The sneering tone of Nigel Farage's critics galvanised his supporters
By Daniel Hannan, MEP
1.)
“Ukip is a protest vote”.
Even if that’s true,
so what? I’ve been in plenty of counts, and shall I tell you something? When
they’re all stacked in piles, the protest votes look just like the positive
ones. And when they’re counted, they’re worth the same.
2.) “Ukip is a wasted vote”.
People will
justifiably rely: “It’s my vote, thanks very much, and I’ll decide whether
voting with my conscience is a waste”.
3.) “A vote for Ukip is a vote for
Ed Miliband”.
Er, no. A vote for Labour
is a vote for Ed Miliband. Do I really need to explain how that works?
4.) “These were only European elections”.
Only?
You’ve just spent the
past three months telling us how much they matter.
5.) “People have legitimate concerns…”
It’s not for politicians to tell the country
what is and what isn’t legitimate. If anything, it’s the other way around.
6.) “We need a serious debate about
immigration.”
We’ve had the
debate.
It’s over.
Three quarters of
people want immigration reduced, and no party argues for higher numbers. What
bothers voters isn’t the lack of a debate; it’s the lack of any sense that we
control whom we admit or in what numbers.
7.) “The
Conservatives don’t do pacts or deals with other parties”.
Oh really? What’s
this thing we’re doing with the Lib Dems, then?
8.) “We won’t be blown off course…”
A politician who
talks in cliché isn’t bothering to think about what he’s saying.
Yes, you, Cleggie.
9.) “These results
show London as an open, tolerant and diverse city.”
So said Tessa Jowell
in a Tweet that might have been calculated to insult the rest of England. While
we're on the subject, boasting that ethnic minorities overwhelmingly vote
Labour isn't exactly great for race relations.
10.) "Ukip isn't really about
Europe".
Oh, yes, it is.
The clue is in the
name.
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