Farage wants voters to ‘trust’ him. That’s rich

Nigel Farage’s new Brexit Party won’t be discussing policy in detail during the European election campaign. Instead it is appealing to voters “on trust”. Early polling suggests Farage has a shot at replicating Ukip’s 2014 success, when his former party won over 27% of the vote. But if Farage’s track record proves anything – from his dishonest Leave campaigning to disappearing when the going gets tough – it’s that “trust” is the last thing voters should give him.

Don’t trust him with the truth – just look at 2016

It was Farage who kickstarted the Leave campaign’s “Project Fear” with the lie that Turkey would join the EU as soon as 2020, saying its 75 million citizens would have unfettered access to live, work and claim benefits in the UK. The official campaign, Vote Leave, followed suit when it became clear how effective this falsehood could be.

Other referendum lowlights for Farage included: the racist dog-whistling of his notorious “Breaking Point” poster and denying Brexit would cause any problems for the Irish border. What’s more, having popularised the lie that the EU costs us £350 million a week (he used the figure £50 million a day), he distanced himself from the number the day after the result.

Don’t trust him to stick around

Less than a fortnight after the referendum vote, Farage resigned as Ukip leader. He left others with the impossible task of fulfilling his promise to stop following EU laws and end free movement of EU citizens, while not tanking the economy. By spring 2017 Farage was even telling callers to his LBC radio show that if Brexit was a disaster he’d “go and live abroad” – not an easy option for most people, and ironically one that would be made much harder if we left the EU.

Don’t trust him with your money

Farage has made a career out of criticising the Brussels “gravy train” – but is not afraid of abusing it. Last year, he was docked over £35,000 from his MEP salary for misspending taxpayer-funded EU money.

Don’t trust him to fight your corner

When given the chance, Farage has also proven unwilling to speak up for the very groups he claims to stand for. Take local fishing communities, which he claims to champion. During three years on the European Parliament’s Fisheries Committee, Farage attended one of 42 meetings, Greenpeace research showed. He missed several key votes, including one on giving higher quotas to smaller, sustainable fishing fleets in coastal communities.

Don’t trust him if you normally vote Labour

Farage said that in European elections his Brexit Party would be going for the Labour vote in a “very big way”. But the former Ukip leader’s politics couldn’t be further from traditional Labour values. He’s on record in 2012 suggesting the NHS should be privatised along the lines of an “insurance-based system”. He also described increases to maternity pay as “foolish” in 2010. Underneath his man-of-the-people act, intensively cultivated in recent years, what does Farage really believe?

There was a point when Farage seemed keen for a public vote on the terms of our departure from the EU. But he’s weaselled out of that too, saying victory for his Brexit Party should reduce the chance of a People’s Vote. What changed his mind? Is he worried that the public have seen through his lies to the almighty mess at Brexit’s heart? One thing you can trust him to do is to try to pull the wool over voters’ eyes in the campaign ahead.

Published and promoted by Hugo Dixon on behalf of Referendum Facts Ltd., Millbank Tower, 21-24 Millbank, London SW1P 4QP