‘Patriot’ Nigel Farage has been accused of swerving the return of Parliament – and the first PMQs back after the summer – to help Trump and JD Vance meddle in our politics
‘Patriot’ Nigel Farage has been accused of skipping the return of Parliament this week to badmouth Britain in the US and help Donald Trump’s White House meddle in our politics.
Farage is under fire this week for stirring up anti-Migrant sentiment and provoking more protests outside migrant hotels.
But he won’t be in Parliament to face anger from MPs as they return from the Summer break.
The Reform UK leader will spend the first two sitting days after MPs return from the Summer break not in Westminster, but in Washington, doubling down on his crusade against migrants and arguing against Britain’s online safety and anti-hate speech laws.
“Farage playing truant on the first days of the autumn term so he can go on another MAGA jet-set tells you everything you need to know about the man,” said Max Wilkinson, the Lib Dems ‘ Culture spokesman.
“He’s such a big Trump cheerleader these days that he might as well don a Stars and Stripes lycra jumpsuit and MAGA pompoms.”
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Farage is slated to speak about “getting mass deportations done” at the National Conservatism conference in the US capital on Tuesday.
And on Wednesday he’ll testify before congress on the subject of “free speech.”
Vice President JD Vance, who met with Farage during his recent visit to the UK, has frequently attacked the UK, claiming laws to crack down on harassment of women, online paedophiles and violent racism are assaults on “freedom of speech”.
Farage is also expected to defend Lucy Connolly, who admitted and was convicted of publishing written material that incited racial hatred after calling for migrant hotels to be set on fire on Twitter.
Ahead of the trip, Mr Farage said Ms Connolly, who painted herself as a “political prisoner” after her release from prison, would be “a very central point of what I’m discussing”.
This week the Mirror revealed polling showing more than half of Brits think her 10-month prison sentence was either about right (32%) or too lenient (20%), while just a third (35%) said it was too harsh.
Mr Wilkinson added: “He should put his constituents first and do his job in Parliament, rather than flying to America to help his mates Trump and Vance meddle in British politics.”
The National Conservatism conference takes place from Tuesday to Thursday, and will see Farage speak alongside a raft of Trump cronies, including Tulsi Gabbard, his Director of National Intelligence, and former aide-turned podcaster Steve Bannon.
“The National Conservatism Conference is a hotbed for far-right and populist conspiracy theories with speakers like convicted fraudster Steve Bannon in attendance,” Georgie Laming, Director of Campaigns and Communications at Hope NOT Hate told the Mirror.
“Yet Nigel Farage has chosen cosying up to the far-right over representing his Clacton constituents once again.”
Bannon, 71, pleaded guilty in February to defrauding donors who paid for a private scheme for a wall on the US-Mexico border.
He was handed a conditional discharge for three years, which means he will not serve jail time under a plea agreement.
On Wednesday, Farage will give evidence to the House Judiciary committee, answering questions from a Republican majority panel.
The committee says the hearing, titled “Europe’s Threat to American Speech and Innovation,” will “highlight how European online censorship laws-specifically the United Kingdom’s Online Safety Act and the European Union’s Digital Services Act threaten Americans’ right to speak freely online in the United States.”
Republicans argue new protections to block harmful or adult content being shown to children online are disproportionately affecting US tech companies.
It threatens stiff sanctions against social networks like Twitter and Reddit, if they fail to verify a user’s age before showing them adult material.
Last week it was reported Farage had a furious run-in with Rep. Jamie Raskin, the most senior Democrat on the panel.
Farage is said to have called Rep. Raskin “pig-headed” in a heated exchange about free speech during a visit by US members of Congress to London.
Rep. Raskin, who had been giving a history of free speech in America, was interrupted by Farage after his remarks turned to the threat posed to free speech by Donald Trump.
“We’re not here to talk about Donald Trump,” Farage said, according to Raskin.
“[Farage] said that I am a guest here, and I should act like a guest. And I told him that he was a host, and he should act like a host.”
Farage accused Raskin of being “the most pig-headed person he’d ever met,” to which Raskin replied: “This is why we had a revolution against you guys.”
During his speech to the Munich Security Conference in February, Mr Vance accused Britain of “backsliding” on free speech.
He suggested safe zones that prevent people from harassing women outside abortion clinics were evidence of this.
When they were face to face in the Oval Office the same month, Keir Starmer hit back at Mr Vance for making similar claims.
Vance said: “We do have of course a special relationship with our friends in the UK and also our European allies, but we also know there have been infringements on free speech that affect not just the British – what the British do in their own country is up to them – but also affect American technology companies and by extension, American citizens.
Mr Starmer interjected, saying “we’ve had free speech for a very long time, it will last a long time, and we are very proud of that”.