A new Brexit divide is driving the UK to a second vote
There is a new division in British politics. The key split may no longer be between Remainers and Leavers. It is now between the purists and the pragmatists ; between those who believe Brexit is going to change everything and those who are still trying to get back to business as usual; between those who still believe there is some kind of Brexit fix and those who do not want to find one. On one side we have the leaderships of the two main parties, both of which are battling their own members and MPs to cobble together a Brexit compromise in the flawed belief that this will allow them to move on to other issues.
Nigel Farage — Britain’ s most famous and pugilistic populist — is back on the trail. Mr. Farage spent two decades promoting withdrawal from the European Union. When Britons voted for it in a 2016 referendum, and Prime Minister Theresa May and her Conservatives promised to see it through
Nigel Farage has quit his LBC show 'with immediate effect' following talks with station executives, the broadcaster announced this afternoon. Yet fellow LBC presenter James O'Brien, a vehement critic of both Brexit and Mr Farage , gleefully tweeted: 'We got our station back '.
© Leon Neal/Getty Images Nigel Farage in London in January. After two decades promoting withdrawal from the European Union, Mr. Farage formed the new Brexit Party. CLACTON-ON-SEA, England — The campaign bus draws up and out steps a familiar figure in a smart suit and tie, who strides down the street, stopping at a pub, where he poses for pictures grinning with his pint, as he has done countless times before.
Nigel Farage — Britain’s most famous and pugilistic populist — is back on the trail.
Mr. Farage spent two decades promoting withdrawal from the European Union. When Britons voted for it in a 2016 referendum, and Prime Minister Theresa May and her Conservatives promised to see it through, he shifted his focus to media work, hosting a radio show and appearing on television news programs.
The conditions are ripe for the biggest Brexit backlash imaginable
On an unseasonably chilly May afternoon, Nigel Farage looks out at the rows of empty seats at Fylde AFC, a Lancashire football club, the site of the latest of his Brexit Party rallies (eight and counting). He knows the stands will soon be filled with over 1,600 paying punters who will come to cheer, to jeer and to hear not only from the man himself - now nothing short of a political folk hero - but a full slate of Brexit Party candidates, including Ann Widdecombe, a Tory of five decades' standing. © Getty Britain in 2019 is a petri dish of populism and prime for a revolt Mr Farage is pleased with his latest signing.
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Brext Party MEP Matthew Patten has urged the European Parliament to give the party more speaking time. "1 minute is all you get, if you get drawn out of the
But the shambolic failure of attempts to deliver Brexit has given Mr. Farage another opening, and his newly founded Brexit Party threatens to become a guided missile aimed at Britain’s two main parties. Both are badly split over the question of Europe and both are already facing a backlash from voters.
Mr. Farage’s target is the elections to the European Parliament, normally a low-key contest in Britain. This time, it was not supposed to happen in the country at all, because Brexit was scheduled for March 29.
But with the departure deadline delayed until at least Halloween, the election is going ahead. That is bad news for the Conservative and Labour parties, which suffered losses in local elections this month that the Brexit Party did not contest.
PM urged to ditch Brexit talks with Labour and move to indicative votes
Education Secretary Damian Hinds also expressed support for finding a ‘stable majority’.
UKIP leader Nigel Farage has warned of disturbances on the streets if Parliament tries to block Brexit . The judges who ruled on Thursday that the government must seek MPs' approval to invoke Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty - getting formal Brexit negotiations with the EU under way - have been
Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage on Brexit and the future of U. S . trade with the U.K. FOX Business Network (FBN) is a financial news channel delivering real
© Dan Kitwood/Getty Images Pro-Brexit demonstrators gathered for a speech by Mr. Farage in London in March. But it is particularly awful for the Conservatives, many of whose usual supporters are livid that Mrs. May has failed to deliver on Brexit; voters could desert the party in droves. In one recent poll on the European elections, the Conservatives were buried in third place, with 13 percent, well behind the 30 percent for the Brexit Party and 21 percent for Labour.
Into that crucible has stepped Mr. Farage, perhaps the most divisive figure on the British political landscape, but also among the most effective. He has taken to the stump and to social media with a simple message: that Britain should leave the European Union even without any agreement. In the process, he excoriates what he calls a Brexit betrayal by mendacious elites.
