Nigel Farage was treated to a classic dismantling by Andrew Neil on The Daily Politics today. Asked if UKIP was against replacing Trident, he replied: “I’m not sure where you got that from”, to which Neil deadpanned: “from your website“. Questioned on whether he still wanted a “compulsory dress code for taxi drivers”, he answered: “do we? News to me”. Asked whether it was still party policy to require trains to be “repainted in traditional colours”, he responded: “I’ve never read that, I’ve no idea what you’re talking about.” Challenged on how the party could possibly afford its pledge to cut taxes by £90bn and increase spending by £30bn, he mused: “let’s see”.
The Tories, who are stepping up their rebuttal of UKIP, have pounced on the clip as evidence that Farage is “simply not credible”. But even if we ignore his vow to relaunch all UKIP policy after the European elections (“none of it stands today”), it is doubtful that such incidents damage him. It is precisely Farage’s flippancy and his lack of formality (“when it comes to websites, I’m not the expert”) that voters find endearing. All that the public, who pay far less attention to policy than most imagine, need to know is that UKIP stands against the Westminster establishment, against immigration, against “human rights”, against overseas aid and against the EU. With no expectation that it will hold any significant power after 2015, voters have little interest in its stance on fiscal policy or defence.
If Farage wants UKIP to eventually become something bigger than a protest party, he will not be able to afford such gaffes. But for now, they merely add to his lustre.
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