On a wet Saturday in June I found myself standing face to face with arguably one of the most reviled men in British Politics; Nigel Farage. For months I had been heavily criticising Mr. Farage and his controversial party, UKIP. At last my chance had come to tell him what I thought of both him and of UKIP.
Until May of this year UKIP had been a struggling party trying to break into the mainstream political scene. Now they are the United Kingdom’s largest party in the European Parliament and in line to becoming Britain’s third largest party in the House of Commons at the General Election next year. Scary, right? Wait until you hear their manifesto.
Obviously, UKIP’s main policy is to leave the European Union which in turn would mean that millions of jobs would be lost as global manufacturers would move to lower-cost EU countries, international travel would become harder and over £400bn a year in trade would be threatened. However, UKIP has a number of other startling aims and policies. For example, detailed plans were proposed to privatize the NHS, scrap paid maternity leave and reintroduce corporal punishment in schools. To me these plans do not sound like those of a “democratic, libertarian party” as the party describes itself, but those of an extreme right wing party. UKIP also have questionable views on same sex marriage, immigration and even the number of foreign players allowed to play for football teams!
So, when I was standing in Dulwich College next to Mr. Farage in his stripy blazer I was ready to explain to him why I thought UKIP is a xenophobic, homophobic, racist party. Unfortunately, nerves kicked in and I didn’t tell him what I thought about him and his horrendous party. (Although I feel this article is slightly doing my nerves justice!) “What did you say?”- I hear you ask? Well, like a typical 21st century teenager I found myself saying,
“Can I take a selfie?”
@euan_rowe, 15, Knowle
Scuffle 