“Trump puppet” Nigel Farage should be put on a foreign influence watchlist after skipping Parliament to schmooze the President and his allies in Washington, the Lib Dems say
“Trump puppet” Nigel Farage should be put on a foreign influence watchlist after skipping Parliament to schmooze the President and his allies in Washington, the Lib Dems say.
Deputy leader Daisy Cooper said Farage’s ties to Trump were an example of foreign collusion, and he should be required to officially register under the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme (FIRS).
The party lit up Reform UK’s HQ at Millbank Tower in London to appear like Trump Tower this evening.
The FIRS scheme came into force on 1 July and was set up to oversee attempts by foreign powers to influence democratic processes in the UK.
It requires individuals and organisations to register any arrangements they have with foreign powers within 28 days of making them.
This can include arrangements to receive payments or future favourable treatment from a foreign power. Failure to register when required under the scheme is a criminal offence.
Nigel Farage confirms he is having lunch with President Trump
Ms Cooper said: ” Nigel Farage should be placed on the foreign influence watch list over his close ties to President Trump. He has repeatedly acted like a Trump puppet and colluded with the US administration to undermine Britain’s national interests.
“The public deserve to know what arrangements Farage has made with Donald Trump including during their meeting this week. It’s high time Farage came clean and unveil whether there are any arrangements in place as Trump’s cheerleader-in-chief.”
Rep. Jamie Raskin, the most senior Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee where Farage appeared yesterday, tore strips off the Reform leader during his evidence.
“It was just one untruth after another,” he told MSNBC yesterday (THU).
“Even when he answered the questions, it totally undercut his point.
He was over here posing as some kind of free speech martyr against the bureaucrats of the European Union, and here’s a guy who has openly called for shutting down anti-war protests in London.”
He added: “This guy is a free speech imposter and a fraud, and they brought him over here just to elevate him. He was skipping legislative session in the UK yesterday.
“I said, “If you think you’ve got a mandate there to overturn the Online Safety Act, protecting children and against children pornography, bring it to your colleagues, but don’t bring it over here in this pony show with Donald Trump.””
Host Joe Scarborough added: “His attitude seems to be the attitude is so many on the far-right.
“Free speech for me, but not for thee. And of course, comparing the UK to North Korea, when he stifles free speech at his own events.”
Moira Whelan, a former senior State Department official and leader at the National Democratic Institute, said Farage’s appearance before the committee “barely registered” in Washington, where all eyes were on the push for more disclosures of the Epstein files.
But she said his sudden interest in online safety laws was “a large surprise” to people around the world who had worked on these processes for decades.
“It is shocking that someone like Farage, who considers himself a man of the people, would work so hard to make sure tech billionaires knew he was on their side in such a public forum,” she told the Mirror.
She said it was unusual that he didn’t have a fully written script as is customary for such hearings.
“Relying on hand written notes on hypothetical instances, sparing with the leading Democrat, and suggesting that pieces of “hardware” could protect our children online shows he just simply isn’t serious.
“If technology companies look to him to defend them in the UK or Europe, it would be a terrible investment.”
She added: “What is shocking to me as an American is that not a single Republican seemed outraged at the censorship we are facing by the Trump Administration here at home.
“Books are being pulled from library shelves at our military academies at the direction of the White House.
“Our regulatory bodies, the FCC and FTC are being weaponised to hunt down and punish media watchdogs and make large broadcasters bow to their political whims.
“Public television and radio has been gutted. The war on the internet won’t stop either.
“Marco Rubio has ordered his diplomats to lobby against the [EU’s Digital Services Act] and the [UK’s Online Safety Act] and has promised to dig out Biden era emails of bureaucrats to “prove collusion” rather than the old fashioned coordination of democratic allies.”
Meanwhile, green activist Dale Vince said he had been barred from Reform’s conference this weekend.
A spokesman said: “He wanted to engage with delegates about the green economy and tell them why they are wrong and missing the economic opportunity of the century.”