GELDOF’S FOUL-MOUTHED FLOTILLA
Fishermen fighting for livelihoods abused by millionaire rock star and mob of well-heeled Remainers in dramatic Thames showdown
AN UNEDIFYING battle was played out on the River Thames yesterday when a protest staged by Nigel Farage and Brexit-backing fishermen was ambushed by Sir Bob Geldof leading a flotilla of Remain supporters.
The one-time rock star and charity campaigner flicked an obscene gesture at the Ukip leader as other wealthy In campaigners heckled their opponents in the referendum debate.
Mr Farage, Labour’s Kate Hoey and the boats – from ports as far flung as Peterhead in Scotland to Brixham in Devon – were protesting at the impact of the EU’s Common Fisheries Policy on their industry.
They had decorated their vessels with Union Jacks and banners complaining how they had been ‘Sold down the river’ and declaring ‘Let’s Take Our Waters Back’.
Fishing has become a major battleground ahead of next week’s vote with trawlermen at many of the country’s ailing ports decking their boats in anti-EU flags.
But the attention soon switched from the key issues as Mr Farage’s vessel passed under Tower Bridge en route to the Houses of Parliament.
As the Ukip leader was enjoying his moment in the limelight surrounded by television crews, the former Boomtown Rats rocker pulled alongside in a 115ft-long river cruiser blaring out song ‘The In Crowd’ from loudspeakers.
Sir Bob, who was joined by Boris Johnson’s pro-Remain sister Rachel, made a series of obscene gestures at his rival, including the V-sign. Beside him a woman stuck out her tongue while brandishing her leopard-print high-heel in her hand.
Grabbing the microphone, Sir Bob then tried to drown out Mr Farage’s TV interviews, shouting: ‘Farage, you’re a fraud! You are no fisherman’s friend. Go back down the river because you are up one without a canoe or a paddle.’
A gang of Ukip MEPs on board with Mr Farage hurled back obscene insults. Mr Farage, dressed in a navy double-breasted blazer with gold buttons, told reporters accompanying him on the Thames that Sir Bob’s protest was ‘just disgusting’.
‘It ill befits multi-millionaires coming to drown out ordinary men and women from the fishing industry who have come to have a fair say,’ he said.
‘We used to protest against the Establishment and now the Establishment protests against us. We must be getting something right.’ Boats from the Port of London Authority and the Metropolitan Police ordered the rival flotillas to lower the noise, and for a short while a truce seemed to take hold.
But as Mr Farage reached the Houses of Parliament at midday, just as Prime Minister’s Questions was beginning inside, Sir Bob got back on the microphone, hollering: ‘Nigel! We’re coming back again!’
Meanwhile one of the trawlers turned a hose on his boat and another pulled up beside it allowing one of the fishermen to climb on board, before he was escorted off.
After one small fishing boat threatened to ram Sir Bob’s pleasure cruiser, he invited two fishermen on board to discuss the EU in an attempt to defuse the situation.
Richard Harris told him: ‘Fishing quotas don’t work ... We earn £50 a week unless we break the law. I break the law every day. But I won’t let them arrest me because I’ve got to make a living.’
On Sir Bob’s boat, one of the Remain supporters, student Bethany Pickering, tweeted about how ‘awful’ it was, later adding that she had ‘left in disgust’. She posted: ‘I may vote remain, but don’t support
jeering at fisherman worried about their livelihoods.’
Police boats lined the edge of the river by Parliament to prevent Mr Farage, MeP for the South east, from getting too close.
Asked about his plans in the event of a Leave vote, meaning he will probably be made redundant, Mr Farage teased that he ‘might go and get a real job’ – but he refused to rule out taking a seat in the Lords in a post-Brexit government with Boris Johnson in charge.
‘I want to win next Thursday,’ he said. ‘God knows what comes afterwards, who know what happens to the Tory party afterwards? I wouldn’t rule in or rule out anything after next Thursday, includ- ing quitting politics altogether.’ Mr Farage claimed that he had cut his alcohol consumption ‘to levels not seen since before I was 18’ because he was taking the campaign seriously, but smoked during the voyage, saying: I think the doctors have got it wrong about smoking.’
yesterday’s referendum publicity stunt had echoes of the Sex Pistols trip down the Thames when their record label chartered a boat so they could perform their protest song God Save The Queen, released during the Silver Jubilee in 1977.
That stunt ended even more chaotically after the police forced the boat to dock, then arrested their manager and most of the band’s entourage.