Farage beats Clegg and boosts chances of joining 2015 debates
He may have been sweating - but he didn't 'look nuts' and he's staked his claim as UK's leading Eurosceptic
AFTER 'Godzilla versus King Kong' in the great EU debate last night, there is one question that needs answering: did Nigel Farage do enough to win a place on the platform for the televised leaders’ debates at the next general election?
Farage, the anti-Europe leader of Ukip, was excluded from the televised debates last time. But his team are cock-a-hoop this morning, saying that the level of public support after the LBC debate will make it difficult to deny him a place with David Cameron, Nick Clegg and Ed Miliband in front of the cameras in 2015.
A strong showing in the EU elections this 22 May could now almost guarantee Ukip a place alongside the big three. Not that last night's debate shed much light on the subject of Europe.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Farage was condemned by the Liberal Democrats today for declaring the EU has “blood on its hands” for encouraging Ukraine to seek closer ties with Europe.
Paddy Ashdown, the former Lib Dem leader, said on Radio 4's Today programme: “It was an outrageous thing to say – I think this morning he will regret it”.
But Lord Pearson, a leading light in Ukip, said Farage would not be apologising because the Ukraine comment was “justified”.
If it was a slip then it was the only one made by Farage in an hour-long live debate with Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg over whether Britain should leave or stay in the EU, hosted by LBC and broadcast simultaneously on Sky News and BBC News 24.
The passionately anti-European Farage emerged as the clear winner in an instant YouGov poll which gave him 57 per cent compared to 36 per cent for Clegg.
But for Farage, the figures did not matter. As the Ukip spin doctor Patrick O’Flynn said, with both David Cameron and Ed Miliband declining to take part in the debate, last night showed that Farage is the leading Eurosceptic voice in Britain.
Cameron, of course, is deeply conflicted: privately he's a a Europhile but as Tory leader he has to acknowledge the deep reservations among party members and backbenchers about EU membership. But by keeping clear last night and trying to ignore the Ukip threat, he has achieved nothing.
In fact, Farage gained more publicity for the live debate than anything he or his party has done since he crashed to earth in a light aircraft that got tangled up in a Ukip banner during the 2010 election campaign.
Even Jeremy Paxman, the BBC Newsnight presenter, had to admit Farage had emerged “not looking completely nuts”.
Nick Clegg, whose party is hovering at around nine or ten per cent in most opinion polls, behind Ukip, also needed the publicity to try to revive his party’s fortunes ahead of the European elections.
Lord Ashdown employed some pretty tortured maths to hail the result of the post-debate poll a success for Clegg. "I think 36 per cent support is three times that enjoyed by his party and probably twice the latent support for his proposition 'Britain in Europe' – I think that is a debating success," said Ashdown.
At least Clegg looked cooler than Farage, who was shiny with sweat, which probably had more to do with his pre-debate visit to the Westminster Arms than nerves. Quentin Letts in the Daily Mail said he was “sweating like an onion on low gas”.
The Independent's Donald Macintyre made a more serious point: the unconventional Farage was clearly impressive against the conventional Clegg. The Ukip leader "may be at heart steeped in 1950s nostalgia", said Macintyre, but he is "a good deal more post-modern about the facts".
Isabel Oakeshott, the former Sunday Times political editor turned Cameron biographer, was also impressed by Farage. She tweeted: "Clegg has adopted a rather pleading manner. Cameron should be very worried by Farage’s performance."
Clegg used figures that people frankly didn’t believe, including an assertion that only seven per cent of laws were imposed on the UK from Brussels, which Clegg said he had got from the House of Commons Library. Farage pulled a face and said even Gordon Brown had admitted more laws were forced on Britain than that.
The YouGov poll showed both leaders enjoyed a ratings boost as a result of the debate, with an increased percentage of respondents saying they had a positive impression of them afterwards.
But what's really clear is that by not taking part, Labour and the Conservatives both lost.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Netherlands split on WFH for sex workers
Speed Read Councils concerned over 'nuisance' of at-home sex work, but others say changes will curb underground sex trade
By Arion McNicoll, The Week UK Published
-
'He adored Trump, and then rejected him'
Today's Newspapers A roundup of the headlines from the US front pages
By The Week Staff Published
-
The Thursday Murder Club: who's in the film and what we can expect
Speed Read Author Richard Osman reveals starry cast set to play his 'septuagenarian sleuths'
By Adrienne Wyper, The Week UK Published
-
Is David Cameron overshadowing Rishi Sunak?
Talking Point Current PM faces 'thorny dilemma' as predecessor enjoys return to world stage
By The Week UK Published
-
How will honeytrap scandal change Westminster?
Today's Big Question Security procedures laid bare by spear phishing attack as focus shifts to 'political insider' being responsible
By The Week UK Published
-
'Europe is now beginning to tackle its military to-do list'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
Will Aukus pact survive a second Trump presidency?
Today's Big Question US, UK and Australia seek to expand 'game-changer' defence partnership ahead of Republican's possible return to White House
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Can Boris Johnson save Rishi Sunak?
Today's Big Question Former PM could 'make the difference' between losing the next election and annihilation
By The Week UK Published
-
Liz Truss and her bid to woo the American far-right
Why Everyone's Talking About Former PM pitching herself as 'bridge in transatlantic conservative movement'
By The Week UK Published
-
Can Cameron put the Falklands sovereignty dispute to bed?
Today's Big Question Foreign secretary says issue 'not up for discussion' ahead of visit amid renewed push from Argentina
By The Week UK Published
-
It's the economy, Sunak: has 'Rishession' halted Tory fightback?
Today's Big Question PM's pledge to deliver economic growth is 'in tatters' as stagnation and falling living standards threaten Tory election wipeout
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published