This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/nov/23/the-shambassadors-reception-tycoons-are-spoiling-nigel-farage
The article has changed 6 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| The shambassador's reception: tycoons are spoiling Nigel Farage | The shambassador's reception: tycoons are spoiling Nigel Farage |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| He has had, by any measure, a barnstorming year. And on Wednesday night, guests arriving at a party thrown in Nigel Farage’s honour at the Ritz will be greeted by pyramids of Ferrero Rocher chocolates in a joking reference to Donald Trump’s eyebrow-raising proposal that the Ukip leader should become Britain’s ambassador to the US. | He has had, by any measure, a barnstorming year. And on Wednesday night, guests arriving at a party thrown in Nigel Farage’s honour at the Ritz will be greeted by pyramids of Ferrero Rocher chocolates in a joking reference to Donald Trump’s eyebrow-raising proposal that the Ukip leader should become Britain’s ambassador to the US. |
| Farage’s allies, including the Barclay brothers, who own the Ritz and the Telegraph newspaper, and Arron Banks, who spent £7.5m on the Leave.EU campaign, are throwing the reception for 120 guests to mark a year that has seen Farage help secure Brexit and become one of the first politicians to be granted an audience with the US president-elect. | Farage’s allies, including the Barclay brothers, who own the Ritz and the Telegraph newspaper, and Arron Banks, who spent £7.5m on the Leave.EU campaign, are throwing the reception for 120 guests to mark a year that has seen Farage help secure Brexit and become one of the first politicians to be granted an audience with the US president-elect. |
| Over English sparkling wine supplied from Lord Ashcroft’s Gusbourne winery in Kent and canapes of coronation chicken and roast beef, Farage’s achievements will be celebrated by a crowd that ranges from the Tory Eurosceptic Jacob Rees-Mogg to the Daily Mail columnist Richard Littlejohn. | Over English sparkling wine supplied from Lord Ashcroft’s Gusbourne winery in Kent and canapes of coronation chicken and roast beef, Farage’s achievements will be celebrated by a crowd that ranges from the Tory Eurosceptic Jacob Rees-Mogg to the Daily Mail columnist Richard Littlejohn. |
| The organisers have asked if Trump can supply a video message and Farage will give a speech reflecting on his year in politics, which has delighted supporters but shocked his opponents. | The organisers have asked if Trump can supply a video message and Farage will give a speech reflecting on his year in politics, which has delighted supporters but shocked his opponents. |
| Farage said on Tuesday it was “a bolt from the blue” that Trump had suggested on Twitter he should replace the British ambassador in Washington, Sir Kim Darroch. While Downing Street has rejected the suggestion, Farage insists the UK government should exploit his established links with Trump’s inner circle, including with his chief strategist, Steve Bannon. | Farage said on Tuesday it was “a bolt from the blue” that Trump had suggested on Twitter he should replace the British ambassador in Washington, Sir Kim Darroch. While Downing Street has rejected the suggestion, Farage insists the UK government should exploit his established links with Trump’s inner circle, including with his chief strategist, Steve Bannon. |
| “Arron and a few others wanted to thank him for Brexit and everything he has done and we’ve invited an eclectic mix of friends that he wanted to have a Christmas drink,” said Andy Wigmore, a Belizean diplomat who is communications director of Leave.EU. “He has had a hard year and done a good job and we wanted to thank him.” | “Arron and a few others wanted to thank him for Brexit and everything he has done and we’ve invited an eclectic mix of friends that he wanted to have a Christmas drink,” said Andy Wigmore, a Belizean diplomat who is communications director of Leave.EU. “He has had a hard year and done a good job and we wanted to thank him.” |
| David Davis, the secretary of state for Brexit, has been invited to the drinks, which start at 7pm. The drinks are being paid for by Banks, Wigmore, Richard Tice, a property developer who co-founded Leave.EU, and Lord Pearson, a Ukip peer. | |
| “The Ferrero Rochers are very important,” said Wigmore. “We have done them in pyramids and the going-away gift is a box of Ferrero Rocher. If we are going to take the piss out of him – Ambassador Farage – we may as well do it properly.” | “The Ferrero Rochers are very important,” said Wigmore. “We have done them in pyramids and the going-away gift is a box of Ferrero Rocher. If we are going to take the piss out of him – Ambassador Farage – we may as well do it properly.” |