Most lawmakers and analysts think a no-deal Brexit would be economically disastrous. Before the referendum, Mr. Farage breezily assured voters that securing a favorable trade deal with the European Union would be easy because German automakers would demand the right to sell their cars in Britain. Nowadays, he prefers to focus on issues of identity and sovereignty.
Nigel Farage's Brexit Party uses video of Sinn Féin's Mary Lou McDonald against EU
Nigel Farage's Brexit Party uses video of Sinn Féin's Mary Lou McDonald against EU
MPs have clashed over the role of Nigel Farage and his Brexit Party. SNP' s Pete Wishart told the House that Nigel Farage and his like were to blame for the
Nigel Farage Defends Brexit Party MEPs Turning Their Backs to the EU Anthem | Good Morning Britain - Продолжительность: 7:06 Good Morning Britain 176 842 просмотра.
© Frederick Florin/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images Mr. Farage during a session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, in March. His Brexit Party presents problems for both main British parties, which have stumbled over their handling of the pullout from the European Union. An admirer of President Trump, Mr. Farage was certainly popular among the mainly graying supporters who gathered one recent day on the pier at Clacton-on-Sea, once a thriving vacation spot in Essex, east of London, and now an unfashionable outpost at the end of a slow rail line.
What, he asked them rhetorically, would Brexit do for towns like this? “It would make us proud of who we are as a nation once again,” he roared, “and you can’t put a price on that.”
Performances such as this have propelled Mr. Farage back to prominence, which has meant greater scrutiny and some awkward headlines, too. Questions about the Brexit Party’s funding were raised after Mr. Farage refused to identify its biggest donor, though Jeremy Hosking, a financier, later said he had made a large donation. And there was criticism of a speech Mr. Farage gave in the United States in which he claimed that entire streets in one British town were divided on racial lines.
Early general election could ‘kill’ Brexit, Hancock warns Tories
Health Secretary says party must not go to the country until Brexit delivered as poll makes Johnson the front runner for Tory crown.
© Andy Buchanan/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images Mr. Farage in the north of England in March, taking part in the first leg of a rally supporting Brexit. Newspapers have also reported claims that he walked away from a car crash without checking on the welfare of others involved, and that his beer-drinking pose is a gimmick, intended to make him appear down to earth, saying that he really prefers wine.
On Sunday, Mr. Farage seemed to lose his cool during a BBC interview when challenged about past comments on immigration, climate change, gun control and President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia.
Nonetheless, experts acknowledge that Mr. Farage’s raucous brand of politics has proved effective.
© Reuters “One of the consequences of Brexit and the way that it has been handled is a rebooting of populism,” said Matthew Goodwin, professor of politics at the University of Kent. “Leavers are incredibly disillusioned and frustrated with the positioning not just of the government but of Parliament.”
While the Brexit Party’s threat to the Conservatives is manifest and could accelerate Mrs. May’s promised departure from power, Mr. Farage also presents problems for the opposition Labour Party.
Leave vs Remain: Images of divided Brexit Britain [Photos]
With the UK's withdrawal from the European Union (EU) experiencing various political complications, having now been delayed up to October 31, 2019, the country has seen increasing public discontent from both Leave and Remain supporters alike. Amidst a general air of uncertainty and ongoing frustration at the government's inability to mobilize a smooth withdrawal from the European bloc, demonstrators on both sides of the political spectrum have taken to the streets to give voice to their discontent. We look at some of the recent protests in pictures.
Nigel Farage faces EU investigation 'over not declaring £450,000 from tycoon Arron Banks including use of a Range Rover, driver and £4m Chelsea flat'
Earlier this week it was claimed the Brexit Party leader (pictured) was bought a chauffeur-driven car, and had his rent and bills on a £4.4m Chelsea home paid for by Mr Banks. Mr Banks also allegedly paid for Farage's lavish tours of the US, during which he met with right wing political figures. But according to the Independent, none of the gifts were declared on Farage's register of interests - a record designed to stop MEPs keeping their conflicts of interests secret.
(Pictured) A pro-Brexit campaigner wears the Union flag colours and holds placards as he demonstrates near the Houses of Parliament in central London, England on April 3, 2019.
