5 awkward U-turns by Nigel Farage

As UKIP rejects Nigel Farage’s resignation

In what was possibly the world’s shortest resignation, Nigel Farage unresigned as the leader of UKIP yesterday. Twitter both celebrated and berated Farage’s comeback.

Writing about his resignation in the Daily Telegraph, Farage wrote: “I’m a man of my word.

“It was only about 20 minutes after the results in South Thanet had come in, that I stood on the cliffs outside the Botany Bay Hotel, surrounded by the nation’s media, and confirmed that I would be handing my resignation to the National Executive Committee today.”

Now we don’t want to comment on whether Farage is or is not a “man of his word”. But, he is definitely a man of U-turns.

Take a look at these five examples that prove U-turns are totally Farage’s thing:

1. Immigration

Immigration is one topic Farage can never make up his mind on.

In March, he scrapped a proposed net migration cap of 50,000 as part of UKIP policies.

Then in April, at UKIP’s manifesto launch, the party reinstated the proposed cap.

2. Gay marriage

Even though gay marriage became legal in the UK in March 2014, Nigel Farage’s party opposed churches performing gay marriage ceremonies.

In fact, earlier this year UKIP councillor David Silverster claimed flooding in the UK in 2013 was God’s revenge for legalising gay marriage. He was sacked by the party for his comments.

Come March 2015, Farage said he’s going to fight the general election being a supporter of gay marriage.

He said: “We have absolutely no problem with anybody, whatever group or community they come from, unless they have openly and evidently unpalatable views.

“People who join us do so because they subscribe to our basic position about freedom from the European Union and a less intrusive state.”

3. Sex Education

In December 2014, Farage told a live audience that children under 11 should definitely get sex and relationship education.

But errr, UKIP’s deputy leader and education spokesman Paul Nuttall, had spent most of 2014 saying sex education should be axed for the age group.

In his defence, Farage said: “I’ve never advocated that policy. If somebody in UKIP in the past did, so be it, but I think that people need to have a rounded education and sex education is part of that.”

4. NHS

Last year, Farage was left red-faced after a video from 2012 surfaced showing him telling UKIP supporters that the NHS should run on an insurance-based system run by private companies.

But in February 2015, he said that “UKIP is committed to a national health service that is free at the point of access and paid for out of taxation full-stock”.

5. VAT

In September 2014, UKIP’s economic spokesman Patrick O’Flynn said that it made “no sense” to levy VAT on everyday goods at the same rate as luxury items.

Farage shunned this policy in two days.

He told BBC One’s Andrew Marr show: ‘I am very happy to give the freedom to our spokesmen and spokeswomen to float ideas but I’m pretty certain that while I’m leader that will not be in our manifesto.

“As far as I am concerned it’s dead. It was a discussion point yesterday. It isn’t going to happen.”