[Archived] Does Nigel Farage Deserve A Knighthood?

[Gav]

Nigel Farage certainly polarizes opinion, I for one would never vote for UKIP in its current guise, but that doesn't mean I don't respect a politician that says what he thinks, honest rhetoric, speaks for the people, instead of avoiding the question in the hope of furthering ones career.

He has spent his entire political life to this moment, having endured years of ridicule and abuse from the establishment and media in this country, with one common goal, to remove us from the EU, and the guys achieved that goal, you have to applaud his efforts, its a colossal achievement.

So does Nigel deserve a Knighthood for his services to Politics? after all the likes of Lynton Crosby have been 'shooed in' to such accolades for doing nothing more than being a friend of the establishment.

Nigel may have upset a few people with his straight talking and shock tactics, but do you think he deserves recognition?

[K-Hod]

In a word- no!

That being said, I think he's getting too much of a hard time and blame for leaving UKIP at this point. He's achieved absolutely everything that UKIP set out to do, so I don't see the point of them really. I read the other day that their main backer was on about setting up a new political party and pulling out of UKIP, not sure how true it is like.

[gumboots]

Another unbelievable suggestion. You get a knighthood for service to the community. Who has he helped? The guy's an embarrassment to the country.

[Baz]

Are you for real Gav?

A knighthood for turning up for about 5% of the meetings his job demands, for taking more in expenses each year than 3 average workers, for using rhetoric and visual images to turn people against immigrants?

Tell me you are joking.

As for Lynton Crosby, he doesn't deserve one either, but because he has one, so should x... is a stupid argument.

[oldjamfan1]

i think you have a point Gav, I think a sword should be taken to Farage.

[Steve Kean's Hypnotoad]

"The British honours system is a means of rewarding individuals' personal bravery, achievement, or service to the United Kingdom and the British Overseas Territories."

If you separate those 3 entirely: bravery, achievement and service, the Farage qualifies by the gallon for the first 2. Boris Johnson tweeted yesterday that pro-Remain voters were stood outside his window shouting expletive-laden insults, I can only imagine what Farage has had to put up with from left-wing extremists over the last 15 years. So bravery definitely gets a tick in my book.

And achievement? My god. The bloke has single-handedly instigated arguably the most significant political event of this generation. He's spent a good chunk of his life pursuing something almost everyone would have told him was an impossible waste of time when he started out.

However you can't call it a service to the UK because it's unknown yet whether it's to our advantage or disadvantage, half the country didn't want it, and the government at the time didn't want it. So if the three in the definition aren't separate and it's bravery or achievement only in the service of the UK then he doesn't qualify. As a man though I admire him hugely.

[ultrablue]

Knighthood? More like a Righthook!

[JBiz]

Don't know how to post photos off my phone but my reply simply would be No and his 1930s style propaganda poster.

Some of the comments from UKIP representatives over the years are absolutely deplorable.

[Mike E]

He can have one for all I care. Useless and pointless 'honour', ever since Jimmy Saville took one to the grave despite the establishment knowing exactly what he was up to for all that time.

[gumboots]

"The British honours system is a means of rewarding individuals' personal bravery, achievement, or service to the United Kingdom and the British Overseas Territories."

If you separate those 3 entirely: bravery, achievement and service, the Farage qualifies by the gallon for the first 2. Boris Johnson tweeted yesterday that pro-Remain voters were stood outside his window shouting expletive-laden insults, I can only imagine what Farage has had to put up with from left-wing extremists over the last 15 years. So bravery definitely gets a tick in my book.

And achievement? My god. The bloke has single-handedly instigated arguably the most significant political event of this generation. He's spent a good chunk of his life pursuing something almost everyone would have told him was an impossible waste of time when he started out.

However you can't call it a service to the UK because it's unknown yet whether it's to our advantage or disadvantage, half the country didn't want it, and the government at the time didn't want it. So if the three in the definition aren't separate and it's bravery or achievement only in the service of the UK then he doesn't qualify. As a man though I admire him hugely.

If you seek to turn people against their neighbours and exploit people's fear of what's different then it should come as no surprise that extremists at the other end of the spectrum turn on you. I'm not saying hate mail and death threats are acceptable, just that when you legitimise fear tactics then you open yourself to people who think anything goes.

[jim mk2]

.

According to Tell Mama, a website that tracks Islamophobia, there was a 370 per cent increase in anti-Muslim attacks last year. That will undoubtedly have risen during the London mayoral cam[aign when Cameron inexcusably accused the Muslim Sadiz Khan of associating with terrorists and certainly since the Leave vote with reports of verbal abuse against Muslims and foreigners in general around the country. Farage and Ukip is bound up in all of this and for anyone to say they "admire" Farage (see above) says all you need to know that sadly racism is alive and well in Britain. So no Gav, Farage doesn't deserve any sort of recognition except to say that he is a dangerous individual who has caused immense damage to this country.

