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 http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/may/19/would-you-live-next-door-nigel-farage

The article has changed 2 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
Would you want to live next door to Nigel Farage? Would you want to live next door to Nigel Farage?
(about 20 hours later)
I got some new neighbours recently. As they moved in I watched with growing despair while they arrived with threadbare backpacks and boxes of mismatched crockery. Turning to my housemate, who was crouching behind the net curtain next to me, I gulped: "Don't they looked like … students?"I got some new neighbours recently. As they moved in I watched with growing despair while they arrived with threadbare backpacks and boxes of mismatched crockery. Turning to my housemate, who was crouching behind the net curtain next to me, I gulped: "Don't they looked like … students?"
Surely the most dreaded of potential neighbours, students are loud and leery, keep odd hours and steal your wheelie bins. I should know, I was one. And were I to subscribe to the Nigel Farage theory of next-door neighbours, as expounded recently on LBC radio, this would mean that as a "normal and fair-minded person … [I] have a perfect right to be concerned if a group of … [students] suddenly moved in." Right you are, Farage, those undesirables!Surely the most dreaded of potential neighbours, students are loud and leery, keep odd hours and steal your wheelie bins. I should know, I was one. And were I to subscribe to the Nigel Farage theory of next-door neighbours, as expounded recently on LBC radio, this would mean that as a "normal and fair-minded person … [I] have a perfect right to be concerned if a group of … [students] suddenly moved in." Right you are, Farage, those undesirables!
Really, though, what do my concerns have to do with him? What I want from a potential representative in Europe is someone who is less interested in the state of next-door's garden and more in the state of our economy if we were to exit the EU. But Farage doesn't seem to have as much to say on that.Really, though, what do my concerns have to do with him? What I want from a potential representative in Europe is someone who is less interested in the state of next-door's garden and more in the state of our economy if we were to exit the EU. But Farage doesn't seem to have as much to say on that.
His slip-up is symptomatic of Ukip's most profound failing: they are a one-policy party. They have built their agenda on the rhetoric of us and them. According to Ukip, they are to blame for (delete as appropriate) crime, the recession, joblessness, the failing NHS, poverty etc. And this time they are Romanians.His slip-up is symptomatic of Ukip's most profound failing: they are a one-policy party. They have built their agenda on the rhetoric of us and them. According to Ukip, they are to blame for (delete as appropriate) crime, the recession, joblessness, the failing NHS, poverty etc. And this time they are Romanians.
To point out that Romanians are not all thieves and vandals seems a bit redundant. But just in case you're in doubt, I went to visit my cousin last week (formally of Timișoara, Romania, now of Wood Green, London) and she is employed as a dental nurse, with no plans of turning to a life of petty crime. Still, it has become trendy among certain factions to paint a picture of a shady money-grabbing Romanian migrant who will squat in your nan's house and steal your phone out of your back pocket. To point out that Romanians are not all thieves and vandals seems a bit redundant. But just in case you're in doubt, I went to visit my cousin last week (formerly of Timișoara, Romania, now of Wood Green, London) and she is employed as a dental nurse, with no plans of turning to a life of petty crime. Still, it has become trendy among certain factions to paint a picture of a shady money-grabbing Romanian migrant who will squat in your nan's house and steal your phone out of your back pocket.
What's most interesting though, is that Farage's comments seemingly come at a most inopportune time for the party, who are desperately trying to put their most politically correct foot forward. Which makes me wonder, how could a man whose media-savviness is second only to Max Clifford's let slip so easily? We've seen him bat away a multitude of hard-nosed questions, undoing hacks with a tilt of his whimsical chin and a reference to the unwashed invaders waiting to take our shores.What's most interesting though, is that Farage's comments seemingly come at a most inopportune time for the party, who are desperately trying to put their most politically correct foot forward. Which makes me wonder, how could a man whose media-savviness is second only to Max Clifford's let slip so easily? We've seen him bat away a multitude of hard-nosed questions, undoing hacks with a tilt of his whimsical chin and a reference to the unwashed invaders waiting to take our shores.
His explanation? He was tired. And I get it, after all tiredness can kill, or at the very least make you look like a fool. But really, to blame it on tiredness then explain that actually you meant every word, you just didn't say them in quite the right order makes me think that all of this backtracking wasn't quite sincere (to put it mildly).His explanation? He was tired. And I get it, after all tiredness can kill, or at the very least make you look like a fool. But really, to blame it on tiredness then explain that actually you meant every word, you just didn't say them in quite the right order makes me think that all of this backtracking wasn't quite sincere (to put it mildly).
Personally, I doubt very much that there was any slip-up. Like everything relating to Farage's persona and his party this was carefully planned and timed. To the most extreme core of Ukip supporters who are looking for some "other" to point the finger at, Farage has sent out a smoke signal, a message along the lines of "ignore all of that gumph about equality and race and stuff, you are not alone, you have a party who will help you point that finger, and Ukip is it." And to potential supporters who are turned off by catcalls of racism in the party, he's left himself enough wiggle room to argue his innocence. Clever old Nigel.Personally, I doubt very much that there was any slip-up. Like everything relating to Farage's persona and his party this was carefully planned and timed. To the most extreme core of Ukip supporters who are looking for some "other" to point the finger at, Farage has sent out a smoke signal, a message along the lines of "ignore all of that gumph about equality and race and stuff, you are not alone, you have a party who will help you point that finger, and Ukip is it." And to potential supporters who are turned off by catcalls of racism in the party, he's left himself enough wiggle room to argue his innocence. Clever old Nigel.
Having said this, there is some sense in what Farage is saying. It's reasonable to worry about who is moving into your hood. Happily the students who now live next door to me are not the playing-bedroom-produced-deep-house-until-5am kind. The question is, then, should we put a party in power based solely on the vaguely hysterical, largely unfounded worry that they could have been? Because that doesn't seem particularly normal or fair-minded.Having said this, there is some sense in what Farage is saying. It's reasonable to worry about who is moving into your hood. Happily the students who now live next door to me are not the playing-bedroom-produced-deep-house-until-5am kind. The question is, then, should we put a party in power based solely on the vaguely hysterical, largely unfounded worry that they could have been? Because that doesn't seem particularly normal or fair-minded.