World Does Viral Anti-Euro Rant Signal Rise of British ‘Tea Party?’
- Posted on November 26, 2010 at 8:11pm by
Meredith Jessup
Nigel Farage may not be a name familiar name for many Americans, but his message to the European Union this week echoed the familiar anti-spending slogans of America’s tea party movement.
Earlier this week, Farage, the leader of the UK Independence Party and co-president of Europe of Freedom and Democracy (EFD), spoke out against the EU for allowing member states to get into debt and bailing them out at the expense of the ordinary people of Europe. All this in the name of cohesion, he suggests, marks significant threats to democracy.
“We don’t want that flag, we don’t want the anthem, we don’t want this political class,” Farage said. “We want the whole thing consigned to the dustbin of history.”
“Just who the hell do you think you people are? You are very, very dangerous people indeed,” he said. “Your obsession with creating this Euro-State means that you’re happy to destroy democracy. You appear to be happy for millions and millions of people to be unemployed and to be poor. Untold millions must suffer so that your Euro-Dream can continue.”
“If you rob people of their identity, if you rob them of their democracy, then all they are left with is nationalism and violence. I can only hope and pray that the euro project is destroyed by the markets before that really happens.”
In response, the Economic Voice‘s Jeff Taylor praised Farage, calling his viral rant “fine form,” and acknowledging that many other officials in the EU don‘t seem moved by Farage’s warning:
This isn’t the first time Farage has spoken out against the EU. Dubbed a “euroskeptic,” Farage has derided the European Union as the antithesis of British liberty. “I am convinced that the vast majority of ordinary men and women of this country will support [leaving the EU]. It will no doubt make the political establishment very uncomfortable. Good,” he said, “so it should.”
Some of previous statements have hit viral video gold. This one has topped over half a million views:
Many Americans first started to take notice of Farage when he lashed out at then Prime Minister Gordon Brown:
Farage’s Independence Party has angled itself as “anti-Brussels,” and has attempted to woo support from Britain’s conservatives in recent elections.
Earlier this week, Farage, the leader of the UK Independence Party and co-president of Europe of Freedom and Democracy (EFD), spoke out against the EU for allowing member states to get into debt and bailing them out at the expense of the ordinary people of Europe. All this in the name of cohesion, he suggests, marks significant threats to democracy.
“We don’t want that flag, we don’t want the anthem, we don’t want this political class,” Farage said. “We want the whole thing consigned to the dustbin of history.”
“Just who the hell do you think you people are? You are very, very dangerous people indeed,” he said. “Your obsession with creating this Euro-State means that you’re happy to destroy democracy. You appear to be happy for millions and millions of people to be unemployed and to be poor. Untold millions must suffer so that your Euro-Dream can continue.”
“If you rob people of their identity, if you rob them of their democracy, then all they are left with is nationalism and violence. I can only hope and pray that the euro project is destroyed by the markets before that really happens.”
In response, the Economic Voice‘s Jeff Taylor praised Farage, calling his viral rant “fine form,” and acknowledging that many other officials in the EU don‘t seem moved by Farage’s warning:
Entertaining as ever, but look at the faces he is addressing, they do not look so amused. Maybe the message is just beginning to hit home.
One wonders if the powers that be in Europe would really allow country after country to go to the wall, enslaving their children and grandchildren into financial slavery ad infinitum just for some obscure idealogical reasons. …
For my money they would sell and give away everything in the pursuit of being seen as right. And they think that if they throw enough of other peoples’ (yours and my) money at it then they can eventually steamroller over any obstacles.
The trouble is that the markets, especially the monster bond (debt) market that these faceless politicians have helped to create has woken up and has other ideas.
Not only will their ideas be viewed with incredulity by historians, the economic damage they have caused may well be equated with many of the wars of recent history.
This isn’t the first time Farage has spoken out against the EU. Dubbed a “euroskeptic,” Farage has derided the European Union as the antithesis of British liberty. “I am convinced that the vast majority of ordinary men and women of this country will support [leaving the EU]. It will no doubt make the political establishment very uncomfortable. Good,” he said, “so it should.”
Some of previous statements have hit viral video gold. This one has topped over half a million views:
Many Americans first started to take notice of Farage when he lashed out at then Prime Minister Gordon Brown:
Farage’s Independence Party has angled itself as “anti-Brussels,” and has attempted to woo support from Britain’s conservatives in recent elections.
In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, Nigel Farage, the party leader, said it was time to campaign on more than simply immigration and withdrawal from the European Union and move to wider themes of national and local independence, deregulation and tax cuts.And a recent editorial in the Wall Street Journal declares Farage to be a “big problem for David Cameron“:
These arguments, he said, had been “abandoned by David Cameron”.
“We believe in national independence. But we also want to see a much greater degree of independence at local level, believing that one of the worst things that the Tories did in the 1980s was to emasculate local government.
“We would like to see more devolution of power away from Westminster to make local elections really matter.
“We firmly believe that to stop the political class doing whatever they want against the will of the people there has to be some device by which people can call a national referendum.”
Farage, now recovered from the plane crash on election day that nearly cost him his life, says that UKIP could become Britain’s equivalent of the Tea Party (which is stretching it quite a bit). But he is a populist who may be capable of channeling some of the anger with the Westminster establishment which has been so apparent in recent years but has yet to find an outlet. It would not be a surprise if Farage managed to increase his party’s vote substantially at the next election, possibly making UKIP a factor in more seats Cameron has to win.