[yoda]

Is Corbyn going to get one

[J*B]

No.

If there's no more questions, the defence retires.

[Gav]

.

According to Tell Mama, a website that tracks Islamophobia, there was a 370 per cent increase in anti-Muslim attacks last year. That will undoubtedly have risen during the London mayoral cam[aign when Cameron inexcusably accused the Muslim Sadiz Khan of associating with terrorists and certainly since the Leave vote with reports of verbal abuse against Muslims and foreigners in general around the country. Farage and Ukip is bound up in all of this and for anyone to say they "admire" Farage (see above) says all you need to know that sadly racism is alive and well in Britain. So no Gav, Farage doesn't deserve any sort of recognition except to say that he is a dangerous individual who has caused immense damage to this country.

The Labour party seem to have a very serious issue with antisemitism, its always had an issue, far worse and more widespread than UKIP i'd say and with anti Semitic attacks showing a steep rise, are we playing by the same rules in that case Jim?

The way Farage has changed the political landscape of this country is almost unprecedented, its an unbelievable achievement whether you like his methods or not.

I'm torn as I don't like some of this methods, but he got results, bit like a certain manager I can think of, but thats another story

[JAL]

Who where Farage's minders in the photos as they didn't look British.

[otto man]

Are you for real Gav?

A knighthood for turning up for about 5% of the meetings his job demands, for taking more in expenses each year than 3 average workers, for using rhetoric and visual images to turn people against immigrants?

Tell me you are joking.

As for Lynton Crosby, he doesn't deserve one either, but because he has one, so should x... is a stupid argument.

No it's called a precedent. They're used in the due process of the law all the time.

.

According to Tell Mama, a website that tracks Islamophobia, there was a 370 per cent increase in anti-Muslim attacks last year. That will undoubtedly have risen during the London mayoral cam[aign when Cameron inexcusably accused the Muslim Sadiz Khan of associating with terrorists and certainly since the Leave vote with reports of verbal abuse against Muslims and foreigners in general around the country. Farage and Ukip is bound up in all of this and for anyone to say they "admire" Farage (see above) says all you need to know that sadly racism is alive and well in Britain. So no Gav, Farage doesn't deserve any sort of recognition except to say that he is a dangerous individual who has caused immense damage to this country.

Jim. Your hypocrisy is staggering! I've yet to meet such a prejudiced bigot as YOU. The only difference between you and your"racists" are the targets. You hate Aussies and Americans or had you forgotten?

[Al]

Nigel Farage certainly polarizes opinion, I for one would never vote for UKIP in its current guise, but that doesn't mean I don't respect a politician that says what he thinks, honest rhetoric, speaks for the people, instead of avoiding the question in the hope of furthering ones career.

He has spent his entire political life to this moment, having endured years of ridicule and abuse from the establishment and media in this country, with one common goal, to remove us from the EU, and the guys achieved that goal, you have to applaud his efforts, its a colossal achievement.

So does Nigel deserve a Knighthood for his services to Politics? after all the likes of Lynton Crosby have been 'shooed in' to such accolades for doing nothing more than being a friend of the establishment.

Nigel may have upset a few people with his straight talking and shock tactics, but do you think he deserves recognition?

Yes definitely. He has unselfishly done more for Britain than any other politician since Winston Churchill. Sir Nigel has a nice ring to it.

[JAL]

Did Nigel Farage work for a greater force that's outside of Britain ?

[oldjamfan1]

Did Nigel Farage work for a greater force that's outside of Britain ?

Liverpool.

[yoda]

Did Nigel Farage work for a greater force that's outside of Britain ?

Blair, Osborne, Juncker etc do

[jim mk2]

No it's called a precedent. They're used in the due process of the law all the time.

Jim. Your hypocrisy is staggering! I've yet to meet such a prejudiced bigot as YOU. The only difference between you and your"racists" are the targets. You hate Aussies and Americans or had you forgotten?

Errata

Englishmen who support Australia at sport.

The NRA and gun-toting Republicans only

[jim mk2]

The way Farage has changed the political landscape of this country is almost unprecedented, its an unbelievable achievement whether you like his methods or not.

Achievement isn't the word I'd use Gav.

After wrecking the prospects for Britain's future, Farage has beaten a hasty retreat, knowing full well that he will be held fully accountable for the mess he's made when Britain has to "negotiate" Brexit terms with the EU that will drive Britain's economy into the ground.

There is a solution. Given that these three people most responsible for this mess, Cameron, Johnson and Farage, have all resigned and refuse to take responsibility for their handiwork, parliament should vote to vacate the results of the referendum and advise the EU that Article 50 will not be triggered and that Britain will stay in the Union.

