Nigel farage

Watch: Cameron takes a swipe at Farage over his ‘poncey foreign-sounding’ name pronunciation

With little love lost between the Prime Minister and Nigel Farage, today the Ukip leader found himself on the receiving end of David Cameron’s ire during PMQs. When asking Cameron whether the public should listen to Brexit figures like Nigel Farage, Ben Bradshaw pronounced Farage’s name as ‘Farridge’. This delighted Cameron, who proceeded to blast Farage for using the ‘poncey foreign-sounding’ pronunciation. BB: With the United Kingdom facing our most momentous decision in a generation in eight weeks time, does the Prime Minister think it makes more sense for all of us to listen to all of our closest friends and allies around the world, or to a combination of French fascists,

Leave wins the Spectator Brexit debate at the London Palladium

It was the largest debate in The Spectator’s history: we sold out the 2,200-seat London Palladium for our debate on whether Britain should leave the EU, sponsored by Rathbones. The lineup: Dan Hannan, Nigel Farage and Kate Hoey vs Nick Clegg, Liz Kendall and Chuka Umunna. Andrew Neil chaired. Here are summaries of all the speeches, as well as the full audio: Daniel Hannan for Out. Tonight, I’m inviting you to make me redundant – and, into the bargain, make Nigel redundant. And I wouldn’t be doing if I were not confident that there will be plenty of openings for newly-unemployed MEPs in the boom that would follow our exit from the European Union. Why do we

Has Obama been watching too much Netflix?

There was something odd about Obama’s ‘back of the queue’ Brexit comment yesterday — and it wasn’t just that he felt he could dictate US trade policy for a time when he wouldn’t even be in power. The thing that struck Mr S was the phrasing of his message: ‘I think it’s fair to say that maybe some point down the line there might be a UK-US trade agreement, but it’s not going to happen any time soon because our focus is in negotiating with a big bloc—the European Union—to get a trade agreement done. And the UK is going to be at the back of the queue.’ As Nigel Farage

James Forsyth

Number 10 might be more confident than ever of EU referendum victory, but they’re still trying to load the debate dice

Downing Street is more confident than it has ever been that the EU referendum will be won. It is not just Barack Obama’s full-throated warning against Brexit that is responsible for this, but—as I say in my Sun column this morning—the sense that they have got the argument back onto their home turf of the economy. Indeed, it was striking how much Obama talked yesterday about the economic benefits to Britain of EU membership and the single market. The fact that this was his main message, rather than Western unity against Putin and Islamic State, shows which argument Number 10 thinks is working. The truth is that however spurious George

Will the EU referendum be a fair fight?

It is the most important decision that the Electoral Commission has ever taken: who to select as the lead campaign for Leave in the EU referendum. Three groups have applied for this designation. If the Electoral Commission gets it wrong, the referendum could effectively be over before it has even begun and the nation could be denied a proper debate and the chance to make an informed choice. The Electoral Commission’s decision is due this week. It is hugely important because whoever misses out on the designation will be limited to spending £700,000. The Trade Union and Socialist Coalition is unlikely, to put it mildly, to get the Electoral nod. So, the choice comes down

No, Simon Schama, people worried about gang rape and FGM aren’t ‘obsessed with sex’

Hardly anything is less likely to keep people reading than to mention an exciting evening in Toronto.  But stick with me. Because last Friday night in Toronto there was a debate (organised by the Munk debates, which can be watched in full here) on the great migration crisis which pitted Louise Arbour and Simon Schama against Nigel Farage and Mark Steyn.  Regular readers will know my views of Simon Schama on this matter, so I was looking forward to watching this exchange in the hope of seeing him get what in technical debate-speak is known as his ‘arse handed to him on a plate’. And sure enough it came, courtesy of

Nigel Farage: Boris had me worried after his ‘shambolic’ press conference

To the Conrad hotel in St James where Nigel Farage went head to head with former Labour spinner John McTernan in a Ladbrokes’ Brexit debate. Although the EU was the number one topic on the agenda, the panel chair Isabel Oakeshott — who is the co-author of Call Me Dave — managed to get pig on the menu as she recalled an email McTernan had sent about a journalist — during his time advising Julia Gillard in Australia: ‘This was an order as to how this journalist was to be treated: dead — not ever, no transcripts, no returned calls, dead, forever — that’s an order.’ She said that the email summed