Pro-EU demonstrators hold placards and EU flags as they protest outside the Houses of Parliament on April 10, 2019 in London, England.
People walk past EU and Union flags outside the Houses of Parliament in London, England on April 1, 2019.
British politician Nigel Farage takes the stage to speak at a rally at Parliament Square after the final leg of the "March to Leave" in London on March 29.
Anti-Brexit supporters protest outside the Houses of Parliament in London, England on April 1, 2019.
A pro-Brexit protester holds a sign at a demonstration outside the Houses of Parliament on March 29.
A young girl joins the border Brexit protest on the Irish border, on the Old Dublin Road, in Carrickcarnon, Ireland on March 30, 2019.
A far-right protester is detained by police during a pro-Brexit demonstration near the Houses of Parliament in London, England, on March 29.
Demonstrators participate in a Border Communities Against Brexit (BCAB) protest as part of their ongoing campaign against the return of a border to the island of Ireland March 30, 2019.
A man dressed as Darth Vader poses with a Union Jack near a pro-Brexit demonstration at Parliament Square in London on March 29.
A young girl waves the European Flag in Green Park, London, during the Put It To The People March on March 23.
Britons Can’t Help but Make the European Elections All About Brexit
If the U.K. left the EU as planned, it wouldn’t take part in this week’s elections. But nothing about Brexit has gone as planned.
People hold up placards and European Union flags as they pass Trafalgar Square on a march and rally organised by the pro-European People's Vote campaign for a second EU referendum in central London on March 23.
Former UK Independence Party leader Nigel Farage takes part in the "March to Leave" walk in Mansfield, England, on March 23.
A woman taking a picture of the figure of Theresa May in Trafalgar Square, London, during the Put It To The People March on March 23.
Former UKIP leader Nigel Farage addresses marchers from the top of a bus at the start of the 'March to Leave' walk from the village of Linby to Beeston, Nottinghamshire on March 23 in Mansfield.
EU supporters, calling on the government to give Britons a vote on the final Brexit deal, participate in the 'People's Vote' march in central London on March 23.
People gather in Linby for the 'March to Leave' walk on March 23.
EU supporters participate in the 'People's Vote' march in central London, England on March 23.
Pro-Brexit marchers in the village of Linby on March 23.
People gather to take part in the 'Put It To The People' march on March 23 in London, England.
'March to Leave' protesters set off from Linby village in Nottinghamshire towards London, England. The 14-day march began in Sunderland on March 16 and will end in the capital on March 29, where a mass rally will take place on Parliament Square.
Sort Brexit and win election: Five things on the next PM's to-do list
Only three candidates - Boris Johnson, Esther McVey and Rory Stewart - have so far formally declared their intention to stand for the Tory leadership. There will be many more. But whoever takes over from bleary-eyed Theresa May as prime minister - tear today, gone tomorrow - will face the same Brexit crisis that has brought about her downfall. The new prime minister's first problem will be that the parliamentary arithmetic won't have changed since Theresa May's humiliating Commons defeats earlier this year. A Brexiteer prime minister could still be thwarted by a pro-Remain House of Commons.
Protesters take part in the 'Put It To The People' march on Whitehall on March 23 in London, England.
A protester carrrying flags walks past the Union (L) and EU flags of anti-Brexit activists near the Houses of Parliament in London on March 18.
Nigel Farage reacts as he arrives at the end of the first leg of the March to Leave campaign on March 16 in Hartlepool, England.
An anti-Brexit protester holds an EU flag as they demonstrate outside the Houses of Parliament in London on March 14 as MPs debate a motion on whether to seek a delay to Britain's exit from the EU.
Pro-Brexit and anti-Brexit protesters hold flags as they demonstrate outside the Houses of Parliament in London on March 14 as members debate a motion on whether to seek a delay to Britain's exit from the EU.
Anti-Brexit protesters demonstrate outside the Houses of Parliament in London on March 13.
Pro-Brexit protesters demonstrate outside the Houses of Parliament in London on March 13.
Anti-Brexit protesters demonstrate outside the Houses of Parliament in London on March 12.
Anti-Brexit demonstrators protest in the rain ahead of the meaningful vote in Parliament in London on March 12.
Anti-Brexit demonstrators protest in the rain ahead of the meaningful vote in Parliament in London on March 12.
