Nigel Farage joined the Reform UK election bus supporting Party leader Richard Tice in his bid for the Boston and Skegness seat in the July 4 General Election. Mr Farage visited both towns before giving a speech at a rally in Old Leake.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00 I was campaigning around the country, there's events like this going on all over the place.
00:04 Nigel's campaigning around the country.
00:06 We're working incredibly hard, but as Nigel said, we can't do it on our own.
00:10 Thank you very much, we really appreciate it.
00:12 Have a great rest of your week. Thank you.
00:14 [Applause]
00:25 Welcome Mr Farage, we're really out in the countryside, aren't we, in Old Leek.
00:31 Now, I know you've been out in Boston and Skegness today,
00:35 and in the past couple of years some town fund money has filtered through.
00:41 But since the last time you were in the area, do you think a lot has changed, or enough has changed?
00:48 No, not enough has changed, I think that's the point.
00:51 I was talking to the mayor in Skegness, and he said, look, there are various projects coming down the tracks,
00:58 but it's all about delivery, isn't it? It's all about promises being turned into delivery.
01:02 And I, actually, I mean, the truth of it is, actually Skegness has got a lot of potential.
01:09 It's still got a lot of potential, but it's not quite realising it.
01:13 So there is a lot of work to do, there's a lot of work to do, but hey, you know what?
01:18 I think it's something, people are so friendly up here, it's fantastic.
01:22 I've seen you on television, and obviously you were saying that you were getting apologies from various media around,
01:32 so hopefully you're not going to be asking one from Lincolnshire World as well.
01:37 But, you know, how is it going really?
01:41 Well, if you look at the times today, you can see in the course of the last week, we're up in the polls,
01:47 we've got momentum, we've got obviously just one day under five weeks to go.
01:52 It's not easy, but we're only six points behind the Conservatives.
01:56 That, for a party that's not been around very long, is a pretty impressive situation.
02:00 We know Labour are going to win, but we're saying to people, if you normally vote Conservative,
02:04 but you're unhappy with what they're doing, they're not going to win anyway,
02:07 and we're the ones that can be a catalyst to form a real opposition to Labour,
02:11 because right at the moment the Tories are split down the middle and divided on everything.
02:15 So we're pretty optimistic for the next few weeks.
02:17 So, Mr Tice, he was in Skegness and Boston a couple of weeks ago.
02:24 Why would you say people should vote for him?
02:27 Well, he's a figure that's known nationally, and one of the questions we got tonight was,
02:32 well, we feel a bit left behind here. We're kind of out of the way, we're on the coast,
02:37 we're a slightly ignored community.
02:40 So the idea that you get somebody who's got a strong national voice and a successful career in business behind him,
02:46 and who's unafraid to stand up and take on issues that others find too difficult,
02:49 that may be attractive to voters. It's not for me to say, but it may be attractive.
02:53 Now, you've widely explained why you haven't been standing yourself in this election,
03:00 but after the result, Mr Trump's result, has it made you think differently?
03:09 Do you think you might still stand, or are you still pushing forward with your previous plans?
03:14 The reason for not standing was six weeks.
03:16 Knowing that the Conservatives and others would do terrible things against me in a constituency,
03:20 it wasn't long enough to build up a campaign.
03:22 Plus, also, I feel I'm of more value to our cause by spending my time going around,
03:28 I'm going to hang out with you today, I'm going to be in Nottinghamshire tomorrow.
03:32 For me to do all of that, and find a constituency properly, I think would have been very difficult.
03:37 How do you think tonight went?
03:39 Well, when I asked them to put their hands up, it had the slight air of a revivalist meeting,
03:45 as they all said yes, we will stand up and help. So, I think it went well.
03:49 It's two weeks since I met you in Skagenes, looks like a lot has changed.
03:57 Were you happy with tonight?
03:58 Yeah, absolutely. I mean, we're making great progress, we're campaigning,
04:02 the word is spreading so rapidly, it's like osmosis, it's like water going downhill, it's fantastic.
04:09 And just across all different demographics, and it's very exciting.
04:15 I think we've got a great team, we've got lots of enthusiasm,
04:19 it's going to be a close race, and we're campaigning hard,
04:23 we've got all the way to the wire, but I'm really optimistic.
04:27 People want change, and what people recognise is that if you want change,
04:31 you've got to vote for it. And people know this great country of ours needs reform,
04:35 Boston and Skagenes needs reform. You've got to run everything so much better,
04:40 stop wasting money. And I think we're now the party that is recognised as the party of the workers.
04:46 And the two main parties, they're the globalists, they're the elite,
04:49 they don't represent decent, ordinary working folk.
04:53 I understand that you're back out tomorrow, and you start the campaign,
04:58 you know, and there's door knocking, and your pledge is to knock on every door. Is that right?
05:04 Well, we're certainly going to do our best. You've got to be ambitious, it's a big job,
05:08 but we're out there, we've got a great team. So yes, knocking on doors, delivering leaflets,
05:14 street stalls, full on, all the way to July 4th.
05:19 But of course, before then we've got postal votes, so we've got to do as much as we can
05:23 before the postal votes land, and then just keep going to the wire.
05:28 Have you learnt any more in these two weeks about Boston and Skagenes?
05:34 What are people telling you?
05:36 What people are telling me is the lack of infrastructure, the roads, not just the potholes,
05:41 but actually the traffic jams, just the lack of investment in roads across the whole of Lincolnshire.
05:49 And you then say, well, who's been in charge of Lincolnshire for ages, decades?
05:55 Well, it's been the Conservatives. So they've completely failed to look after the interests
06:00 of the constituents here and elsewhere in Lincolnshire.
06:03 So that's been a key thing, and I'm listening all the time to people's concerns.
06:09 You were in the audience tonight, how do you think it went?
06:13 Excellent, very powerful, very charged up, motivational, love it.
06:19 Very informative.
06:23 Can I ask how you voted last time?
06:26 I voted Conservative last time, and I'm not, I voted for Bojo, but I won't be voting Conservative.
06:34 Has it helped you make a decision tonight?
06:36 Oh, I've already made it, on reform all the way.
06:39 I just wanted to get an overview of everything really, because obviously this one is really important.
06:48 Yeah, very much enjoyed it. How did you think it went?
06:56 I thought they were very good speakers.
06:59 Haven't made any decisions after tonight?
07:02 Probably will vote, but what else is there really?