A man walks into a pub and……it’s Nigel Farage!

CUSTOMERS at a Thame pub had a shock late yesterday evening (02/11), when in walked a man who is fast becoming an political legend, whether you agree with his particular brand of politics or not.

Nigel Farage (right) behind the bar at The Cross Keys pub, Thame, with landlord, Peter Lambert

Nigel Farage MEP, and leader of the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP), had earlier in the evening delivered his one-man show at The Thame Players Theatre, to a sell-out audience, before dropping in at The Cross Keys pub.

The landlord of The Cross Keys, ex Thame Mayor, Peter Lambert, had  asked Nigel a question about beer tax, during the Question and Answer session of Nigel’s show. The answer apparently was that ‘Pubs are very important places; each one is a parliament’. He added: “I’d slash beer duty to help the pub trade and introduce common sense to smoking rules.”

Afterwards, Peter Lambert said: “He said he loved the pub and stated that it was a ‘proper’ pub. He stayed for four pints and vowed that if he was passing in the future, he’d pop in.”

Apart from one lady, who had to be removed from the theatre ((more of that later), the atmosphere in the theatre for the UKIP leader’s show was by all accounts very congenial and the comments on social media generally gave an impression of a good-humoured and polite atmosphere.

Nigel Farage on stage at the Thame Players Theatre

Some of the other topics in the Q and A session, all picked randomly from a bucket, and quoted on twitter, included:
Q: Are you in favour of Proportional Representation (PR)? A: “First past the post only works in two party race. Roy Jenkins’ AVplus is the best system”

“What about HS2?” A: “Completely opposed to it. London to Manchester is to 2hrs anyway. Other more pressing rail needs including London to Penzance.”
Q: “”Can we stop HS2 now?” A: “Yes, but not through legal channels, only political.”

Q: “Will you form coalision with the Tories?” A: “Yes, even with the devil if necessary. Party doesn’t matter, getting policies across does.”

Q: “How can politics broaden its appeal to younger people?” A: “There is a massive anti UKIP bias, mainly on the comedy circuit. We are starting engaging on Social Media.”

Q: “Do you think you’re a comedian or a politician?” A: I have a sense of humour, but I speak plainly and I’m deadly serious about our campaign.”

Tony Long, a member of the Thame Players Theatre, and ex Chairman, was there for the show and this is how he described the evening:

Dressed in a beige jacket and yellow corduroy trousers he came onto the stage wearing the broadest of grins, sat himself in a comfortable armchair, poured himself a glass of a good red wine and began his chat to the audience. This was no party political broadcast, although inevitably politics featured heavily, but more an account, told with great humour and aplomb, of his upbringing, his formative years and his 20 years working in the city before entering politics. He then spoke about his “…..realisation in the early 1990s that Europe was becoming more and more a political union with the aim of becoming a superstate in its own right.” He claimed that 75% of all legislation in this country was now determined in Brussels and that over 400 million Europeans had the right to settle in the UK, and that we had no power to stop them.

During the interval, Nigel Farage signed copies of his book and there were plenty of people eager to buy. He also encouraged people to write down questions which he would answer in the second half. Some 50 or so questions were duly put into an ice bucket and left on stage for him to answer. He then picked questions out at random and unhesitatingly answered them. Most questions were about UKIP policies on a wide range of issues. “If UKIP held the balance of power after the next election would he join a coalition with the Tories?” asked one. He replied he would form a coalition with the devil as long as a referendum on leaving Europe was part of the agreement. “If he was part of a coalition would he demand a referendum by December 2015” he was asked. “No” he said, and then after a pause and a broad grin he added, “by July 2015”. He picked out one question paper which had 9 separate questions on it. He answered them all. “How many seats will UKIP contest at the general election” he was asked. “All 650 of them” was the reply. So love him or loathe him we shall all have the opportunity next May to express our view in the ballot box.

During the question and answer session one woman objected to all the political questions. Nigel Farage asked her if she had a question herself but none was forthcoming. The woman kept on interrupting the answers, despite the rest of the audience repeatedly asking her to ‘shut up’ until finally she was escorted from the auditorium. The performance continued in relative peace and quiet until the time came for the show to end.
Whether the audience was persuaded by his arguments, whether they would vote UKIP, we shall never know. What we do know is that Nigel Farage was given a great round of applause from a largely appreciative audience who left madly chattering amongst themselves.

After the show Nigel Farage went for a well-earned pint of beer at The Cross Keys, the pub run by former mayor, Peter Lambert, who had been in the audience. Debate no doubt continued over that beer in as good-natured and lively way as the whole evening had been.