That was better. I agree with his point re democracy.

Although I like the concept of the EU, the government of the EU is a farce. And so is the European court. The pensions case was classic. The case again went against the expats but when questioned after the ruling one of the judges said he hadn't realised that the UK pension was contributory rather than a gift of the state. What the fluck was he doing during the case?

Better!

I agree that democracy is not best practice within the EU buildings, and I certainly did not like the way the EU president was appointment, but that is not an excuse to go down the cheap, uneducated, rude way of debating politics issues and offending other countries and people without looking at their own backyard first.

I can't be doing with uneducated rudeness. There is getting your point over and failing to do so simply because you can't get your message across without abusing an entire country. He may have some good points but they are all lost, in my opinion, because he is ignorant and rude.

Got irritated after a while with the second one. What are the posters being held up by the two grinning idiots behind him about?

... and Dan Hannan comes to his rescue............

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/da...eptics-beware/

The insults may have been out of place, but Hannan's blog is worth reading for the fuller picture.

Farage is just about the best platform speaker in UK politics right now (the Tories would love him, but he knows they sold their souls to the EU devil many years ago, and in any case they have repeatedly opposed withdrawal from the EU). UKIP are the only morally electable party to support withdrawal (ie. not the BNP).

He's standing against John Bercow (The Speaker) in Buckingham in the forthcoming GE, and the word is that Labour, Lib Dem and even some Tory supporters intend to vote for him (if only to dump that odious creep Bercow). The three 'main' parties aren't fielding their own candidates there, so a 'surprise' (which it wouldn't be) is on the cards.

I hardly think it was uneducated rudeness and Nigel Farage is definitely not uneducated. What he said was deliberate and planned. Besides, that kind of talk is par for the course in politics. They all act like a bunch of school kids in the playground. What is more imporatant is the point he was making and I thought he got it across very well even if it wasn't PC.

Were they really grinning idiots? That a bit rude

The posters were presumably of Catherine Margaret Ashton, Baroness Ashton of Upholland who was mentioned several times during the bloke's speech.

She is the High Representative of the [European] Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. A very powerful position especially considering she has never been elected to any political office, ever.

It's easy to dismiss him as uneducated and rude but he's 100% correct and is the kind of politician that the UK needs right now. His perceived rudeness is IMO British political style combined with frustration that his message is so obviously correct yet has so far has fallen on deaf ears. It certainly made them sit up and think . But he could have done without the background grinners because the issues that he's raising deserve far greater seriousness than that. What is far far ruder is the way that our new European masters have been foisted upon us.

And it's interesting that she hasn't disputed Farage's allegations

I doubt if she would. Probably because the UK sets a precedent on this. If you can't get elected then get yourself elevated to the Lords.

Maybe that's why a lot of Brits are comfortable with the EU's lack of democracy.

The worst is Peter Mandelson - an unelected but extremely powerful politician/policymaker.

The unelected ones are the most dangerous.

I actually know Nigel.

He left a very high paying job in the city to become a MEP because he truly believes in Britain as a self governing country. He would be millions of pounds better of if he had stayed in the city. He is not in this to enrich himself.

A few years ago, he actually gave all of his MEP travel expenses to a charity. For that he got fined by the European parliament for "contempt".

I agree with others that he use of name calling was a bad mistake and he deserved his fine.

He is genuinely a nice bloke who loves his country, it's history and its institutions. Most of you would enjoy having a beer with him.

He would also be very willing to walk away it there was a national referendum on the UK being in the EU. His view is that the minority are pushing the UK into the EU against the wishes of the majority.

From what I have seen (which is not much), I like him. He is obviously articulate and intelligent and can get his point across well - a quality missing in most politicians. He is asking questions that should have been answered long ago, questions that the euro elite don't want to hear.

Good on him.

I agree but at least he has been elected at some point in the past. Unlike Lady Aston.