Anti-Brexit protester Steve Bray stands holding placards draped in a composite if the EU and Union flag outside the Houses of Parliament in London on March 4.
Pro-Brexit activists march outside the Houses of Parliament in central London on Feb. 27.
An anti-Brexit activist from the pressure group Our Future, Our Choice (OFOC) signs the campaign bus before a photocall in central London on Feb. 27.
An anti-Brexit protester wearing a European Union flag cap, flies European and Union flags outside the Houses of Parliament in London on Feb. 21.
A remain in the European Union supporter and member of the "Our Future, Our Choice" (OFOC) young people against Brexit organisation campaigning for a People's Vote second referendum on Britain's EU membership poses for photographs after taking part in a protest against a blindfold Brexit on Parliament Square opposite the Houses of Parliament in London, England on Feb. 14.
Anti-Brexit protesters demonstrate outside the Houses of Parliament on Feb. 14.
An anti-Brexit protester wearing a European Union flag cap demonstrates outside the Houses of Parliament in London on Feb. 12.
A man stands near a 'Leave Means Leave' banner as pro-Brexit activists demonstrate outside of the Houses of Parliament in central London on Feb. 14.
Caroline Lucas MP speaks during an anti-Brexit protest outside the Houses of Parliament in London on Feb. 13.
Pro-Brexit activists hold placards and wave Union flags as they demonstrate outside of the Houses of Parliament in London on Jan. 29.
A pro-Brexit activist (L) holding a placard and wearing a union flag-themed shirt talks with an anti-Brexit demonstrator holding an EU flagas they protest near the Houses of Parliament in London on Jan. 29.
The Border Communities Against Brexit group hold an anti-Brexit protest on Jan. 26 in Louth, Ireland.
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Labour is hampered by relying on the support of an awkward coalition: pro-Brexit voters in working-class areas in the middle and the north of the country; and younger, more liberal voters in London and other big cities who are ardent supporters of remaining in the European Union. Members have pressed the party to make a second Brexit referendum part of its election manifesto.
That split provides Mr. Farage with an opportunity.
“They feel they don’t need to target Conservatives because they have Conservatives anyway,” Professor Goodwin said. “They feel they need to win over Labour voters in pro-Brexit areas.”
As critics point out, Mr. Farage is hardly the political outsider and avatar of the common man that he presents himself as. He was educated at an expensive school and worked as a commodities trader before spending two decades as a member of the European Parliament and failing seven times to win election to the British Parliament.
But in Clacton-on-Sea, he talked of Brexit’s being “openly and willfully betrayed” by politicians and argued that “this political class, that these two parties, that Parliament now need to be swept aside and replaced by better people.” At times, the rally had a pantomime feel as Mr. Farage named members of Parliament, waiting for the crowd to boo or, in one case, yell “traitor!”
To fans like Eileen Kelly, 74, Mr. Farage is the man who “tells it like it is.”
She said she voted for Brexit in 2016 largely because she was unhappy about immigration, and she describes the current impasse in Parliament as a “desperate, awful, situation.”
As for Mr. Farage, she says, “He should be prime minister — definitely.”
Related: 'Is Theresa May the worst prime minister in history?'
Within days of its introduction, the Brexit Party said that it had signed up more than 70,000 supporters at 25 pounds, or about $32, a person, and that it had begun advertising online.
In truth, Mr. Farage had been preparing for this moment for months and had put together a machine far slicker than that of a new pro-European party, Change UK, which emerged from a group of lawmakers who left the Labour and Conservative parties this year.
The biggest problem for the Remain forces — and an advantage for the Brexit Party — is that Change UK has several strong rivals for the pro-European vote. Those include the centrist Liberal Democrats; the Greens; the Scottish National Party; and the Welsh nationalists, Plaid Cymru — not to speak of the Labour Party, despite its ambivalence over a second referendum.
Although the system for European Parliament elections is more proportional than that for most votes in Britain, it still punishes smaller groups. “If you knew these elections are coming up, why on earth don’t you decide to organize a pan-party Remain alliance?” Professor Goodwin said. “It beggars belief.”
