Nigel Farage - Not Really Retiring

It is a sure sign of the intellectual and moral bankruptcy that has infected our free and fearless press over the recent past that someone who has never held elective office in the UK should still be able to summon the media establishment to act as stenographers for the benefit of Himself Personally Now - and still not face the threat of actual interrogation. So it is with former Brexit Party Oberscheissenführer Nigel “Thirsty” Farage.

The stenography, to no surprise at all, has been performed by Christopher “No” Hope, who claims both to be a real journalist, and to work for the increasingly desperate and downmarket Telegraph. Published as an exclusive, his article is headlined “Nigel Farage quits politics - and this time he means it”. To the credit of those at the Independent, their lift of the story puts the phrase “quits politics” in quote marks - and for good reason.

For starters, the sub-heading of the Tel article tells “The Reform Party leader is stepping back after nearly three decades. But he’s still got the woke brigade in his crosshairs”. So he’s not quitting at all, merely refocusing his North And South. He’ll now be going after those who, to quote the dictionary definition, are “alert to injustices in society, especially racism”. And he isn’t actually leaving the Reform Party, either.

As the Indy makes clear: “He said he would continue to support Reform UK after handing over leadership to the party's chairman Richard Tice … However Mr Farage warned that he was ‘not going away’ as he was going to continue with his media career”. So anyone thinking that they can tune in to BBC Question Time without having to risk Nige leering at them will be in for a nasty shock. So what will he be ranting about post-Brexit?

“He also said he wanted to campaign against ‘the increasing influence of the Chinese communist party over our whole way of life’ and ‘the indoctrination of children at school’, which he claimed meant many pupils were ‘encouraged to hate this country’”. So blaming someone else for Brexit, demonising anyone to his left, wrapping himself in the flag and denouncing anyone who disagrees with him as being insufficiently patriotic, then.

Also, the idea he is going to leave the Reform Party (which is the Brexit Party, er, fluid in a differently labelled bottle) to his chief Gauleiter Richard Tice (and, by inference, Tice’s equally avoidable partner, mercenary hack Isabel Oakeshott) is for the birds. Farage admits he will take up an “honorary position” with the party.

When he says “I now feel I can do just as much to shift public opinion through media and social media as I can as a campaigning party leader”, he means Tice and the rest in the Reform Party get to do all the hard work, while Nige gets the salesman gig, doing what he enjoys most, rocking up at studios and shooting from the hip. Again. And again.

So when Mr Thirsty tells us it’s over, it isn’t. Once again, Hope and his pals at the Tel have brought forth a huge steaming pile of weapons grade bullpucky. No change there, then.

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