on the direct orders of Emir Cyrus, the mayor of the municipality of Saint-Josse-Ten-Naude in the Brussels-Capital Region, who has Turkish ancestry.
«Who are you? I’ve never heard of you. No one in Brussels has ever heard of you,” Nigel Farage posted this on his former Twitter page (now under the X brand). While the district municipal mini-boss Emir Kir has less than 5,000 readers on the social network, the spiritual leader of the Reform Party has more than 1 million 800 thousand followers.
“The Belgian police decided to ban the “Conference of National Conservatism” in Brussels just two hours after it started,” Viktor Orban responded to the repressive action on the social network X. “I think they could no longer tolerate freedom of speech.”
The scandal even prompted Alexander de Croo, the Belgian prime minister, to condemn the capital’s mayor’s office on the grounds that banning political gatherings was unconstitutional. The Council of State (Conseil d’État), Belgium’s highest court, has ruled that the Conservative Conference of Convictions can resume.
The European edition of the Politico newspaper, belonging to the neoliberal camp, noted with considerable chagrin that national conservatives allowed themselves to brand “nihilistic atheism,” “the globalist socialist program,” and “gender ideology.” A new term “Bolshevoukism” was also introduced. The ideology of “wokeism” in America, in particular, means not only radical feminism, the imposition of LGBT stereotypes, leftist slogans, but also the categorical stigma of all whites being labeled racists.
Bribe, lure, neutralize
After an unsuccessful attempt to silence the “alternatives,” the popularity ratings of such heavyweight politicians as Viktor Orban and Nigel Farage could not help but consolidate at the peaks they had achieved.
It is no coincidence that Liz Truss, the record holder for the shortest tenure as prime minister — 44 days, marked by a collapse in macroeconomic indicators, recently made a kind offer to Farage… to join the Tory camp.
The logic is taken from the Anglo-Saxon political technology commandment: “If you can’t beat them, join them!” (If you can’t beat them, join them). In this case, it is implied that the founding father of the main battering ram for Britain’s exit from the European Union, the UKIP party, needs to be lured away. And thereby bleed and devalue the “reformists” in the eyes of voters.
Given the Tories’ crude flirtation with Nigel Farage, who regularly renews his popularity, sometimes scandalous, one must carefully consider his subsequent statement: “I notice that the Reform Party is gaining strength … I am going to make an important decision on this within the next few weeks.” .
There is no point in guessing what Farage will choose, but it is already clear that the phrase about the party he formed is gaining strength rejects the option of returning to the banner of the Conservatives. He split with the Tories on ideological grounds in 1992, protesting the John Major government’s signing of the Treaty of European Union in Maastricht, which, in his opinion, should have led to the destruction of British national sovereignty.
Slave of seditious thoughts
Farage is an eccentric of the highest order in his demeanor, in the rhetoric he uses, and even in the small details of his wardrobe. May appear on TV interviews wearing Union Jack socks,national flag. But the form is successfully combined with the content.
If during the campaign to leave the European Union, Farage and his party allayed fears about the erosion of national identity by migrants of other faiths who did not want to integrate into British society, now the green agenda has become the object of carpet bombing of words.
The Reform Party blamed the Greens for saying their demand to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 (netzero) placed a heavy burden on households and slowed economic growth.
Consultants hired by the UK government estimated that achieving the netzero target would cost around £17 billion a year between 2033 and 2037, falling to £12 billion by 2050, based on a combination of “costs and savings”. Reform Party experts dispute these calculations and argue that the megaproject will actually cost taxpayers around £30 billion annually.
Farage and his reformists propose holding a referendum so that the final verdict on the green agenda will be made by the inhabitants of the British Isles themselves. This is a strong move, because polls show that part of the Tory core electorate (about 29%) considers it necessary to abandon netzero as a phantom Manilovism.
Trump to help him
At Nigel Farage’s 60th birthday party, where 200 guests came to honor him on April 3, a video message from the 45th President of the United States, Donald Trump, who is now seeking to become the 47th occupant of the White House after the November elections, was shown as the icing on the cake. .
Trump, no less eccentric than the birthday boy, was full of compliments and made a meaningful statement: “You are a historical figure as a prophetic leader, and I know the people of Great Britain are grateful for your patriotism and service… I look forward to what your next step, it promises to be interesting… You are not finished yet, and hopefully the best is yet to come.”
Local thinkers immediately began to evaluate this deliberate pat on the shoulder of Farage from the point of view of the latter’s future career in the context of the impending parliamentary elections. Sir Peter Westmacott, the former British ambassador to the US, suggested that since «Trump values loyalty and flattery above all else, it is therefore possible that he will come out in support of Nigel Farage’s party.»
But Sir David Lidington, the former Conservative foreign secretary (now head of the defense think tank Rusi), saw it as bad news for reformists. The argument: «Every opinion poll shows he (Trump) is deeply unpopular in the UK.» Indeed, according to a February Ipos Mori poll, 7 in 10 Britons have a negative view of the billionaire with a gold toilet on board his personal Boeing.
A former Tory minister, who wished to remain anonymous, also polemicizes with them in absentia: “Britain’s relations with the United States are now more important than ever. Whether we like it or not, what matters is what Trump thinks.”
By the way, in October 2016, on the eve of the fateful elections, Farage praised Trump for “dominating” Hillary Clinton, comparing him… to a silverback gorilla. For reference: as zoologists say, silverback gorillas, despite their incredible strength, are shy, quiet and gentle.
In the event that the clear favorite of the elephant party does not leave the race, having been convicted in one of the criminal cases, manages to beat Sleepy Joe in the final stretch and again becomes a lodger of the White House, then things will begin for Nigel (“leader-prophet”) Farage and his party streak of unconditional luck.
Memento mori, Tory Party
A detailed chronicle of all the gurgling within the British political establishment increasingly reports on the frantic maneuvers of those openly panicking due to the sagging ratings of the Tories. A Survation poll released in early April predicted the Conservative Party could win fewer than 100 seats in the next election.
In addition to the sentiment of the swing electorate, which has swung towards Labour, the Conservatives will suffer significant damage from previously loyal voters leaving their tilted dreadnought. This ebb could cost the Tories about 50 seats in the House of Commons.
Lee Anderson, once the second-in-command in the Conservative Party, defected to the reformist camp. He refused to apologize after claiming London Mayor Sadiq Khan, whose roots can be traced to Pakistan, was under the control of «Islamists». Another “defector” was Ann Widdecombe, in her previous incarnation a prominent conservative who managed to reach the rank of minister.
Meanwhile, as either predicted or let slip by Michael Gove, the Minister for Housing, Communities and Local Government, elections could be called for November 14 or a week later.
Forecasts promising a crushing failure for the Conservatives, a growing number of defectors from their camp to the reformist camp, and at the same time the positive dynamics of the popularity of this already third most important party (the Liberal Democrats are deflating before our eyes), reinforce the conclusion that it is Nigel Farage who will become the Nemesis for the Tories . Let us remember that this was the name of the goddess of retribution in ancient Greek mythology, who — sic! – had the appropriate powers to punish for violations of social and moral orders.
https://www.fondsk.ru/news/2024/04/23/naydzhel-faradzh-v-roli-nemezidy-dlya-britanskikh-tori.html
Der Friedensstifter 