Making Excuses for Nigel

When, oh when, are large sections of Britain's media going to stop making excuses for Nigel Fartage?  Remember when all those people he went to school with came forward with their stories of how he had racially abused them and taunted others with anti-Semitic taunts?  What was the response of  the likes of the Daily Hate?  'Oh well, he was young and didn't know what he was doing', or 'It was a long time ago and he's changed now', or even ''They were just harmless jokes that were misconstrued'.  None of them actually condemned him for having been a racist bastard - not even when he couldn't categorically deny that he had ever made any of the remarks ascribed to him.  Indeed, his non-denial denials were, to those of us not in thrall to the extreme right, the surest sign that he was guilty as sin.  Yet the right-wing press remained silent. Or, worse, tried to give the impression that he was the victim, being smeared with outrageous allegations.  Fast forward to this week and we have more revelations about Fartage, namely that he's been endorsing fascists and repeating fascist and racist slogans in messages vai his Cameo account.  Again, the reaction of too much of the media has been to try and paint him as a victim, exploited by these right wing extremists into unwittingly repeating their slogans - which they then edit into their own videos - and endorsing thugs with convictions for violence.  Oh, poor Nigel!  None of them seem to want to address the elephant in the room here - that surely if someone who aspires to lead their country can be so easily duped, then doesn't that call into questions his credentials to be considered a serious politician?

Obviously, we shouldn't be surprised by any of this, the right-wing press in the UK have always loved a right wing politician advocating a tough line of immigrants and foreigners.  Let's not forget that back in the thirties the Daily Mail had Hitler as their 'Man of the Year'.  But, to be fair, it isn't just the right wing media who are guilty of giving Fartage an easy ride.  Large swathes of the media seem quite unwilling to address the wider issues that both the schoolboy racism allegations and the Cameo business raise.  In the case of the former, it is conveniently dismissed as 'unfounded' allegations (although, as noted, Fartage hasn't actually denied them), with the rider that many people do and say things as youths they wouldn't espouse as adults.  Except that most people guilty of youthful racism don't go on to found and lead a series of political parties based on extremist anti-immigration platforms.  As for the Cameo stuff, not only does it - if we accept at face value the explanation that he is an innocent victim of nasty neo-Nazis duping him - call into question Fartage's judgement, but also his motivations.  Again, we have someone who aspires to lead the country filming videos for fans, for money, when he should be conducting his duties as an MP.  Let's face it, if this was Keir Starmer or Kemi Badenoch doing this, then they would, rightly, be pilloried and their commitment to their positions called into question.  But, like Boris Johnson, Fartage seems to get a free pass.  We've gone from 'Oh, it's just Boris!' as a response to every outrage committed by Johnson, to 'Oh, it's only Nigel!' as a response to every piece of evidence that points to Fartage's links to extremist politics.

Of course, what these two have in common, apart from carefully curated buffoonery, is their utter venality, their willingness to do pretty much anything for money.   Just why people cannot seem to see that Fartage is nothing but a grifter is beyond me.  What more evidence do they need?  Not only is he happily debasing himself and his office by basically recording any message for absolutely anybody on Cameo, just so long as they pay him, but let's not forget that Reform UK isn't really a political party:  it is a limited company owned by Fartage!  Think on that before you give Reform financial contributions or membership fees.  The fact that Fartage so assiduously crawls and fawns to Trump should be another red flag - grifters of a feather flock together, after all.