Nigel Farage has done it again. Whatever his detractors
say – and I have been among them – the man has charisma and nobody pulls a
crowd quite like the bloke they are calling the British Trump. Like Trump he is
loathed by those among us who consider themselves better people; the more
educated, the ’creative’, the more likely to be engaged in securing powers (not
rights, powers) for minorities many were unaware even existed. Like Trump he is
accused of various forms of extremism, clumsily labelled far-right and like
Trump he continues to defy the political calculus of the establishment.
Listening last week to the Radio 4 analysis of the
Spanish elections the result was being hailed as a glorious victory for the
socialists and a defeat of the far right. In reality the socialist vote was
dented but the soft-right vote was slashed, it’s deserters staying away in
disappointed disgust, or else backing candidates whose common sense views
(far-right, to the bien pensant
commentators) chimed with their own experiences, their aspirations and, well,
their down-to-earth view of society.
Society, if anything, should surely be an orderly
collusion to include everybody, seek fairness and try and improve the lives of
the many, not the few. The few, in this case, not being Jeremy Corbyn’s
imagined barons, lording it over the peasants – they inhabit a totally
different realm and many of the peasants adore them for it – but the societal
outliers who currently, it appears, have far too much influence over political
discourse. Misgender somebody and you can end up with a criminal record – on what
planet is that a proportionate response?
Ask a former Labour voter why they no longer support the
party and Brexit betrayal will be high on the list. But just as important will
be the rationale of feeling displaced by ‘others’, people not like them. You
can’t – at least you mustn’t – force people to accept too much change too
quickly. That the left’s response to this is not to throttle back on the
crusade but to criminalise the ‘othering’ of outsiders is to misread the mood
so completely as to render many of their better and more honourable ideas
equally facetious.
So, we are pushing back. Bully us so far and we shrug it
off, but step over the line and don’t expect there not to be consequences. This
is being repeated across the western world as people say ‘enough’. But the form
of the message is just as important as the message itself; possibly more
important. You could be a near saint, but should somebody manage to apply the
merest shade of bigotry to your portrait the chances are it will stick and try
as people might to understand the true character, they will never be able to
unsee the metaphorical swastika, the emblem
du jour of those who have appointed themselves as commissioners for the
thought police. Examples of perfectly decent people cast as villains abound;
scarcely a week goes by without some venerable sage being un-personed.
And this is, in part, the key to Farage’s current
success. He has harnessed the mood and he is dead right about our dissatisfaction.
But why didn’t he stick with Ukip, you may wonder? Remember the extent to which
he was vilified by those oh-so-clever media types? Remember how he had to stand
up and somehow account for some of the more outlandish proclamations of Ukip
candidates who were often incompletely vetted and inadequately trained for the
public stage? Remember the infighting, the succession of short-lived leaders?
I honestly believe he had no choice. And I honestly
believe he thought that after the referendum vote, Ukip’s purpose had been
achieved. He left and he didn’t leave a way back in and I think he was right. I
like Gerard Batten and I think Tommy Robinson is a formidable player, but Ukip’s
day is done, while the Brexit Party is fresh yet full of experienced,
principled, known figures. The BP doesn’t need a broader prospectus, like Ukip
before it, it has one job. I hope to see them do it.
