Nigel Farage on Twitter
I HAVE never seen the point of Nigel Farage, that pimple on the bum of British life. Like the papule in that image, Farage is a painful presence.
Yet nothing seems to shake this awful man. If you must admire anything about him, and it really isn’t mandatory, you may concede that his self-belief is remarkable.
That and his way of diverting British life down narrow and nasty alleyways, like a pinstriped thug. Or standing on the cliffs at Dover and shouting at migrants, while dressed like a male model from the duller sort of leisurewear catalogue.
Still, I was clearly wrong in thinking those unkind thoughts about Nigel. Turns out that the point of Nigel Farage is as a fundraiser for the RNLI. Donations rose by a reported 3,000% thanks to his efforts.
The life-saving charity raised £200,000 in a single day after its boss hit out at Farage’s claim that the RNLI was acting like a migrant ‘taxi service’.
The way that Farage and other rancid-trousered anti-philanthropists have turned on the RNLI for rescuing migrants in the Channel marks a new low in British life. Never mind any number of moral wrongs in our national life, all the likes of Farage want to do is pick on the most vulnerable.
The way they flaunt their lack of humanity should shame them – but it doesn’t because members of that disreputable right-wing club leave their shame at the door.
More migrants may be trying to cross the Channel, but general migration in this country is down. Farage & Co (Purveyors of Nastiness to the Nation) like to rant about how migrants in the Channel should follow ‘legal’ routes into Britain. Well, basically there aren’t any for many of those fleeing conflicts. That’s why they risk their lives in overcrowded boats.
Fortunately, Farage had not reckoned on the bullish Mark Dowie, chief executive of the RNLI.
In a series of interviews, Dowie said that it was his charity’s moral and legal duty to rescue migrants in danger in the sea, adding that he was proud of this humanitarian work. As he should be.
In one interview, Dowie said that most people in Britain and Ireland, where his charity operates, were kind and decent and respected this rescue work.
The ‘kind and decent’ people seem too often to be cowed by the shouty, woke-bashing brigade, the nasties whose views end up having too much sway. Why do we listen to the most shouty men in the room or the TV studio?
Nigel Farage recently parked his mouth in a new barking bay at GB News, where he says the RNLI is “doing the wrong thing” by rescuing migrants.
It would be a dark day indeed if rescuing poor and afflicted people who hope for a better life became the “wrong thing”.
Still, Nigel Farage is quite brilliant at raising funds for the RNLI, so he does have one use.