| Guests will include the Ukip donors Jim Mellon, an Isle of Man-based tycoon, and Paul Sykes, the Yorkshire businessman. From Labour, Kate Hoey, who campaigned for Leave.EU, and the retail millionaire Labour donor John Mills are expected. | |
| Invited journalists include Littlejohn, Simon Heffer from the Telegraph, Andrew Pierce from the Mail and Isabel Oakeshott, who worked on Banks’s EU referendum campaign book Bad Boys of Brexit. | Invited journalists include Littlejohn, Simon Heffer from the Telegraph, Andrew Pierce from the Mail and Isabel Oakeshott, who worked on Banks’s EU referendum campaign book Bad Boys of Brexit. |
| Ukip MEPs include the leadership contender Paul Nuttall and Mike Hookem, who was last month involved in an altercation with his colleague Steven Woolfe. Woolfe will not be there. | |
| Wigmore was part of Farage’s delegation that went to meet Trump shortly after the election result. He told the Guardian that the suggestion Farage should become ambassador stemmed from a desire in Trump’s team to push back against criticism Farage had been receiving in the UK. | Wigmore was part of Farage’s delegation that went to meet Trump shortly after the election result. He told the Guardian that the suggestion Farage should become ambassador stemmed from a desire in Trump’s team to push back against criticism Farage had been receiving in the UK. |
| “They are fully aware of the bullets Nigel has been taking,” Wigmore said. “His people felt very enthused that he could be useful going forward and saw what was happening in terms of the criticism and thought, you know what, he would be a good person to have.” | |
| “Protocols and bureaucracy for [Trump] are the worst things in the world because it stops things happening,” said Wigmore. “When we were in the meeting he was very passionate about wanting to make things happen and getting things done. He said: ‘I don’t want to have to go through talking shops and endless meetings about meetings when things could happen.’ Like a businessman, he makes a decision, thinks it’s a good idea and pushes it out there.” | |
| Asked if that was how the tweet about Farage becoming UK ambassador happened, Wigmore said: “Yes. He thinks he would be useful to the United Kingdom and the United States.” | Asked if that was how the tweet about Farage becoming UK ambassador happened, Wigmore said: “Yes. He thinks he would be useful to the United Kingdom and the United States.” |
| Asked if Trump knew that Farage, as a political opponent of the prime minister, was never going to get the nod for such a key role, Wigmore said: “Of course he’s not and [Trump] knows that as well. They are quite realistic and they are saying you should use this man because he has great relationships with the vast majority of the team that Trump has put around him and has known him a long time.” | Asked if Trump knew that Farage, as a political opponent of the prime minister, was never going to get the nod for such a key role, Wigmore said: “Of course he’s not and [Trump] knows that as well. They are quite realistic and they are saying you should use this man because he has great relationships with the vast majority of the team that Trump has put around him and has known him a long time.” |
| He continued: “For them it does not compute that you wouldn’t use him. Trump will do things in a way that people aren’t used to. The machine of Washington, the machine of the British political system won’t know how to cope with it if they don’t play it his way. All the niceties of diplomacy go out of the window. You left meeting him feeling that he could have talked about 20 things and of the 10 he liked, he would have made them happen. That’s why he is going to be refreshing to America and the world, because in difficult situations he will pick up the phone and speak to people rather than go through channels. That is what he is like.” | He continued: “For them it does not compute that you wouldn’t use him. Trump will do things in a way that people aren’t used to. The machine of Washington, the machine of the British political system won’t know how to cope with it if they don’t play it his way. All the niceties of diplomacy go out of the window. You left meeting him feeling that he could have talked about 20 things and of the 10 he liked, he would have made them happen. That’s why he is going to be refreshing to America and the world, because in difficult situations he will pick up the phone and speak to people rather than go through channels. That is what he is like.” |
| Asked about fears that such an approach could create instability in the world, Wigmore said: “He’s not stupid. People are scared about him but that would be a wrong interpretation. He is very thoughtful. This cavalier attitude he portrays that everything is off the cuff is not [right]. He’s not as bombastic as he is portrayed. He knows how to play the media.” |