Here’s how Lib Dem party president Tim Farron recounted to his local paper, The Westmoreland Gazette, his assistance to Nick Clegg for the second Nick v Nigel debate:
In an empty central London theatre, the Lakes MP donned the trademark purple tie of the Euro sceptic for a practice debate with the Lib Dem Deputy Prime Minister ahead of the real thing.
Aides revealed that to prepare for the role as the UKIP leader, Mr Farron watched recordings of his public speaking with Farage winning plaudits for his man-of-the-world directness.
Mr Farron’s aides observed: “He’s very folksy considering he’s a former city trader who sold commodities, but manages to portray himself as the man down the pub.”
With Mr Clegg’s protection officers from Special Branch guarding the doors, the Lib Dem President and his party leader rehearsed for the BBC-screened debate.
During the debate, Mr Clegg landed some strong uppercuts – warning the audience that leaving the EU would lead to a ‘Billy-no-mates Britain’.
“It was the easiest thing I’ve ever had to do,” said Mr Farron afterwards.
“All you have to do to play Nigel Farage is think of the easiest and laziest thing to say and then come out with it. I roughed Nick up a bit – trying to be Nigel Farage and saying the sort of things he says,” he explained.
“I’ve got a lot of respect for Nigel because he’s clear about what he says and what he stands for, but it’s extremely dangerous and he gives no consequence to the hundreds of jobs we would lose, even locally, if we came out of Europe.” …
Mr Farron said Mr Clegg had done well fighting the pro-European corner.
And he pointed out that neither David Cameron for the Conservatives nor Labour leader Ed Miliband had dared get in the ring with the man-of-the-moment of British politics.
(With thanks to @Stackee for the Nick v Tim image.)
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14 Comments
Pedant’s Corner Westmorland. Westmoreland was the name of a US General in the Vietnam war.
All that glitters is not gold… in the interest of democracy – on the flip side of the coin… courtesy Westmorland Gazette http://tinyurl.com/qc3qm6t :
Comments (2)
8:43pm Wed 9 Apr 14
Milkbutnosugarplease says…
Whatever you think of city traders, Mr Farage has done a real job outside politics. He hasn’t been greased into a safe seat with docile voters in the same way that Neil Kinnock’s ‘red prince’ son has recently been. I don’t know what Mr Farron or Mr Clegg did in earlier life but they are both skilled at self-promotion and apparently nothing else. Opinion polls show that Mr Clegg got beaten twice in these debates, so Mr Farron should not be crowing about his role in the public failure of his party. Edward Heath took us into a Common Market – a European trade agreement. Nobody ever voted for loss of our national self-government. In a so-called democracy, that is immoral. If Mr Farron doesn’t like democracy, he can move to North Korea or to Syria and teach debating skills to their lovely leaders.
Score: 19You voted +1
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6:52am Thu 10 Apr 14
hogheaven says…
Whatever you think of Nigel Farage, he has found a lot of support from the voters of this country. He is not afraid to say it as it is, and has the pulse of what people are thinking, We did not get a referendum on leaving the EU and probably never will, so much for democracy.I have a lot of time for Tim Farron but please dont waste it on Clegg if he cannot defend himself against plain talking from Nigel Farage ,he needs to look for another job
Score: 7You voted +1
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UNQUOTE…
Brenda Lana Smith
Thank you for bringing the comments . I note the second one concludes —
“”. ..I have a lot of time for Tim Farron but please dont waste it on Clegg if he cannot defend himself against plain talking from Nigel Farage ,he needs to look for another job.”
Just three questions.
Did Nick win against Tim, in the practice debate?
Did Tim and Nick video the practice debate?
And can we see it?
Please,….. pretty PLEASE,……. O.K. I’ll pay. What do you want?
If it was all so easy why did Clegg make such a terrible job of it? I note the post-debate polling slump, which given the last few years is a feat in itself – lowest LibDem ComRes rating ever, highest for UKIP. I find the idea of Farage having any real power enough to make me feel slightly better about Clegg, but it seems I’m alone in that. I can’t see that I’d vote for a party led by either of them – yet they were the only ones that bothered to debate such an important issue.
British politics has reached an epic low and won’t get fixed until we design something better.
This article is pure gold. Thank you so much for it. It has made my day. I particularly loved Farron’s comment about this having been the easiest thing he has ever had to do.
Don’t you think it was unsporting of Nigel Farage not to stick to the script created by Tim Farron?
This is a cringe-making article. Honestly does Tim Farron think this is funny – on the day the Lib Dems have come down to 7% in the Polls?!
“And he pointed out that neither David Cameron for the Conservatives nor Labour leader Ed Miliband had dared get in the ring with the man-of-the-moment of British politics.”
This is a weak argument. On Newsnight aFter the debate the political commentators said that Cameron and Miliband had risen above it – after all Farage has NO MPs – why should they give him the oxygen of publicity?.0 They are right not to go there with Farage and Clegg made a VERY bad judgement call in elevating Farage and giving him more airtime.
@Phyllis
“Farage has NO MPs – why should they give him the oxygen of publicity?”
UKIP has the second large group of Britain’s MEPs and there are European elections next month.
Sadly, Nigel and anti-Europeans have no shortage of publicity, which is why it is vital we put forth the pro-European cause forcefully and unashamedly in public.
Sadly, Nigel and anti-Europeans have no shortage of publicity, which is why it is vital we put forth the pro-European cause forcefully and unashamedly in public.
Which Clegg has catastrophically failed to do. The only thing he has achieved is giving UKIP a further boost and causing support for the Liberal Democrats to reach a new low, such that it is possible they will have no MEPs.
Thankfully at least two large parties, Labour and the Tories, and most of the minor parties, remain committed to EU membership, despite some internal dissent.
Richard Shaw “Sadly, Nigel and anti-Europeans have no shortage of publicity, which is why it is vital we put forth the pro-European cause forcefully and unashamedly in public.”
It resulted in more support for Farage and less support for the Lib Dems.
Until I read Mr Farron’s latest revelation, I had been pleased that I voted for him to become our party president. Indeed, I had even felt that he could be a suitable replacement for Mr Clegg after the 2015 electoral catastrophe. However, Mr Farron’s latest intervention was, to put it mildly, ill-judged and inapposite.
And, before you say it, Boss Mike and/or former Boss Sara, I am pretty good at both ill-judged and inapposite!
“Farage has NO MPs – why should they give him the oxygen of publicity?”
That’s DEMOCRACY, I know its a little bit of a novelty for the Lib Dems but you should really try it some day, and as Nick “Small Print” Clegg said in 2008, its time the British people had their say!