Whatever your opinion of the former prime minister, he certainly knows how to take the argument to Nigel Farage.
Whatever your opinion of the former prime minister, he certainly knows how to take the argument to Nigel Farage
Almost everyone has an opinion as to what the left needs to do in response to the electoral rise of UKIP. Everyone up to and including the former prime minister Tony Blair (who everyone also has an opinion of).
But whatever your opinion of Labour’s last elected PM – and we that know many progressives will never forgive him for his role in the Iraq war – he certainly knows how to take the argument to Nigel Farage on the issue of Europe.
This video, from way back in 2005 (interestingly, a year after UKIP had done well in the 2004 European elections) offers an invaluable lesson to today’s progressive, pro-European politicians in how it’s done – regardless of your opinion of Blair.
Watch and learn, and never apologise for being in favour of a united Europe.
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21 Responses to “Video: Tony Blair smacks down a ranting Nigel Farage”
Liam Fairley
That’s the most banal, ignorant comment I think I’ve ever heard
Jon Stone
Close the door and see if those wages stop going down. They won’t. Because immigration isn’t the cause – it’s just the scapegoat, the thing that’s easy for idiots to rail against. If you want better wages and better employment conditions, ask for reforms in employment law.
Liam Fairley
And labelling anyone with even the slightest reservation against immigration as an idiot is helpful? The evidence suggests that immigration has a very small impact on average wages, but hits those at the lower end of the spectrum hardest whilst benefiting those middle to higher earners. Check out http://www.migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk for more info
Jon Stone
I’m not labelling “anyone with even the slightest reservation against immigration as an idiot”. I’m labelling anyone who believes immigration is the primary cause of low wages an idiot. And I don’t mean ‘idiot’ in the sense of unintelligent – I mean it in the sense of someone who makes the conscious choice to choose or believe a stupid thing.
Immigration only ‘hits those at the lower end of the spectrum hardest’ because employers are allowed to get away with offering poor terms and conditions that immigrants accept more readily (I’m not suggesting this is because of innate virtue on their part). That isn’t the fault of the immigrants; it’s the fault of the employers and our collectively allowing them to get away with it.
Sparky
But let’s take an example. Say the job of a plasterer pays £20 an hour. But suddenly a group of immigrant workers arrives who will do it for £15. Who would you employ? It’s not breaking any laws to pay them £15. They’re willing to work for that and I’m willing to pay it. It’s well above the minimum wage. So what laws would you invoke? On what basis do you envisage the state stepping in to prevent that transaction? Is there anything immoral about it anyway? I can’t see even a moral dimension. It’s just simply what happens when people from a poor country like Poland (who are used to working for a lot less) arrive in a rich country like the UK. Wages are driven down.