The truest thing Nigel Farage has said in the countdown to Thursday's European election is, "I was tired", when apologising for unfortunate remarks on Romanian immigration.
Farage's tiredness tells us much about his rise to fame, not least his
lonely status as leader, spokesman, policy chief, disciplinarian,
candidate selector and celebrity all-in-one. It is a wonder the whole
Ukip enterprise has not already evaporated in a whirl of heat.
But Farage's Ukip is not a political party, nor is it just a one-man band, though its leader's relaxed style and affability speak volumes for modern political craftsmanship. Ukip is simply a point of view; one that has always existed in countries with fluid societies and open economies. It is a view widely held by people whose jobs are insecure and whose communities seem under siege that was articulated with more racism, though less panache, by Enoch Powell at the end of the 1960s.
What has given this view sudden electoral potency is a quite separate disillusionment with the ever greater European union. Even decades of immigration from the non-white Commonwealth never had the dynamism that Farage has been able to generate over Europe's open borders. He's given latent xenophobia the elixir of respectability in opposing the EU – exploiting the uncritical complacency of the pro-Europe lobby.
Tarnishing Ukip as a racist party or castigating it as extreme has proved woefully counter-productive. People who oppose European integration do not like being branded racist. Ukip may be absurdly ramshackle; its policies may be as chaotic as its organisation. This is not at issue. As the vehicle for a point of view, Ukip is specific: it wants Britain "out of Europe". A vote for Ukip on Thursday is not a vote for an MEP or a party, let alone a government. It is the closest to a referendum on Europe that Britain has been allowed this century, and it will be seen as such.
But Farage's Ukip is not a political party, nor is it just a one-man band, though its leader's relaxed style and affability speak volumes for modern political craftsmanship. Ukip is simply a point of view; one that has always existed in countries with fluid societies and open economies. It is a view widely held by people whose jobs are insecure and whose communities seem under siege that was articulated with more racism, though less panache, by Enoch Powell at the end of the 1960s.
What has given this view sudden electoral potency is a quite separate disillusionment with the ever greater European union. Even decades of immigration from the non-white Commonwealth never had the dynamism that Farage has been able to generate over Europe's open borders. He's given latent xenophobia the elixir of respectability in opposing the EU – exploiting the uncritical complacency of the pro-Europe lobby.
Tarnishing Ukip as a racist party or castigating it as extreme has proved woefully counter-productive. People who oppose European integration do not like being branded racist. Ukip may be absurdly ramshackle; its policies may be as chaotic as its organisation. This is not at issue. As the vehicle for a point of view, Ukip is specific: it wants Britain "out of Europe". A vote for Ukip on Thursday is not a vote for an MEP or a party, let alone a government. It is the closest to a referendum on Europe that Britain has been allowed this century, and it will be seen as such.
Read more: A vote for Ukip is a vote against Europe, nothing more | Simon Jenkins | Comment is free | theguardian.com
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