Farage Finally Faces up to Islam

(Photograph: Derek Bennett, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons)

It’s taken Nigel Farage a long time; some might say an inordinate amount of time (a decade and a half if you’re counting), but he’s finally gotten around to addressing Britain’s Muslim problem. For this he deserves praise and reproach in equal measure: praise for braving the liberal media, most of whom would fail to connect Islam and the grooming of their own daughters. He deserves criticism however, for throwing the likes of Tommy Robinson and Anne Marie Waters under the bus when they attempted to highlight the same issue under the UKIP banner. The most charitable interpretation of this is that Farage recognised the problem, but knew the party could not afford to be saddled with the inevitable stigma. This of course, does not exonerate him completely. 

In the past, the closest Farage has got to identifying the anti-British element in our midst, was to blame multiculturalism and make the somewhat euphemistic reference to a ‘fifth column’ that had been invited in by Tony Blair. Be that as it may, he has finally come out and uttered the ‘M’ word – interestingly choosing to do so opposite former chairman of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, Trevor Philips. 

Speaking on Sky News’ ‘Sunday Morning’ program with the general election just six weeks away, the honorary President of Reform UK came with both barrels cocked and loaded. Here is what he actually said: 

“We have a growing number of young people in this country who do not subscribe to British values, (who) in fact loathe much of what we stand for.”

When asked whether he was referring to Muslims, Farage replied: 

“We are. I am afraid, I found some of the recent surveys saying 46 per cent of British Muslims support Hamas, support a terrorist organisation that is proscribed in this country… What is interesting is that this prime minister is building up far more of that population than anybody before in history.”

If you have 13 minutes to spare, the full interview is worth watching:

And while Farage did little to validate his claims, this (presumably) is why he made them: 

• 52% of British Muslims consider homosexuality should be illegal

• Around 40% want sharia law in Britain 

• 46% support Hamas, and only one in four believe Hamas committed murder and rape in Israel 

• A quarter sympathise with the Charlie Hebdo terrorists 

• 90% of MI5’s terror watchlist is comprised of jihadis (43,000 strong) 

• Hundreds more British Muslims have chosen to join ISIS than to fight in the British Army 

I could go on all day. Philips however was having none of it, and did his best to reframe the discussion disingenuously: highlighting the question of whether Farage was being ‘offensive’, blaming Brexit for mass immigration, and with arms crossed and ill-disguised glee, simpered:

‘Well, this is very interesting! Are you sure you want to make the blanket accusation that Muslims are somehow less patriotic than other British people?’

I say ‘disingenuously’, because Philips must have been vaguely aware of where Farage was coming from, having made the self-same argument himself way back in 2016 when he presented the Channel 4 documentary What British Muslims Really Think. This is what he said at the time: 

“On specific issues – families, sexuality, gender, attitudes towards Jews and on questions of violence and terrorism – the centre of gravity of British Muslim opinion is some distance away from the centre of gravity of everyone else’s opinion.

One in six Muslims say they would like to live more separately, a quarter would like to live under sharia law. It means that as a society we have a group of people who basically do not want to participate in the way that other people [do].

What we also found is that there is a correspondence between this desire to live separately and sympathy for terrorism. People who want to live separately are about twice as likely to say that they have sympathy for terrorist acts. Anybody, including most people in the Muslim community, would find that extremely worrying.

We are more nervous about Muslims because we feel people will be offended. But my view is that looking at the results of this survey, which have surprised me, that we have gone beyond the situation where we can say: ‘OK, don’t worry; they will come round in time,’ because that is not going to happen we have to make things change now.”

This means Philips was either playing devil’s advocate (a little too convincingly), or simply being a snide. Philips has form in this department, having rather hilariously been suspended from the Labour Party over accusations of ‘Islamophobia’ – a term he was instrumental in popularising! That tells us something about how far the left have distorted rational debate. 

In terms of hypocrisy, Sir Trevor is neither alone nor anywhere near the top of the league table. Staggeringly, the architect of Britain’s destruction, Tony Blair, made even more ‘Islamophobic’ observations than Philips, when he argued that many millions of Muslims are ‘fundamentally incompatible with the modern world’: 

“We are at war with Islamist extremism. We need a different rhythm of thought in respect of it; preparing for a conflict that is longer than anything we have seen in modern times.

The attacks in Belgium were shocking. Unfortunately the attacks are going to keep coming. If you have no compunction about killing wholly innocent civilians and are prepared to die in the act of doing so, societies like ours offer vast possibilities of vulnerability.”

All we need now is for Lutfur Rahman to come out and attack Keir Starmer’s ‘votes at 16’ on the grounds of electoral impropriety, and I think the electorate should be awarded a Bingo prize!

There is a much bigger issue here than mere hypocrisy however. Farage’s willingness to finally come clean on the religion that must not be named, cannot be overstated. 

1. It suggests the Overton Window has genuinely shifted of late – a likely Europe-wide phenomenon. It’s worth noting, Farage is usually an excellent reader of the public mood. 

2. Although there is widespread disappointment that Farage is not standing himself this time around, his comments suggest he is playing the long game and seriously eyeing election come 2029.

3. Disturbingly, Farage’s admission also suggests the threat of Islam is now so great, even ‘cautious’ politicians are waking up – this extends to government ministers. 

As night follows day, the predictably shrill cries of ‘Islamophobia’ have been levied at Farage (mostly from those who created the problem, or are frightened of losing their seats). The Tories have not the slightest intention of dealing with Islam or mass immigration – unless you imagine the last 14 years of government were just a warm-up? Labour meanwhile are facing the issue the only way they know how: selling pro-Palestine policies in exchange for votes (Angela Rayner), campaigning in Urdu (Naz Shah), and incorporating ‘from the river to the sea’ into their campaigns (Andy McDonald). 

So what’s the solution? We caught a glimpse of it on Tuesday, during Reform UK’s press conference in Dover. Unlike any of the other candidates on the docket, Farage looked prime ministerial. He batted away mainstream media sniping with ease and good humour, and with no disrespect to Richard Tice, it was crystal clear who the actual party leader is:

By finally stepping up to the plate, Farage and Reform UK have confirmed what the public have known for years: mass immigration and specifically Islam now constitute the main political issue in Britain. The good news is, in Nigel Farage you’re almost certainly looking at the next conservative Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. The bad news is, you’re going to have to wait until 2029 to vote him in, by which time Islam will be an even greater threat than it is now. 

Frank Haviland is the Editor of The New Conservative, and the author of Banalysis: The Lie Destroying the West.

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