Nigel Farage’s Anti-Climate Record
Article by Sam Bright republished from DeSmog dated Jun 3, 2024
The Reform UK leader is a vocal opponent of net zero policies, and has questioned the basis of established climate science.
Pro-Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage has announced that he will be standing to be an MP at the upcoming general election and will be replacing Richard Tice as leader of the populist party Reform UK.
Farage, who says that he hopes to become “the voice of opposition” in Parliament, has long been a vocal opponent of climate action and a critic of climate science – campaigning for a referendum on the UK’s 2050 net zero emissions target.
When he was the leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP), the party’s 2015 and 2017 election manifestos pledged to rip up green measures, repeal the UK’s Climate Change Act, withdraw from the 2015 Paris Agreement – the flagship deal to tackle global emissions – and support fossil fuel extraction.
These reflected Farage’s personal views on climate action. In 2015, he told the libertarian website Spiked: “I think wind energy is the biggest collective economic insanity I’ve seen in my entire life. I’ve never seen anything more stupid, more illogical, or more irrational.”
Farage is a presenter on GB News, the right-wing broadcaster that has regularly provided a platform to climate science denial and attacks on green reforms since it launched in June 2021.
Speaking on GB News in August 2021, Farage said that he was “very much an environmentalist” and that he couldn’t “abide things like plastics in our seas, pollution in our rivers.” However, on the issue of climate change, he added: “What annoys me though, is this complete obsession with carbon dioxide almost to the exclusion of everything else, the alarmism that comes with it, based on dodgy predictions and science.”
The world’s foremost climate science body, the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), has stated it is “unequivocal that human influence has warmed the atmosphere, ocean and land”, while scientists at NASA have found that the last 10 years were the hottest on record. Earth’s average surface temperature in 2023 was the warmest since records began in 1880.
The IPCC has also stated that carbon dioxide “is responsible for most of global warming” since the late 19th century, which has increased the “severity and frequency of weather and climate extremes, like heat waves, heavy rains, and drought”.
Farage has been a vocal critic of net zero. He has claimed that the policy is an “act of self harm” and has called for it to be scrapped.
He has said: “It will not bring economic benefits. It will make everybody a whole lot poorer. And yet the lemmings in Parliament are taking us towards an economic cliff,” adding: “I can’t think of an issue on which the public and politicians are more divided.”
In fact, politicians are markedly less in favour of climate action than the general public. New polling by YouGov for the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) has shown that almost two-thirds (62 percent) of the public believe the best way to achieve energy security is to reduce the use of fossil fuels and instead expand the use of renewable energy, compared to 48 percent of MPs.
The Climate Change Committee, which advises the government on its net zero policies, has estimated that the cost of achieving net zero will be less than 1 percent of UK GDP, while the government independent spending watchdog – the Office for Budget Responsibility – has said that, “the costs of failing to get climate change under control would be much larger than those of bringing emissions down to net zero”.
Farage has also claimed that, “If green technology is going to work, it ought to work without ordinary folk subsidising it” – referring to the government grants and investment dedicated to developing clean energy sources. The UK government has given £20 billion more in support to fossil fuel producers than their renewable energy peers since 2015.
Farage has also spread conspiracy theories about anti-pollution measures being used to control people’s lives.
In a video posted on Twitter, he argued that Mayor of London Sadiq Khan’s calls to reduce air pollution by cutting car engine use would pave the way to “climate lockdowns”.
He said: “Mark my words this isn’t going to end with 20mph zones and low-traffic neighbourhoods. No no. This is the beginning of climate lockdowns. We will have, in years to come, days where we’re told we can’t drive, we can’t do this, you can’t do that while Sadiq Khan is leading the way. Remember you heard it here first. Climate lockdowns.”
The Institute for Strategic Dialogue has highlighted how climate lockdown claims are part of “a conspiratorial narrative which claims that global elites are using climate change as a pretext to restrict individual freedoms and civil liberties.”
Farage and Reform UK
Farage used his announcement to state his belief that Labour will win the general election, which will be held on 4 July, and that the Conservative Party has “crushed itself”. With the Tories predicted to lose in a landslide, Farage appears to believe that he can lead a new right-wing movement.
The Reform leader was already a key figure in the party prior to today’s announcement, effectively owning the party as well as serving as its president. Reform operates as a private company without a democratic structure, so Farage’s majority shareholding meant that could have appointed himself as leader at any time.
Despite Farage failing to be elected as an MP when he stood in seven previous general elections, and Reform only winning two councillors in May’s local elections, polls indicate that Farage may succeed in becoming the MP for Clacton.
If this is the case, Farage will be advocating in Parliament for the anti-climate policies that have been proposed by his party.
Reform has called for the UK’s net zero emissions target to be scrapped, and has proposed holding a referendum on the policy – a campaign launched by Farage in 2022.