Those who are unhappy with this should lay their concerns at the feet of Johnson, Farage and Cameron and let them deal with the backlash

[yoda]

Achievement isn't the word I'd use Gav.

After wrecking the prospects for Britain's future, Farage has beaten a hasty retreat, knowing full well that he will be held fully accountable for the mess he's made when Britain has to "negotiate" Brexit terms with the EU that will drive Britain's economy into the ground.

There is a solution. Given that these three people most responsible for this mess, Cameron, Johnson and Farage, have all resigned and refuse to take responsibility for their handiwork, parliament should vote to vacate the results of the referendum and advise the EU that Article 50 will not be triggered and that Britain will stay in the Union.

Those who are unhappy with this should lay their concerns at the feet of Johnson, Farage and Cameron and let them deal with the backlash

Rubbish,

The real culprits are exposed by Katya Adler

"A bit like an East German ringmaster in the eye of the hurricane that is the panic, noise and rumour in Europe surrounding Britain's Brexit vote, Angela Merkel has roared for silence.

Schweigen is a German word describing the specific quiet you get when people do not speak.

And schweigen is what Mrs Merkel now hopes for from fellow EU leaders and her own cabinet members, to give some semblance of EU unity and calm.

At a closed gathering of Europe's centre-right parties in Brussels last week for example, she appealed to, or rather instructed, politicians to hold their counsel on Brexit until after the summer.

Crisis or no crisis, you can count on European politicians to unfailingly take their cherished August holiday.

This year, Mrs Merkel hopes it will serve as a cooling-off period for the resentful, fizzing with outrage at "ungrateful UK" (like Spain); the vengeful, itching to make life miserable for a post-Brexit Britain (like France); the panicked, worrying about the imminent demise of the rest of the EU (such as Italy); and the media divas/politicians without real influence (such as the president of the European Parliament or the foreign ministers of various countries including Germany) who hog the headlines, making unhelpful waves.

But, canny politician that she is, Angela Merkel cannot imagine that after a splash or two in the Mediterranean, Europe will be much more coherent in its attitude towards Brexit.

She knows it will not be.

But the August time-out gives her space to plan.

September will tell her which UK prime minister she will have to deal with in Brexit negotiations, for example.

And it is policy, attitude and experience that will likely temper her attitude rather than the sex of the UK's next premier, as has been suggested by some (male) commentators.

The summer break will also give Mrs Merkel time to try to get her own house in order.

Next year is election year in Germany and parties are already in campaign mode.

Angela Merkel heads the centre-right CDU party. Both the Social Democrat vice-chancellor and her sister conservative CSU party in Bavaria have already tried to use the Brexit vote to damage her.

The Social Democrats blame Mrs Merkel's austerity programme for souring public opinion against the EU.

The CSU insists Germany must not pay a euro more to plug the gaping hole that will be left in the EU budget by Britain's departure.

Domestic pressure

But what is bothering Angela Merkel most of all are recent public opinion polls..

German voters are traditionally seen as some of the EU's most enthusiastic supporters but according to news channel N24, 62% of Germans now want decision-making powers transferred from Brussels back to Berlin.

Mrs Merkel, who grew up in the communist East, under the shadow of Germany's World War Two history, is a passionate supporter of European unity.

But ever the pragmatist, she is keenly aware the people of Europe demand change.

For now she seems happy to allow the man sometimes referred to as her "attack dog" - remember the Greek euro crisis a year ago? - to make EU reformist noises.

Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble gave a round of interviews this Sunday, saying time was of the essence and demanding that EU capitals take back powers from the European Commission so as to be more effective in times of crisis.

In fact, rather quietly, Angela Merkel and fellow EU leaders had already whipped the carpet from under the Commission's feet last week, hastily appointing their own chief negotiator for Brexit talks.

The Commission had assumed it alone would play the starring European role in the drama.

And this is just the beginning.

A high-level EU source of mine predicts almighty clashes ahead with the European Commission post-Brexit on the back of the lessons Europe's leaders are gleaning from the vote.

"They [the European Commission] are the real fat cats, the out-of-touch bureaucrats Leave campaigners in the UK complained about, but they are not the EU," he told me.

"We, leaders and willing European parliamentarians, now have to wrest back EU control from the civil servants."

One final reason Angela Merkel hopes for voices in Europe to be silent over the summer is to allow the chaotic proportions of Britain's post-referendum political and economic firework display to make their full impact across the European side of the Channel.

She hopes it will serve as a warning to the continent's multitude of Eurosceptics to call for EU change by all means but to beware of EU departure for fear that THAT could happen to THEM too."

So Juncker and his band are in deep doo doo

[K-Hod]

The votes are in and counted and have been for a week. Those in the government should now be getting on with making our exit from the EU happen. It's as simple as that for me.

[philipl]

Yes on the one condition that the sword takes the shortest route between his shoulders.