Teaching Comparative Government and Politics

Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Awkward

Parsing the meaning of things can be difficult when you're not politically correct.(Ask Donald Sterling.)

British Candidate Clarifies Just Which Immigrants Disturb Him

Nigel Farage

In a contentious radio interview that sounded at moments like Absurdist theater, the leader of the anti-immigrant U.K. Independence Party, Nigel Farage, denied on Friday that his attacks on foreign-born migrants were racist.

Mr. Farage… was asked about comments he made in February, when he said he was uncomfortable during a recent train journey in London when he could hear only foreign languages being spoken by fellow passengers…

Moments later, Mr. Farage… was asked to explain why another statement, that he would be disturbed if a group of Romanians moved next door to his home, was not racist.

“What about if a group of German children did, what’s the difference?” Mr. O’Brien asked.

“You know what the difference is,” Mr. Farage replied. “We want an immigration policy based on controlling not just quantity but quality as well,” he added…

In a BBC News interview last month, Mr. Farage was asked to explain how his party could be so concerned about the supposed threat of foreigners coming to take jobs from Britons while he employed his German wife, at taxpayer expense, as his official secretary. He argued that his wife was the sort of highly skilled migrant worker his party welcomed…