Chapter 45: Brexit

184      “Let’s face it, after thirteen years . . .”  Georgia Pearce, “Nigel Farage Issues Warning to Sunak as He Attends Tory Conference for First Time in 36 Years,” GB News, video, October 2, 2023, updated October 3, 2023,” www.gbnews.com/politics/politics-nigel-farage-warning-rishi-sunak-tory-party-conference, 1:40–1:47.

184      “It’s high tax, big state, high spend, open-door . . .”  Pearce, “Nigel Issues Warning to Sunak as He Attends Tory Conference for First Time in 36 Years,” www.gbnews.com/politics/politics-nigel-farage-warning-rishi-sunak-tory-party-conference, 1:47–2:04.

184      seventy-five case studies of “far-right parties” . . . between 1999 and 2014  Edina Szöcsik and Alina Polyakova, “Euroscepticism and the Electoral Success of the Far Right: The Role of the Strategic Interaction Between Center and Far Right,” European Political Science 18, no. 2 (May 2018), link.springer.com/article/10.1057/s41304-018-0162-y, 400.

184      “the center right” . . . “almost full cooperation . . .” it “dampens . . .”  Szöcsik and Polyakova, “Euroscepticism and the Electoral Success of the Far Right: The Role of the Strategic Interaction Between Center and Far Right,” link.springer.com/article/10.1057/s41304-018-0162-y, 400.

184      “a bunch of . . . fruitcakes and loonies and closet racists”  David Cameron quoted in Ros Taylor, “Cameron Refuses to Apologise to Ukip,” The Guardian, April 4, 2006, www.theguardian.com/politics/2006/apr/04/conservatives.uk.

184–185 “Unless he apologises, we’re not ruling anything out” See, for example, their criticism of Cameron for signing the Treaty of Lisbon, which they argued further centralized power in the EU and away from nations. Andrew Grice, “Cameron Backs Down on EU Treaty Referendum,” The Independent, November 5, 2009, www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/cameron-backs-down-on-eu-treaty-referendum-1814782.html. In 2014, Farage accused Cameron of “desperately pretending to be a Eurosceptic.” Farage quoted in “David Cameron ‘Bullish’ About UK’s EU Renegotiations,” BBC News, May 11, 2014, www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-27361601.

185      pledged to hold a referendum on whether the UK should stay  “David Cameron’s EU Speech—Full Text,” The Guardian, January 23, 2013, www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/jan/23/david-cameron-eu-speech-referendum; and Harold D. Clarke et al., Brexit: Why Britain Voted to Leave the European Union (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2017), 2. Find the library book at search.worldcat.org/title/971531188.

185      disrupted a May 2014 event  “Nigel Farage: UKIP Is Not a Racist Party,” BBC News, May 7, 2014, www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-27315328.

185      “How dare they call us racist when . . .”  Paula McQueen quoted in “Nigel Farage: UKIP Is Not a Racist Party,” www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-27315328.

185      “We’re a non-racist, non-sectarian political party . . . Over 10 percent . . .”  Nigel Farage quoted in Damien Gayle, “Nigel Farage Says Image of ‘Half-Black’ Spokesman Shows m=Manifesto’s Diversity,” The Guardian, April 21, 2015, www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/apr/21/nigel-farage-says-image-of-half-black-spokesman-shows-manifestos-diversity.

185      “not a racist group. They have black, white . . .”  The Kenny Burns Show, “The Kenny Burns Show—Herschel Walker [TKBS] V103,” YouTube, October 31, 2020, www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nzd0em3jZpc, 5:24–5:29. See also Marc Caputo and Henry J. Gomez, “Walker Downplays Racism in Historic Georgia Senate Campaign While Casting Warnock as Divisive,” NBC News, September 8, 2022, www.nbcnews.com/politics/2022-election/walker-downplays-racism-historic-georgia-senate-campaign-casting-warno-rcna46872.

185      narrowly won the 2015 elections “Election Results: Conservatives Win Majority,” BBC News, May 8, 2015, www.bbc.com/news/election-2015-32633099.

185      scheduled the referendum for June 23, 2016  Rowena Mason et al., “EU Referendum to Take Place on 23 June, David Cameron Confirms,” The Guardian, February 20, 2016, www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/feb/20/cameron-set-to-name-eu-referendum-date-after-cabinet-meeting.

185      one week before the referendum, Farage unveiled a poster  Mark Chandler, “EU Referendum: Nigel Farage Slammed Over Brexit Poster Showing Queue of Migrants,” Standard, June 16, 2016, www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/eu-referendum-nigel-farage-slammed-over-brexit-poster-showing-queue-of-migrants-a3273836.html.

185      depicted migrants crossing the Croatia-Slovenia border in 2015  Heather Stewart and Rowena Mason, “Nigel Farage’s Anti-Migrant Poster Reported to Police,” The Guardian, June 16, 2016, www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jun/16/nigel-farage-defends-ukip-breaking-point-poster-queue-of-migrants.

185–186 “BREAKING POINT” A photograph of the poster can be seen in Chandler, “EU Referendum: Nigel Farage Slammed Over Brexit Poster Showing Queue of Migrants,” www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/eu-referendum-nigel-farage-slammed-over-brexit-poster-showing-queue-of-migrants-a3273836.html.

186      “The EU has failed us all”  Poster in Chandler, “EU Referendum: Nigel Farage Slammed Over Brexit Poster Showing Queue of Migrants,” www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/eu-referendum-nigel-farage-slammed-over-brexit-poster-showing-queue-of-migrants-a3273836.html.

186      “We must break free of the EU and take back control of our borders”  Poster in Chandler, “EU Referendum: Nigel Farage Slammed Over Brexit Poster Showing Queue of Migrants,” www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/eu-referendum-nigel-farage-slammed-over-brexit-poster-showing-queue-of-migrants-a3273836.html; and quoted in Stewart and Mason, “Nigel Farage’s Anti-Migrant Poster Reported to Police,” www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jun/16/nigel-farage-defends-ukip-breaking-point-poster-queue-of-migrants.

186      63 percent of respondents . . . indicated . . .  Clarke et al., Brexit, 11. Find the library book at search.worldcat.org/title/971531188.

186      About 93 percent of respondents . . . troubled . . . planned to vote  Clarke et al., Brexit, 12. Find the library book at search.worldcat.org/title/971531188.

186      found that 31 percent of Leave voters believed . . .“Brexit and Trump Voters More Likely to Believe in Conspiracy Theories, Survey Study Shows,” University of Cambridge, November 23, 2018, www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/brexit-and-trump-voters-more-likely-to-believe-in-conspiracy-theories-survey-study-shows; and “YouGov: Cambridge Centre/ All markets, Conspiracy Theories, Fieldwork Dates: 13th– 23rd August 2018,” YouGov, 9, accessed January 14, 2025, d3nkl3psvxxpe9.cloudfront.net/documents/YGC_Conspiracy_Theories_all_countries.pdf.

186      “The widespread belief in a supposedly . . . of . . . Brexit votes”  Hugo Leal quoted in “Brexit and Trump Voters More Likely to Believe in Conspiracy Theories, Survey Study Shows,” www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/brexit-and-trump-voters-more-likely-to-believe-in-conspiracy-theories-survey-study-shows.

186      One of those Leave supporters . . .  Ian Cobain and Matthew Taylor, “Far-Right Terrorist Thomas Mair Jailed for Life for Jo Cox Murder,” The Guardian, November 23, 2016, www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/nov/23/thomas-mair-found-guilty-of-jo-cox-murder.