Saturday, December 24, 2016
The UKIP civil war erupts again
Nigel Farage may no longer be leader of UKIP but that has not stopped him from carrying on his own personal vendettas within it.
The fact is that if Farage there decided to up sticks to go and work for Trump, the oddballs. racists and reactionaries who make up a significant proportion of UKIP's membership would be without a party.
So the fact that Farage is still trying to drum UKIP's only MP out of his gang is significant. As the Guardian says, Trump's new best friend thinks that Douglas Carswell should not be in his party:
Farage told LBC radio on Friday. “He doesn’t believe in what we stand for, he never has done … Since the general election all he’s done is sought to undermine us and divide us. And I notice even since Paul [Nuttall] has become leader we’ve had some statement from Carswell saying that he thought Theresa May’s doing a fantastic job.”
Carswell, who has remained close to many Conservatives, declined to back Farage’s Grassroots Out movement during the referendum and instead campaigned with its rival, Vote Leave, alongside the Tory Daniel Hannan.
However, Farage said Carswell showed no signs of defecting back to the Conservatives. “Last year at a Christmas cocktail party I bumped into David Cameron … We chatted and he said, ‘Tell me, Nigel,’ he said, ‘How are you getting on with Douglas Carswell?’ I said, ‘About as well as you did.’”
Asked by the presenter Nick Ferrari whether the former prime minister had laughed at his comment, Farage said: “He did. There are some people who just don’t fit in anywhere … I think Douglas is an individual. He’s got his own set of views on things but maybe party politics isn’t really for him.”
Whilst Farage and Carswell argue amongst themselves, the Liberal Democrats are leading the fight against a hard Brexit and for the right to have a vote on the final deal between the UK Government and the EU.
The fact is that if Farage there decided to up sticks to go and work for Trump, the oddballs. racists and reactionaries who make up a significant proportion of UKIP's membership would be without a party.
So the fact that Farage is still trying to drum UKIP's only MP out of his gang is significant. As the Guardian says, Trump's new best friend thinks that Douglas Carswell should not be in his party:
Farage told LBC radio on Friday. “He doesn’t believe in what we stand for, he never has done … Since the general election all he’s done is sought to undermine us and divide us. And I notice even since Paul [Nuttall] has become leader we’ve had some statement from Carswell saying that he thought Theresa May’s doing a fantastic job.”
Carswell, who has remained close to many Conservatives, declined to back Farage’s Grassroots Out movement during the referendum and instead campaigned with its rival, Vote Leave, alongside the Tory Daniel Hannan.
However, Farage said Carswell showed no signs of defecting back to the Conservatives. “Last year at a Christmas cocktail party I bumped into David Cameron … We chatted and he said, ‘Tell me, Nigel,’ he said, ‘How are you getting on with Douglas Carswell?’ I said, ‘About as well as you did.’”
Asked by the presenter Nick Ferrari whether the former prime minister had laughed at his comment, Farage said: “He did. There are some people who just don’t fit in anywhere … I think Douglas is an individual. He’s got his own set of views on things but maybe party politics isn’t really for him.”
Whilst Farage and Carswell argue amongst themselves, the Liberal Democrats are leading the fight against a hard Brexit and for the right to have a vote on the final deal between the UK Government and the EU.
