Tales From The Crypto-Keeper
This is a cross-post (very cross) of my newsletter for DeSmog, which was sent out on Friday, July 10th.
As Nigel Farage quits parliament to run for his own seat against a man dressed as a bin, and fights for the right of crypto billionaires to give money to politicians in secret, you might think he has enough on his plate.
The Definite Article is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
You would be wrong. This week the Reform leader will be speaking at CPAC GB, a Trumpy spin-off conference in London fronted by ex-prime minister Liz Truss – herself quite the wizard with money, as we all remember.
And as if Farage was not already up to his neck in crypto, DeSmog reported this week that the event’s “official partner” is an outfit called the Bitcoin Collective, a lobby group for the digital currency industry.
Add this to the undeclared £5 million “gift” from crypto (and jet fuel) billionaire Christopher Harborne, which parliament was investigating when Farage resigned, and more hushed-up goodies from convicted fraudster George Cottrell, who has interests in a crypto-gambling platform.
One secret gift from the crypto-rich is unfortunate. Two begins to look like carelessness.
Oh, and then there are Reform’s donations from Ben Delo, another crypto moneybag who pleaded guilty to wire fraud before he was pardoned by President Trump. Don’t you just love the “disruptors” taking on establishment politics? O brave new world, that has such people in it!
Did I mention that Farage has £215,000 worth of shares in a bitcoin firm run by Truss’s chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng? And that he’s been lobbying against regulating the crypto industry?
But wait! Isn’t this all a distraction? Surely, what’s important isn’t Nigel’s money, but what he’s doing for the good people of Clacton? Well, as Sam Bright reported this week, Farage has mentioned his beloved constituency just twice in parliament in the past year. It turns out the “voice of the people” is not necessarily the voice of Clacton.
Speaking of that money, while Farage says he’s not made any expense claims as an MP, that’s probably because he doesn’t need to. As DeSmog has reported, Farage has made £2 million in outside earnings in the past two years. Or, given his relaxed attitude to financial disclosure, perhaps I should say £2 million that we know of...
Nigel Farage is often described as a “good communicator”, which is a generous way of saying he can make lies sound like the truth — at least to some people, some of the time.
What we saw this week was that some of his lies are starting to catch up with him, along with his boundless grift and willingness to be a political vessel for right-wing business interests.
This in turn exposes his macro lie: that of being an ordinary bloke fighting for “the people” against a powerful “elite”.
Let this be a model for his other falsehoods, such as that fossil fuels are not causing climate change, (while his party receives £24 million from oil interests), or that European Union membership was a burden rather than a blessing for the UK, (not even Farage can be bothered to defend that one), or the worst of all, that all of the UK’s problems can be blamed on immigration.
The latter might be the last to die. Perhaps a victory for Count Binface in the Clacton by-election can speed it along to its cosmic grave, along with Farage’s toxic political career.
You can sign up for DeSmog’s weekly newsletter here.
* Note: This piece was written before the awful news of the death of Ann Widdecombe, the Reform politician and former Conservative MP, which is being investigated by counter-terrorism police, and a man has been arrested. I’ve decided to reproduce the piece without changes. I’m happy to restate my long-held view that it’s wrong to kill one’s political opponents, and I’m sure Farage & co. would be the last to complain about the use of metaphors for rhetorical effect.
****
Burnham Down the House
‘Drillers to the Left of him, drillers to the Right…’
A piece of hot-takery for The Lead about the prospects for climate policy under Andy Burnham. I urge the incoming PM to ignore the siren songs from the Right and some unions to sail into the North Sea rocks. As I write:
“If Burnham wants to ‘beat Reform’, he could point out that Farage wants to chain us to the fossil fuel market, with all the wonderful results for ‘cost of living’ and ‘national security’ we see around us – along with the little matter of heating the planet.”
****
Free Advertising
A weekly selection of earthly delights
Feature: “For Orr, democracy means the ability of the majority to do as it pleases.” — James Bloodworth on Reform’s James Orr (Byline Times)
Scoop: “Cashing in on climate chaos” — Damian Carrington and Sam Bright on GB News owner Paul Marshall (The Guardian)
Opinion: “Love is blind. Voters shouldn’t be.” — Katha Pollitt on Graham Platner (The Nation)
Research: ‘Britain Under Strain’ — Sara Khan and Matthew Godwin (NOT Goodwin) at UKEDRC
Political cartoon: ‘Man of the People’ — Ella Baron on Nigel Farage (The Guardian)
Poem: ‘Let America Be America Again’ — Langston Hughes (1935)
Music: ‘Everyone for Ten Minutes’ — new album by Bleachers (Spotify link)
****
Thank you for reading The Definite Article. Click here to share this edition with your friends and/or enemies:
You can subscribe here:
Comments
Nothing yet. Say the first thing.
Sign in to join the conversation.