The leader of the Brexit Party, Nigel Farage, has called out the “so-called conservatives” for appeasing the forces of cancel culture on the left, rather than standing up to the “politically correct mob”.
On Tuesday, Mr Farage warned that if freedom of speech is not protected, then the divisions that are already embedded within British society will only widen.
“The war here is really a war on free speech, on liberty, on the very democratic process itself, because the left — and I think very much encouraged through our university system — believe that the current set of values that they have are superior, morally superior to anybody else that takes a different view,” Farage said in an interview with Julia Hartley-Brewer on talkRadio.
“It means we’re actually in a very, very dangerous period where a growing number of people, particularly the young, think that it’s acceptable to suppress alternative opinions,” Farage added.
The arch-Brexiteer said that the problem is not just a feature of the left in Britain, however, noting that there has been little appetite displayed by Prime Minister Boris Johnson or his government to confront the left on free speech.
“The really worrying thing is: Where are the so-called conservatives? Where are the people in our government actually making a stand for free speech? Because from what I can see, they’ve gone along in many cases through this current crisis with the politically correct mob and not stood up,” Farage said.
Mr Farage called for “a bit more moral courage in this country”.
The leading Brexit campaigner went on to note that he has been a frequent target of cancel culture through the past decade during the course of his efforts to free the United Kingdom from the European Union.
“Through most of the last decade and more, what the mob tried to do is to prevent me from going out campaigning, to prevent me from speaking at public events… we have this new phenomenon of people that do not respect the fact that in a free society, other people are able to have different opinions,” he said.
In June, LBC radio declined to renew Mr Farage’s contract for his five-shows-a-week slot. The decision came after he criticised the Marxist agenda of the Black Lives Matter movement, comparing their iconoclastic aims to tear down statues with the similarly fanatical Taliban. This reportedly sparked “fury” within the upper ranks of Global Radio, LBC’s owner, and led to the company parting ways with the Brexit leader.
“This is a huge issue, because if we don’t allow people to have free speech in this country, then the divisions that already exist here will get worse,” Farage warned.
Last week, over 150 writers and academics, including J.K Rowling, Salman Rushdie, and Noam Chomsky, signed an open letter calling for the end of cancel culture and the “intolerant climate that has set in on all sides”.
The letter drew furious pushback from the left-wing Twitterati, who denied that cancel culture exists, claiming that the letter was an effort in fear-mongering.
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