As if to show broadcasters just how economical Nigel “Thirsty” Farage can be with the actualité, we now have confirmation that he flat-out lied last weekend when interviewed by Sophy Ridge of Sky News. In fact, he not only lied, but covered his tracks with an act of deception, a smear so cheap and crude that he should have been called out on it.
Squeaky lying all the way to the bank finger up the bum time
Ms Ridge was particularly interested in the source of a rumoured £100,000 donation to the Brexit Party. He “said it was ‘irrelevant’ who the biggest donor was and his or her identity would be declared at the end of July, after this month's European Parliament elections. Mr Farage claimed if he revealed the name now the person would be ‘hounded’ by the media in the lead-up the vote. The party does not list its donors on its website”.
Mr Thirsty then pitched his crude smear, by simply asking “Who is funding Change UK?” That question, left unchallenged, leaves the viewer with one conclusion - that Change UK is not transparent about its donors, so why should the Brexit Party be treated differently? The reality, though, is that Change UK “has listed on its website the names of the people who have donated £7,500 or more each to the party”.
Thus the deception. But what of the mystery £100,000 donor? Apart from Farage letting us know that it was a “He”, the mystery remained. Until yesterday. “A businessman who has previously donated hundreds of thousands of pounds to the Conservative Party has been confirmed as a major financial backer of the Brexit Party. Jeremy Hosking was one of a number of donors who have donated large sums of money to Nigel Farage's new party.”
A number of donors. So that’s another act of deception - Farage suggesting that Hosking’s donation was a one-off. And there was more. “Speaking to The Telegraph, Mr Hosking said he decided to start donating to the Brexit Party because he was getting sick of being ‘taken in’ by the Conservatives who were failing to deliver on Brexit. He added he knew of more Conservative donors who have given similar sorts of sums to the Brexit Party”.
Thus confirming that the money is not just coming from £25 donations, then. Also, “Mr Hosking said he had given £200,000 over the last few weeks”. So the “£100,000 donor” story was untrue. What is also not aligned with reality is Hosking’s appraisal of Mr Thirsty’s honesty, or the lack of it. “I look at Nigel Farage and I see a political leader who is the only person in a leadership position who has been telling us the truth for 25 years”.
Being rich does not prevent one from being susceptible to being conned by a spiv who tells you what you want to hear, rather than the truth. Farage lies almost as frequently as he draws breath. He deceived on Change UK, deceived on the number of large donors his party has on board, and lied about the size of the apparently largest one.
Yet the broadcasters are queuing up to give him a platform, especially the BBC. Last Thursday it was Question Time; tomorrow he gets to spout his lies on The Andy Marr Show™. Other MEPs, and even party leaders, are not so favoured.
You want to know why our politics is so hopelessly screwed? Look no further.
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1 comment:
I don't think that Hosking is being conned. Hosking is involved with opportunistic investment.
There are rich people eager to take advantage should Britain's economy go down the toilet after leaving the EU with No Deal.
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