Leo McKinstry:
THE choice facing the British electorate in the EU referendum could hardly be more simple. Do we want to be an independent, democratic nation once more, with control of our own economy, justice, welfare, laws and borders? Or do we want to become a regional province of a German-led federation, ruled over by an unelected, unaccountable oligarchy?
The fact that we have this crucial vote on our future is down to one man, Nigel Farage. Without his long, heroic crusade for British freedom there is no chance that the EU referendum would be happening.
That is why it is disgraceful of the Vote Leave organisation, the officially designated Brexit campaign, to be so hysterically vexed at the choice of Farage as David Cameron’s opponent in the forthcoming ITV debate on Europe. When ITV announced this decision last week the Vote Leave top brass went berserk.
In place of Farage the Vote Leave group wanted either Michael Gove or Boris Johnson, the two leading Tory Brexiteers. But that was never a possibility since Cameron has always said that he will not debate with fellow Conservatives.
More importantly the entire anti-Farage stance of the Vote Leave leaders is ridiculous. Their hostility seems to be based on a repugnant mix of personal hostility and the misplaced theory that Farage will alienate swing voters.
YET by taking this position they are shamefully reinforcing the pro-EU propaganda that Farage is some kind of dangerous maverick. In effect they are doing the dirty work of the Remain camp. Instead of indulging in such antics they should be uniting with other Leave campaigners.
Farage is no extremist. He is a mainstream democratic politician who has devoted his career to helping Britain escape from the ever tightening shackles of the Brussels regime. Any attempt by fellow Eurosceptics to banish him from participation in this moment would be like General de Gaulle trying to halt Churchill’s involvement in the liberation of France in 1944.
The Vote Leave organisation owes its very existence to Farage, whose charisma and determination made Ukip into a serious political force and thereby turned the pipe dream of an EU referendum into a reality. Two decades ago Ukip was a tiny fringe pressure group. In the 1997 general election, the party’s share of the national vote was just 0.3 per cent, rising only marginally to 1.5 per cent in 2001.
But Ukip’s fortunes were transformed once Farage became leader in 2006. As the party surged in popularity, Cameron’s circle grew alarmed at how heavily the Conservatives were haemorrhaging votes to the Eurosceptic movement. The only answer was to try to win back support by the offer of a referendum. With the deepest reluctance Cameron did so in January 2013.
The secret of Farage’s success lay not just in the force of his personality but also his shrewdness in identifying immigration as the key concern for the British public. The vast foreign influx, now running at almost one million new arrivals every year, perfectly illustrated his argument that the EU has destroyed our sovereignty and trashed our national identity.
Free movement, open borders and benefits for migrants were all imposed by Brussels without any mandate. In the process of challenging the fashionable pro-immigration orthodoxy of the ruling elite, Farage has been abused as a bigot and a xenophobe. But this personal vilification just shows how profoundly he has frightened the establishment. They cannot answer his irrefutable arguments so instead they try to discredit him.
Yet Farage has shown an astonishing ability to rise above all this manufactured opprobrium. It is the same story in the present referendum campaign. Throughout he has displayed a good-natured instinct for co-operation, devoid of any egotism. When the Vote Leave campaigners won the official designation he gracefully congratulated them. “Ukip will work with anyone that wants to leave the EU,” he said.
SIMILARLY he has showered praise on Boris Johnson. “I’m a fan,” he declared in an interview yesterday, adding that he would be willing to serve in some sort of role if Johnson wins the premiership in a postBrexit Britain.
In that interview Farage’s vituperation was reserved for Cameron, whom he described as “devious, lying and cowardly”. Such anger demonstrates why Farage will be a formidable adversary for the Prime Minister in the ITV debate and why the Vote Leave campaign has made such a mistake in trying to stop him.
For Farage is one of the finest political debaters in the country, as he proved in March 2014 when he comprehensively destroyed Nick Clegg in a pair of LBC debates about Europe. According to the post-debate polling analysis, voters overwhelmingly judged that Farage had “the more appealing personality” and the “better arguments”.
I have been closely following British politics for more than 30 years and the best speech I have ever heard was given by Farage in the Winter Gardens at Margate last autumn. Funny, erudite and compelling, he spoke fluently for more than an hour without notes or nerves.
Contrary to the self-serving shrieks from Vote Leave, Farage is still the greatest asset in the Brexit campaign. He is the real architect of the referendum and he deserves to emerge as its victor.
‘Without the Ukip leader there’d be no EU vote’