The party’s policy agenda states that: “Westminster’s net zero plans send our jobs and money overseas, making us net poorer and net colder”, adding that net zero policies are “net stupid”.
The party’s former leader Tice, who will now become its chairman, is a prominent climate science denier. Tice has claimed that “there is no climate crisis”, and has also expressed the view that “CO2 isn’t a poison. It’s plant food”.
Of the £2.5 million that Reform UK has received in donations since the 2019 election, around 92 percent (£2.3 million) of that income has been given by fossil fuel interests, polluting industries, or climate science deniers.
Article by Sam Bright republished from DeSmog dated Jun 3, 2024
Nigel Farage Dubbed ‘MP for Washington’ for Parroting Trump in Parliament
Article by Adam Barnett republished from DeSmog
Reform leader boosted the president’s attacks on UK Chagos Islands policy more often than raising the cost of living.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage used a quarter of his speeches in Parliament to boost U.S. President Donald Trump’s attacks on the UK’s Chagos Islands deal – three times more than he raised the cost of living.
DeSmog’s analysis of parliamentary records finds that the former Clacton MP – who resigned last month in response to a series of financial scandals – raised the UK’s proposed deal with Mauritius in 10 of the 40 times he spoke in the House of Commons.
Farage, who was first elected to Parliament in July 2024, mentioned Chagos more than any subject except immigration. This compares with only one speech about winter fuel payments, one on energy policy, and one about UK budget measures, all topics with a direct impact on the cost of living.
“Seeing how often Farage has voiced views that line up perfectly with Trump’s interests, you might think he was the MP for Washington DC, not Clacton-on-Sea,” said Graeme McGregor, campaign manager at the Good Law Project.
“He ought to spend more time focusing on issues that matter to people in Clacton, rather than his pastimes of grandstanding, jet-setting and schmoozing.”
A version of this article was published by The Mirror.
Most of Farage’s Chagos speeches also mentioned Trump, whose opposition to the deal saw it shelved in April. Negotiated by the previous Conservative government, it proposed giving Mauritius control of the islands, which are located in the Indian Ocean, with a 99-year lease for the UK to run the Diego Garcia military base, which is seen as a crucial asset by the U.S. government.
In December 2024, Farage told the Commons he had “just returned, hotfoot, from a very full Mar-a-Lago”, Trump’s resort in Florida, and that “several members” of the incoming administration had expressed “deep disquiet” about plans to “surrender the sovereignty of the islands”.
This was echoed in February 2025, when Farage claimed the agreement could destroy hopes of a UK-U.S. trade deal, claiming Britain’s chances of avoiding American tariffs would “evaporate”.
“The special relationship will be dangerously fractured if the government carry on with this,” he added.
The Reform leader also used the Commons to boast of his close relationship with Trump. “I think I am in a fortunate position. It is not just that for 10 years I have stood up and defended President Trump – I was very much on my own in those days – but that I know half his Cabinet,” he said in February 2025.
Farage has also campaigned against the Chagos deal in meetings with U.S. government officials, and tried to visit the Islands in February on a trip funded by Christopher Harborne, the donor at the centre of his resignation scandal.
DeSmog has previously reported that Farage mentioned his constituency just twice in Parliament in the past 12 months, and only six times since his 2024 election. Over the same period, he has received £2.3 million in non-parliamentary income.
He has also made a series of trips to the United States to speak at pro-Trump events, and has addressed Trump-aligned conferences in London, including the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship (ARC), and CPAC Great Britain.
Reform, which has received more than £24 million from oil and gas interests, has vowed to emulate Trump’s policies – campaigning for the “mass deportations” of immigrants and dramatically increased fossil fuel extraction.
Chagos Lobbying
In an interview on his GB News show in January, Farage urged Mike Johnson, the Republican Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, to build opposition to the Chagos deal in the United States. Farage has also reportedly raised the issue directly with the White House on several occasions.
In February, he attempted to visit the Chagos Islands via the nearby Maldives to support four Chagossians who are opposed to the deal. He has claimed he was blocked from entry by the UK government, which said it had no prior knowledge of Farage’s visit.
The £25,000 trip was paid for by Harborne, the crypto billionaire whose £5 million undeclared “gift” to Farage before the 2024 election was being investigated by parliament’s standards commissioner when the Reform leader resigned last month.
The investigation is expected to resume if he wins the by-election on 13 August, which all major parties have boycotted.
Like Trump, Harborne — who has given Reform more than £25 million to date — also appears to oppose the Chagos deal. As well as bankrolling Farage’s visit to the region, Harborne has pledged to fund the small group of Chagossians trying to halt the UK government’s plan.
Nick Dearden of the campaign group Global Justice Now, told DeSmog: “Farage made his name lecturing us about British sovereignty, but he clearly has no idea what this means, because whenever British interests are attacked by Donald Trump, Farage sides with the bully-boy in the White House.