Breaking: David Icke backs Brexit

Although the Out campaign has gained momentum since Michael Gove and Boris Johnson backed Brexit, there are still concerns that the campaign is yet to find a leader. However, could their prayers be about to be answered? Step forward David Icke. Yes, the Corbyn-loving purple-tracksuit-wearing-lizard-conspiracist has plumped for Out, with a series of eye-catching pieces of clip art: https://twitter.com/davidicke/status/701347887452585985 https://twitter.com/davidicke/status/701361728567664640 https://twitter.com/davidicke/status/701462141044260864 https://twitter.com/davidicke/status/701471206742970368 Mr S suspects that the support of the new age conspiracist will only add to worries that the Out campaign is proving to be too divisive.

Will more than half a dozen Cabinet Ministers back Brexit?

The Cabinet convenes this morning at 10am with, at least, six of those present set to back Out. The most intriguing of these Outers is Michael Gove. Gove is exceptionally close to Cameron and Osborne both politically and personally. He is one of the intellectual driving forces behind the Tory modernising project. But he is unable to back staying in the EU on these terms. Cameron claimed in his press conference last night that Gove had been an Outer for 30 years. I’m not sure that’s right. Friends say it was the experience of being a minister and finding out how much of government was just following what Brussels wanted

EU summit: David Cameron arrives and vows to ‘get back in there’

It’s been a long night in Brussels and it’s going to be a hard day ahead for David Cameron as he tries to strike a deal with other European leaders at the EU summit. The Prime Minister has now arrived and said he will ‘do everything he can’. He added that ‘some progress’ had been made but there was still no deal: It looked earlier in the day as though Greece could veto the entire summit over the issue of migration. Polish Minister for European Affairs, Konrad Szymański, said it was a serious issue but maintained that he was confident it would be sorted: French President Francois Hollande said this

Cameron’s first EU referendum battle: shutting up his own MPs

[audioplayer src=”http://rss.acast.com/viewfrom22/putinsendgameinsyria/media.mp3″ title=”James Forsyth and Charles Grant from the Centre for European Reform discuss the EU referendum battle” startat=743] Listen [/audioplayer] On the day that David Cameron delivered his Bloomberg speech, the 2013 address in which he committed himself to a referendum on Britain’s EU membership, I asked a close ally of his how he would avoid splitting the Tory party over the issue, given that even quiet ‘outers’ might feel obliged to vote to leave. The ally paused before replying: ‘That would be a good problem to have, as it would mean we had won the election.’ That ‘good problem’ is now here. The Tory leadership is currently involved

What kind of Out campaign will David Cameron be faced with?

If all goes according to David Cameron’s plan, then the EU referendum campaign will be under way very shortly. Cameron himself will be the main figure on the In side of the argument. The Home Secretary Theresa May will also throw herself into the campaign, as Rachel Sylvester wrote this week. Another face of the effort to keep Britain in the EU will be Alan Johnson, the former Home Secretary, who is running the Labour IN campaign. The Remain side of the argument will, as the above list shows, be able to call upon a formidable amount of political firepower. But what is not yet clear is what kind of

Has Nigel Farage got David Cameron running scared?

With Parliament in recess, David Cameron is able to use this week to focus on the upcoming EU referendum. To do this, the Prime Minister was scheduled to visit Brussels tomorrow morning where he would appear at the EU Conference of Presidents. Alas it appears that Cameron has now had a change of heart about the event which would have seen him come face to face with his old foe Nigel Farage. The Ukip leader says that although he received official documentation confirming he would meet Cameron at tomorrow’s event, he has now heard that Cameron may not attend: I was looking forward to meeting @David_Cameron at Conference of Presidents in

