26 years ago a tiny political party was
founded its aim to pull the UK out of
the EU in just 100 hours time he will
have achieved its aim Nigel Farage was a
founder member of you Kip and led the
party for nine years as brexit switched
from being the obsession of a minority
to the will of the majority in turn in
the 2016 referendum many say he is
responsible for that so how does he
think it came about our political editor
Gary Gibbon sat down with Nigel Faraj to
take him through some of the big screen
moments on the UK's journey to brexit oh
well dark hair two decades ago three UK
PEM EPS are elected to the European
Parliament
Nigel Faraj thinks this is the critical
moment that started Britain's journey
out of the EU in some in an odd way that
was the biggest moment of the lot
because it was actually getting elected
to that place but gave us some kind of a
platform so suddenly you start to appear
on news programmes suddenly you starting
invitations to attend events and we we
use that opportunity and if I'm being
absolutely honest we used the way with
all provided by the European Parliament
to build a UK political movement but the
kicking off point you couldn't have done
any of this without proportional
representation of course in those
election of course yeah it is and
without it is very difficult this might
not have happened without those pressure
points that you were able to apply in
European elections through the archive
Breck's it wouldn't have happened
without proportional representation or
ironically the European Parliament as
the pressure from UK mounted David
Cameron announced an in/out referendum
January 23rd January 2013 in his memoirs
David Karen says oh I wasn't all about
Nigel Faraj me calling this referendum
it was something I could see coming down
the tracks that had to be done
utter rot you know they did not want to
have this reference you scared him into
that corner they were they were losing
support to us in such a big way they
were losing good people to us out around
the country and his biggest fear of all
was that a number of MPs would cross the
floor and join us the fight over who
would run the official leave campaign
was dramatized by channel 4
Dominic Cummings didn't want Nigel Faraj
as the frontman we need normal people
need fifty percent of the entire country
plus one second fundamental of running a
successful campaign build a broad
coalition of voters after that you need
to be respected no offense what is this
rock I've never seen at the door every
time that night of Miraj his popularity
increases nationwide the support for
breakfast why what's a Labour rubbish I
think I meet them and he try to convince
me that we should try and win the
referendum to have a second referendum I
said what is there a bit of truth in
that relationship that he's he's sort of
sitting there and saying he doesn't
really want Europe about the place and
you were saying actually you needed to
be the frontman no no no I never said
that I know what I said was that needs
to be a big tent we got to cooperate he
didn't want to do that
Boris actually did well I did speak to
Boris all through the campaign there and
we shared notes and shared ideas and
worked out he was gonna go where and he
was going to do what the Boris Johnson
said if ninety Faraj is too close to the
vote leave campaign we apparently used
this phrase quite a lot in the room will
get a stench of stale and beer what
do you might say that but Benny meant of
something that would repeal certain
types of voters well I said it what like
I cooperated with Boris during the
campaign quite successfully not with the
others wrinkles ticks you very much yeah
we did no we did talk what of it you're
in the campaign but look I mean this one
you trusted him
within reason yeah in the end both leave
campaigns focused on immigration
Nigel Faraj with this poster six days
before the vote not only women their
nominee children
normally disabled people behind your or
fleeing for their lives from a war in
Syria you don't know that do you have
any regrets about that no no it was a
photograph but it was the truth it
reflected the insanity of what was going
on and these aren't refugees and the
potency of some strongest ads related to
immigration in the referendum was
related to Turkey not the immigration
that already happened but to Turkey
well Turkey was a prospective member of
the event I I mean look turkey was
people of slightly darker skin person
that's the thing that made it very
interesting is it a whole immigration
argument up until there have been about
white people coming to Britain the walls
lithuania's using resentment among some
voters about past waves of immigration
from the common well I think those
images of Muslims on the moon and out on
the belt in the campaign you would often
hear in the referendum the voters
talking about we've got enough of them
over here send them home and they
weren't talking about you must have been
in different places
Romanians Bulgaria you must've heard you
must have been different well you'll
hear it every day we'd hear it now 100
yards outside the studio and you could
hear many other things said too but in
terms well stirring that up look by the
time we got to the referendum you keep
it a really won a European election
virtually what an English county council
election and we done that talking about
immigration of wipe of white Roman
Catholics alright and the fact we
haven't got control the dream but all is
breaking the early hours of the morning
after the referendum Nigel Farage's
victory speech
[Music]
but temples for newcomers this will be a
victory for real people a victory for
ordinary people a victory for decent
people there were some of them on the
other side run there yes but also we
have the self-interested establishment
also we had a political class you
couldn't give a damn what ordinary
people think yeah we'd also be insist I
tell you what I'm gonna repeat that
speech at 11:00 p.m. on the 31st of
January this month brexit is something
the establishment did not want the
political parties didn't want it the big
businesses didn't wanted the trade
unions no longer what did anything like
it most of the media had accepted it
would be a mistake as close as you might
demonize all of them but what about a
hospital technician in Cambridge you
happy to them sir what about the fact
what about the fan what about the fact
that every single member of parliament
ten years ago supported remain and there
were thousands of activists out there
you know working with me mostly but some
other groups too who have managed
through their own sheer hard work to
overturn and beat the establishment that
is why I called it a victory for the
little people people who were engaging
in policy you say that you've seen real
people ordinary people and decently
little people I said yeah well yet real
people not career politicians people who
got into politics not because of what
they could get out of it we're happy to
put the money in so not the only decent
people in the country that love it well
they didn't give us the wrong thing they
didn't give us 50 years alive
50 years of those two men lots of people
who I presume you would think were
decent and respectable who voted the
other way you're demonizing them I don't
think it's very decent and willfully lie
to a country as was done in the night
assembly as well as was done in the 1975
referendum I think the extent of which
we will be we've been misled or has been
absolutely appalling
[Music]
last year Nigel Farrar set up a new
political party the brexit party he
wanted to save brexit from its enemies
in Parliament and he was convinced I
wanted to kill it off very close to
achieving it it was gone it was done it
wasn't gonna happen that we were gonna
go through the agony of a second
referendum you could see them immense
and where it was and I think I think
what we did but launching the party
reset the agenda and as I say the
Conservative Party looked in the mirror
when they saw us beginning to mass in
the summer with hundreds of candidates
for general election I think they looked
in the mirror and said we either adapt
or we die and they've adapted and I
think it lets mrs. Mayer's resignation
and I think when they saw in the summer
the fact that we would not go away we
were gonna go on a fight a general
election that was when they decided
right we are getting to become the rx-8
party and in the sense that's what they
did
he's nicked your voters he's nicked some
of your political clothes we did all of
them and he's getting away with it is
that how you see it at the moment I'm
giving you the benefit of the doubt at
the moment I'm trusting him to deliver
our exit policy is now in the hands of
Boris Johnson until Rajas old enemy
Dominic Cummings by his side brexit
Godfather nowhere near the corridors of
power do you feel you've had the
recognition for creating brexit that you
deserve around the world yes a hero not
acknowledged I have around the world
absolutely around here oh I don't know I
think by ordinary people yes by ordinary
people who are interested in politics
yes whichever side of the argument
they're on but not by the country they
haven't been a national recognition
those images of beginning yeah I've been
sucked into this project but right back
then you were you were a bunch of lonely
cranks when you you were regarded as
that's how we were saying yeah yeah
that's how we were seen on this issue on
the European it's your all the other
things we fought for and started to talk
about and development
as policy over years we've been
considered yeah we were the outsiders we
were the fruitcakes we were the lunatics
and you know what it's all mainstream
now