Nigel Farage: on campus grounds

Nigel Farage, the mastermind of Brexit, will be a guest speaker for the LHU’s Young Americans for Liberty club at the end of this month, but is he really the kind of man students want on campus? While his expertise and political accomplishments are impressive or at least impactful, Farage has an ungraceful words that come off as xenophobic. As an university that promotes equality, has a somewhat diverse population, and hosts foreign exchange students, we should ask: is a xenophobic influence something that should be allowable on campus?

First and foremost, Farage is accomplished it is easy to see why the Young Americans for Liberty club are interested in listening to him speak. Perhaps notably of his achievements is touted as the face of Brexit as was he was a founding member of United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP). The significance of this is that in the 2014 UK election, Farage himself lead a British third party into popular vote in the national election.

Farage has been caught many times with his foot in his mouth, to say the least. In an interview with Leading Britain’s Conversation (LBC) radio in 2016, Farage was asked about the difference between having German children as neighbors and a group Romanian men as neighbors

Farage said, “I was asked if a group of Romanian men moved in next to you, would you be concerned? And if you lived in London, I think you would be.”

Later in the interview he went on to say, “You know what the difference is.”

The answer was ambiguous, leaving space for the imagination to wonder- almost with deliberate undertone.

Farge is also on the record for being pro-businesses having the choice to be discriminatory towards nationalities when hiring. This is evident in the Telegraph’s Nigel Farage: Bosses should be allowed to discriminate between Britons and foreigners. The article states, “‘Mr Farage added: “I would argue that the law does need changing, and that if an employer wishes to choose, or you can use the word ‘discriminate’ if you want to, but wishes to choose to employ a British-born person, they should be allowed to do so. … I think you should be able to choose on the basis of nationality, yes. I do.’”

Farage has also been caught using anti-feminist remarks. The Independent reported that while discussing breastfeeding, Farage said, “I think that given that some people feel very embarrassed by it, it isn’t too difficult to breastfeed a baby in a way that’s not openly ostentatious. Or perhaps sit in the corner, or whatever it might be.”

While this is controversial topic, many would not be offended by this, but is noteworthy to the more liberal-minded or anyone apart of the Free the Nipple campaign.

Nigel Farage is not the kind of speaker that makes all feel comfortable on campus and is strongly not worth having at LHU. People should feel safe at the university, and if you wish to hold a controversial speaker, more questions should be asked of him on his prejudicial behaviors.