The Spectator’s notes | 11 February 2016

Here is a thought for all those Tory MPs calculating their personal advantage in the forthcoming EU referendum: unless the vote is an absolutely overwhelming Remain, the next leader of the Conservative party — whose day is no longer so far off — will come from the Leave camp. This will happen, obviously, if Leave wins, but also if Leave loses but does well, because most party supporters will only back someone who feels their pain and can reconcile them afterwards. Another thought: why would Nigel Farage want Britain to vote Leave? Then he would be redundant. Study him in the light of this thought and you will see that it explains

Fighting over the crumbs

[audioplayer src=”http://rss.acast.com/viewfrom22/fightingovercrumbs-euroscepticsandtheeudeal/media.mp3″ title=”James Forsyth and Vote Leave’s Stephen Parkinson discuss Euroscepticsm”] Listen [/audioplayer]Eurosceptics could hardly have asked for more favourable conditions for a referendum. After barely surviving a financial crisis, the European Union has been overwhelmed by an immigration crisis — one made much worse by its failure to control its own borders. The European Commission seems determined to make itself even more unpopular in Britain, and is considering whether VAT should be levied on food and children’s clothes. At a time of righteous anger at sweetheart tax deals for multinational corporations, the man who bears more responsibility for these than anyone else in Europe is its president, the former

A warning flag on David Cameron’s Brussels negotiations

In the past week, David Cameron has held a number of last-minute talks with EU counterparts in the hope of agreeing a deal that can be put to EU leaders ahead of a summit on 18 February. This included a visit to Brussels on Friday to hold renegotiation talks with EP president Martin Schulz. Alas a flag gaffe on the part of workers at the European Parliament may have led to distress all round. Word reaches Steerpike that on the day of Cameron’s visit, the Union flag outside Parliament was hung upside down. The thick white parts of the diagonal cross ought to be above the thinner white parts — as historical advisor

Christmas tips from Niall Ferguson and Annie Nightingale

For the Spectator’s Christmas survey, we asked for some favourite seasonal rituals – and what to avoid at Christmas. Niall Ferguson Every Christmas — or, to be precise, every Hogmanay — all the members of the jazz band I played in at university gather together with their families at our place in Wales. We eat and drink gargantuan amounts and play music with steadily deteriorating precision. It is a wonderful way to see in the new year. Annie Nightingale My favourite ritual is visiting people, and I have some rules. A bottle of bubbly to each. Be charming, be fun, but be brief. Quit while you’re still popular. Then you can book a cab

Nigel Farage warns Douglas Carswell: ‘it’s going to have to end’

Nigel Farage popped up on the Daily Politics today to warn Douglas Carswell that critical comments about his leadership cannot continue. The Ukip leader said the Clacton MP’s views don’t have any particular significance, despite the fact he is the only Kipper who was elected in May’s general election: ‘Well he did but so what? He’s one person. So what? We cannot have one individual every single time there’s a Ukip conference and it finishes with a story of disunity and it’s all being caused by one person. And frankly, I think it’s going to have to end.’ Farage was quite shifty on what the ‘end’ might be, although he did point out ‘it will not

Steerpike

Christmas cheer in short supply at Ukip HQ

As MPs and staff depart Westminster to begin their Christmas break, spare a thought for those at Ukip HQ who have found their party on the brink of civil war today after Douglas Carswell called for Nigel Farage to be replaced with a new leader. What’s more, if that wasn’t enough to dampen the festive spirit for Kippers, Steerpike understands that they have further reason for woe. After a testing year for the party which saw disappointing election results and financial difficulties, they have been dealt the ultimate blow: no Christmas staff party. While over at Labour HQ in Brewers Green, Corbynistas and Blairites alike have been partying most nights this week at a range of festive events, the party

Is Douglas Carswell trying to oust Nigel Farage?

Douglas Carswell set off a bomb in Ukip this morning, declaring that the party needs a ‘fresh face’ and it should become an ‘optimistic, sunshine, smiley, socially liberal, unapologetically free market party’. These comments have been interpreted as a leadership challenge to Nigel Farage, who has in turn told Carswell to ‘put up or shut up’ — i.e. challenge him for the leadership or be quiet. Relations between Farage and Carswell have never been particularly healthy but this marks a new low in their relationship. What prompted Carswell to make these remarks now — is this the beginnings of an effort to remove Farage or an airing of grievances? The timing is certainly suspicious,