Sunday, September 15, 2024
Calling them out
That is something that main stream leaders like Sunak and Starmer have notoriously failed to do for fear of alienating their target audience, thus allowing misinformation and harmful propaganda to persist unchallenged.
This article in the Guardian details one of those events that need more publicity so that the public can see the sort of people that Reform MPs are consorting with.
The paper says that Farage has embarked on another trip to the US, where he is speaking at an event alongside a leading far-right Austrian politician whose party has opposed sanctions against Russia:
The event on Friday evening in Chicago is the Reform leader’s third visit to the US in little more than two months since he was elected MP.
Farage is listed as the main speaker at a benefit event for the Heartland Institute, an Illinois-based rightwing thinktank which is a denier of human-created climate change. Its president, James Taylor, who is also speaking, has called climate change “a sham”. Tables at the dinner cost up to $50,000 (£38,000) each to reserve.
It has now emerged that another speaker listed at the dinner is Harald Vilimsky, a veteran figure in Austria’s far-right Freedom party, who leads the party’s representation in the European parliament.
In 2016, the Freedom party signed what was described as a cooperation pact with President Putin’s United Russia party. While the Austrian party says this is no longer in operation, it has been accused of sympathy with Russia.
However, the Freedom party has argued against sanctions on Russia, and Vilimisky has expressed opposition to the idea of Ukraine potentially joining the EU.
During the UK election, Farage faced criticism for his own views about Russia after he said that the EU and Nato “provoked” Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine by expanding eastwards.
Farage, who was elected to represent Clacton in Essex on 4 July, went to the Republican national convention in Milwaukee two weeks after the general election, and spoke at an event in Arizona in August, events his aides said had been booked long before he was elected.
This is no longer about Farage's absences from Clacton but the sort of people he consorts with and the views he holds that appear to be opposed to the best interests of the UK.
This article in the Guardian details one of those events that need more publicity so that the public can see the sort of people that Reform MPs are consorting with.
The paper says that Farage has embarked on another trip to the US, where he is speaking at an event alongside a leading far-right Austrian politician whose party has opposed sanctions against Russia:
The event on Friday evening in Chicago is the Reform leader’s third visit to the US in little more than two months since he was elected MP.
Farage is listed as the main speaker at a benefit event for the Heartland Institute, an Illinois-based rightwing thinktank which is a denier of human-created climate change. Its president, James Taylor, who is also speaking, has called climate change “a sham”. Tables at the dinner cost up to $50,000 (£38,000) each to reserve.
It has now emerged that another speaker listed at the dinner is Harald Vilimsky, a veteran figure in Austria’s far-right Freedom party, who leads the party’s representation in the European parliament.
In 2016, the Freedom party signed what was described as a cooperation pact with President Putin’s United Russia party. While the Austrian party says this is no longer in operation, it has been accused of sympathy with Russia.
However, the Freedom party has argued against sanctions on Russia, and Vilimisky has expressed opposition to the idea of Ukraine potentially joining the EU.
During the UK election, Farage faced criticism for his own views about Russia after he said that the EU and Nato “provoked” Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine by expanding eastwards.
Farage, who was elected to represent Clacton in Essex on 4 July, went to the Republican national convention in Milwaukee two weeks after the general election, and spoke at an event in Arizona in August, events his aides said had been booked long before he was elected.
This is no longer about Farage's absences from Clacton but the sort of people he consorts with and the views he holds that appear to be opposed to the best interests of the UK.
He is perfectly entitled to hold those views, but why doesn't he spell them out more starkly to his electors the next time he is in Clacton.