Mr. Farage has some competition from the U.K. Independence Party, which he once led. It always contained some eccentric characters with the potential to cause embarrassment. Now it has taken a turn to the far right under its new leader, Gerard Batten, who appointed the notoriously anti-Islam activist Tommy Robinson as an adviser. (Mr. Robinson is running in the European elections, but as an independent.)
The split among Brexit supporters could cost Mr. Farage some votes. In Clacton-on-Sea, Chris Manning, 66, who voted for Brexit in 2016, said he was a supporter of Mr. Farage but had not followed the ins and out of whether or not Mr. Farage was still part of UKIP.
But Professor Goodwin said it would be unwise to underestimate Mr. Farage. “The story of the last five years,” he said, “is of nationalists and populists outperforming the others and mobilizing much more successfully than those trying to retain the status quo.”
Follow Stephen Castle on Twitter: @_StephenCastle.
Sort Brexit and win election: Five things on the next PM's to-do list.
Only three candidates - Boris Johnson, Esther McVey and Rory Stewart - have so far formally declared their intention to stand for the Tory leadership. There will be many more. But whoever takes over from bleary-eyed Theresa May as prime minister - tear today, gone tomorrow - will face the same Brexit crisis that has brought about her downfall. The new prime minister's first problem will be that the parliamentary arithmetic won't have changed since Theresa May's humiliating Commons defeats earlier this year. A Brexiteer prime minister could still be thwarted by a pro-Remain House of Commons.
There is a new division in British politics. The key split may no longer be between Remainers and Leavers. It is now between the purists and the pragmatists ; between those who believe Brexit is going to change everything and those who are still trying to get back to business as usual; between those who still believe there is some kind of Brexit fix and those who do not want to find one. On one side we have the leaderships of the two main parties, both of which are battling their own members and MPs to cobble together a Brexit compromise in the flawed belief that this will allow them to move on to other issues. 
On an unseasonably chilly May afternoon, Nigel Farage looks out at the rows of empty seats at Fylde AFC, a Lancashire football club, the site of the latest of his Brexit Party rallies (eight and counting). He knows the stands will soon be filled with over 1,600 paying punters who will come to cheer, to jeer and to hear not only from the man himself - now nothing short of a political folk hero - but a full slate of Brexit Party candidates, including Ann Widdecombe, a Tory of five decades' standing. © Getty Britain in 2019 is a petri dish of populism and prime for a revolt Mr Farage is pleased with his latest signing. 
Education Secretary Damian Hinds also expressed support for finding a ‘stable majority’. 
Nigel Farage's Brexit Party uses video of Sinn Féin's Mary Lou McDonald against EU 
Health Secretary says party must not go to the country until Brexit delivered as poll makes Johnson the front runner for Tory crown. 
Earlier this week it was claimed the Brexit Party leader (pictured) was bought a chauffeur-driven car, and had his rent and bills on a £4.4m Chelsea home paid for by Mr Banks. Mr Banks also allegedly paid for Farage's lavish tours of the US, during which he met with right wing political figures. But according to the Independent, none of the gifts were declared on Farage's register of interests - a record designed to stop MEPs keeping their conflicts of interests secret. 
If the U.K. left the EU as planned, it wouldn’t take part in this week’s elections. But nothing about Brexit has gone as planned. 
Only three candidates - Boris Johnson, Esther McVey and Rory Stewart - have so far formally declared their intention to stand for the Tory leadership. There will be many more. But whoever takes over from bleary-eyed Theresa May as prime minister - tear today, gone tomorrow - will face the same Brexit crisis that has brought about her downfall. The new prime minister's first problem will be that the parliamentary arithmetic won't have changed since Theresa May's humiliating Commons defeats earlier this year. A Brexiteer prime minister could still be thwarted by a pro-Remain House of Commons. 
A new Brexit divide is driving the UK to a second... 
The conditions are ripe for the biggest Brexit backlash... 
PM urged to ditch Brexit talks with Labour and move to indicative... 
Nigel Farage's Brexit Party uses video of Sinn Féin's Mary Lou McDonald against 
Early general election could ‘kill’ Brexit, Hancock warns... 
Nigel Farage faces EU investigation 'over not declaring £450,000 from tycoon... 
Britons Can’t Help but Make the European Elections All About... 
Sort Brexit and win election: Five things on the next PM's to-do... 
