UKIP leader Nigel Farage this week launched an outrageous attack on the integrity of new EU High Commissioner Baroness Ashton, implying links with Communists.
Nigel Farage, in his last week as UKIP leader, has launched a highly personal attack on the newly-appointed EU High Commissioner Cathy Ashton – accusing her of being in the pay of “enemies of the West”.
His behaviour, criticised by the President of the European Parliament as being “absolutely improper to the whole situation”, has unsurprisingly been lauded by Euro-sceptics – on the UKIP website and by the high-priest of Europhobia, Tory MEP Daniel Hannan in his blog.
Farage’s tactics – calling Baroness Ashton and Herman van Rompuy “political pygmies” and describing her appointment as “an embarrassment for Britain” – are just the latest in a series of personal attacks by increasingly desperate Right-wingers against prominent Labour figures, including members of the Cabinet.
Among those who challenged Farage in Brussels were Irish MEP Seán Kelly, who said:
“I think some of the comments made today unfortunately by Mr Farage were over the top, but at this stage I am becoming aware of the fact that Mr Farage is like a long-playing record. He keeps repeating the same political agenda, harking back to the days of Rule, Britannia! and nation fighting nation. Those days are over.
“The European Union is the greatest peace process ever known. It shall continue to do so and we parliamentarians must work hard to ensure that that is the way it is going to be from now on.”
And Hungarian MEP Edit Herczog told him:
“I would like to quote a Hungarian saying to you. It is good that you are here because, if the monkey goes up the tree, it is easier to see its backside!”
The new leader of UKIP will be announced later today.
Hat tip: Rupert Read
UPDATE 4:00
Lord Pearson is the new leader of UKIP, no doubt to Mr Farage’s relief; earlier this month he had described Pearson as the only “credible candidate” for leader, saying he was “head and shoulders above all the other candidates”.
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15 Responses to “Farage smears Ashton as being in the pocket of “enemies of the West””
Rory
In all honesty I don’t see the point of re-publishing a two-day old circular e-mail with a bit of commentary and context thrown in.
I thought the purpose of blogs like this was to generate new things that might be picked up by the mainstream media.
Liz McShane
Rory
I hadn’t seen this story until reading LFF today and i think sean kelly is spot on.
Shamik Das
It’s relevant in the context of the UKIP leadership elections, the results of which were announced today, plus I don’t believe many people will have gone through the entire transcript of the debate (which takes time, as does translating some of the contributions) and seen the comments of Edit Herczog and Seán Kelly, which I think illustrate quite vividly the contempt in which Farage and British Euro-sceptics generally are held by our friends on the Continent.
I’m not one to just reprint emails or press releases as fact without going through the publications/transcripts/documents myself.
Anon E Mouse
Shamik Das – You say: “which I think illustrate quite vividly the contempt in which Farage and British Euro-sceptics generally are held by our friends on the Continent.”
But not unpopular in the UK where UKIP knocked the Labour Party into third place and only 2% ahead of the Lib Dems. As an ex-Labour voter and a person who knows how much Labour are hated and Gordon Brown detested by normally Labour voters I’m surprised they even came third.
My point is that Ashton has never received a single European electors vote – not one. Even though she was nominated by Gordon Brown, the unelected and most unpopular Prime Minister in British history she can’t be voted out by a single European electors vote. How “progressive” a system is that – you guys should be going nuts about it!
No one in Britain cares what these European non entities think or even knows who they are. If you think that being “an increasing desperate right winger” is an insult, especially with Labour third behind UKIP and with two BNP MEP’s elected on Labour’s watch AND Cameron well ahead in the opinion polls I think you may be wrong Shamik.
I do agree though that is has been translated for us without us having to suffer watching it ourselves which is good.
Providing the selected parts posted here represent the “mood music” of the debate and not a politically biased view….
Shamik Das
Hi Anon, you’re more than welcome to read the whole thing:
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//NONSGML+CRE+20091125+SIT+DOC+PDF+V0//EN&language=EN
On the elections, yes, they were disappointing, and yes, Baroness Ashton hasn’t been elected, but then neither has Lord Pearson, and he’s now the UKIP leader.