“Trump has repeatedly interfered in British politics, slamming our energy policy, forcing changes in our regulation of Big Tech companies and even fleecing the NHS,” Dearden added. “His poodle, Farage, has not stood up to him on one occasion. Instead, he has used his position to support a man who is so clearly trying to weaken us.”
Nigel Farage and Reform UK have been contacted for comment.
Farage’s Chagos Chatter in Parliament
“…how confident is the foreign secretary that Donald Trump, if he becomes the 47th President of the USA, will approve of this deal, given the importance of our relationship with America?”
7 October, 2024
“I assure the House, having been in America last week and knowing the incoming U.S. defence secretary very well, that there is outright hostility towards this deal. […] Diego Garcia was described to me by a senior Trump adviser as the most important island on the planet for America, so the minister will find outright hostility.”
13 November, 2024
“I have just returned, hotfoot, from a very full Mar-a-Lago. I spoke to several members—senior administrators, especially—of the incoming administration, which will be in the White House in 32 days’ time. Let me assure you that there is very deep disquiet among them all as to what this deal may mean for the long-term future of Diego Garcia and whether such a deal will hold […] They also cannot understand why we would surrender the sovereignty of the islands on an advisory judgment from a pretty obscure court.”
18 December, 2024
“Diego Garcia is probably the single most important thing that we give America right now. Without it, America does not have access to the middle east, India and much else.
[…] I genuinely fear that if this continues and the American administration wakes up to it – I could quote three members of the Cabinet I have spoken to personally about it – our chances of not just avoiding tariffs but moving on to a sectoral free trade deal will all but evaporate. The special relationship will be dangerously fractured if the Government carry on with this…”
4th February, 2025
“The Americans, by the way, have been pretty busy with foreign policy just lately, so it is perhaps no wonder that Diego Garcia has not been high on their agenda, but when they wake up to the fact that this has been done – wholly unnecessarily – I would not be surprised if we find ourselves, together with the European Union, in their tariff regime.”
5 February, 2025
“[Urgent question:] To ask His Majesty’s Government to give us an update on the situation with regard to the Diego Garcia American military base and the British Indian Ocean Territory, especially in light of the recent comments of the American President.”
25 February, 2026
Article by Adam Barnett republished from DeSmog
Racist thugs storm homes of refugees
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/racist-thugs-storm-homes-refugees
FAMILIES TARGETED: Damage caused to a house on Bracken Road following disorder in the village of Thetford in NorfolkA“RACIST pogrom” in Thetford has seen thugs storm homes they suspect of housing refugees and attack police, an anti-racist group warned on Friday.
Police bracing for further violence have warned that those taking part in the disorder will face “the full force of the law,” with two more people arrested on Thursday on a third consecutive night of unrest in the Norfolk market town.
People have attempted to storm homes linked to asylum-seekers following proposals to convert a former military base just over the border in Suffolk, RAF Barnham, into asylum-seeker accommodation for up to 3,750 people.
Officers were “subjected to significant aggression” on Wednesday, with one hit with a rock, one bitten and another spat at.
Two officers were taken to hospital.
Michael Bradley, of Stand up to Racism, told the Star: “The violence in Thetford amounts to a racist pogrom.
“A violent crowd has attacked homes and forced those they think to be asylum-seekers out of the area.
“This is the fruit of years of scapegoating and racism, by mainstream politicians and the media – stirred up and promoted by the far right.”
…
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/racist-thugs-storm-homes-refugees
Communist Party delivers much needed medical aid to Cuba’s Ministry of Public Health in Havana
Comrades Gordon and Douglas with Cuban health officialsCommunist Party leaders Alex Gordon and Lorraine Douglas deliver vital medicines in trip to besieged socialist island
ON THURSDAY a delegation from the Communist Party of Britain was received at Cuba’s Ministry of Public Health (Ministerio de Salud Publica) in Havana by Dr Henry Lopez Jimenez, Deputy Director of Public Health, a vetaran of Cuba’s Medical Brigades in Mozambique where he worked at the Central Hospital in Nampula.
The CPB delegation was led by general secretary Alex Gordon and party chair Lorraine Douglas and included Ben Woodward who is in Havana as part of a brigade organised by the Instituto Cubano de Amistad con los Pueblos (ICAP), the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples.
Dr Henry Lopez Jimenez outlined the extreme privations that have been created in Cuba’s world renowned health system as a result of the US blockade and sanctions regimes.
Cuba’s infant mortality rate has increased as a direct consequence of the cruel and deliberate attack by the Trump administration on the Cuban people’s healthcare system. Cuban surgeons and nurses have been forced to complete medical operations using light from their own mobile phones during power cuts.
The CPB delegation presented the Cuban health service with over £2,000 of medicines including analgesic painkillers, anti-inflamatory tablets and other medical aid, an advance donation from the Aid for Cuba appeal recently launched by the CPB, which raised £32,000.
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Article continues at https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/communist-party-delivers-much-needed-medical-aid-cubas-ministry-public-health-havana