In short
The episode argues that Nigel Farage went to Washington to attack Britain’s free-speech record and lobby for US sanctions, while allegedly acting as a promoter of his own GB News interests rather than representing his Clacton-on-Sea constituents. Guests/participants: John and Emily (hosts, “The News Agents”); Jamie Raskin (US congressman, interviewed earlier; appears via a quoted exchange); Zach Polanski (new Green Party leader, interviewed on location in Clacton); plus multiple Clacton residents in Vox Pops (unnamed).
Key claims
Britain isn’t like North Korea; Farage is a “free speech imposter” who bans journalists and supports autocrats; the Online Safety Act and protest rules are misrepresented; Farage’s sanctions request would harm working people; Farage is playing the MAGA playbook and has a GB News pin/shareholding.
Notable examples
AP journalist travel ban linked to Trump; Farage comparing Britain to North Korea; Reform/Nottinghamshire council press restrictions; Farage’s Heathrow “North Korea” remark; Raskin grilling Farage on banning journalists.
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Chapters
Tap a time to open that second in VOFarage's Visit to Washington
0:00 to 0:20
Discussion on why Nigel Farage is in Washington and his criticisms of Britain.
“You can see it in the way a fabric moves, recognize it in a flawless fit, and appreciate it in the details that make our styles unique.”
Farage's Visit to Washington
1:15 to 2:18
Discussion on why Nigel Farage is in Washington and his criticisms of Britain.
“Nigel Farage just compared Britain to North Korea.”
The Allegations Against Britain
2:18 to 3:20
Exploration of Farage's claims about free speech and the UK's government.
“to the point where he's actually calling on Donald Trump and his administration to impose sanctions on the UK that would end up making us poorer.”
The Reaction to Farage's Actions
3:20 to 4:20
Reactions in the UK regarding Farage's statements and calls for sanctions.
“Look, let's spell it out in words of two syllables.”
Discussion on Free Speech
4:20 to 6:00
Contrast between free speech in the US and UK, citing recent events.
“He is trying to shut down anything that gets in the way of his weak, paper-thin skin.”
Farage's Congressional Testimony
6:00 to 7:20
Detailed look at Farage's testimony in Congress and its implications.
“asking questions or being part of the UK parliamentary debate.”
Raskin's Counterpoint
7:20 to 10:12
Jamie Raskin's critical questioning of Farage during the congressional hearing.
“And yet Nigel Farage somehow, well, he hasn't noticed any of that.”
Farage's Hypocrisy on Free Speech
10:12 to 14:00
Discussion on the hypocrisy of Farage's statements about free speech.
“This is what he told John back in July when he was here trying to exercise his own rights to free speech.”
Nigel Farage's American Ventures
14:00 to 21:35
Exploration of Nigel Farage's motivations for his actions in America and their implications.
“and getting cross about anyone else who does the same.”
Local Reactions to Farage's Statements
21:48 to 28:00
Vox Pops from Clacton residents expressing their views on Farage's criticisms of Britain.
“So we thought we'd go in search of a few Vox Pops, a few voices from local Clacton residents.”
Show all 14 chapters
Zach Polanski on Farage's Impact
28:00 to 29:54
Zach Polanski discusses the perception of Nigel Farage in Clacton and advocates for Green Party policies.
“and everyone around is, it's a poor area, isn't it?”
Debate on Free Speech and Policing
29:54 to 31:47
Polanski addresses concerns about free speech and the role of police in addressing societal issues.
“Can I ask you what you made of his appearance in Congress yesterday at the committee?”
Public Sentiment on Politics
31:47 to 34:14
Exploration of the public's lack of trust in politicians and their feelings on current government policies.
“The government have obviously decided to make decisions about what's prescribed or not prescribed.”
Farage's Congressional Hearing Incident
34:28 to 35:34
A humorous recap of Nigel Farage disappearing during a congressional hearing, highlighting his priorities.
“So just before we go, there was a hilarious bit.”
Transcript
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.0:00You know what quality feels like. You can see it in the way a fabric moves, recognize it in a flawless fit, and appreciate it in the details that make our styles unique. It's the standard Coldwater Creek has honored for over 40 years, derived from a rich Mountain West heritage, and designed for today in styles that are distinctively Coldwater Creek. For a wardrobe you can count on season after season, visit ColdwaterCreek.com, shop new arrivals, and save 15 % on purchases$75 or more with code IHEART.
0:32Jon Sopel:This is a Global Player original podcast. Nigel Farage is in Washington again. The Reform Party leader has gone before Congress to talk Britain down, to talk about the lack of free speech, to talk about how maybe the US ought to impose sanctions on us. So we've come somewhere that you're much less likely to bump into, Nigel Farage, his own constituency, Clacton-on-Sea. We're going to be asking what he's doing in Washington and why he's gone there to slag off Britain. I feel let down. I fly Union Jack for my property. I'm patriotic. I love England. He's an Englishman. Why does he not feel the same?
1:13Why is he putting his country down? Welcome to The News Agents.
1:21Jon Sopel:The News Agents. It's John. It's Emily. And we're in Pyongyang in North Korea. No, we're not. No, we're not. Nigel Farage just compared Britain to North Korea. We're actually by Clacton Pier on a blustery day. The sun at the moment is shining. The seagulls are overhead. The sea is lapping against the sandy beach. Yes, and last time I seem to recall that we were here was the day after he'd announced he was standing. And we ended up in a melee with Nigel Farage shortly before he was covered in milkshake. and he stood on a table right down there, about 200 yards away, to announce that he wanted to be the next MP for Clacton.
2:00And sure enough, he got voted in. But as far as we understand, spent very little time here because he is more involved right now with explaining to America how deeply troubled this country is, to the point where he's actually calling on Donald Trump and his administration to impose sanctions on the UK that would end up making us poorer.
2:29Jon Sopel:So you say about the last time we were here, he wanted to become an MP. That was just over a year ago. Since when he now wants to be prime minister? And that isn't just foolish talk. The opinion polls suggest that that is something that is distinctly possible at the next election when there is so much disillusionment with our politics, which sort of makes it even more remarkable that a potential future Prime Minister has gone to the United States of America to go before a congressional committee to talk about how free speech has become a myth in Britain, that we have lost the ability to speak freely, that we are somehow suppressed.
3:15Jon Sopel:The jackboot of the government is on our windpipes and we cannot do that anymore. and it's wrong on so many levels when actually in america there is not a whole lot of free speech right now i'll give one example but i could give dozens the associated press the main news agency independent impartial banned from traveling with president trump because it wouldn't call the gulf of mexico the gulf of america which is something that trump decreed would be renamed after his election? Look, let's spell it out in words of two syllables. Traitor is trending on UK Twitter right now, because that is how people perceive the actions of Nigel Farage.
4:01I mean, the idea that he's taken that message to America, which is right now hurtling towards autocracy. Just look what's going on. Trump is trying to stifle the judiciary, trying to stifle law firms, trying to stifle universities, trying to stifle free speech amongst protesters, trying to stifle free speech amongst students, trying to take people off the streets, lock them up without due process. He is trying to shut down anything that gets in the way of his weak, paper-thin skin. And he's even trying to get Trump to adopt what amounts to an economic sanction over the online safety bill. He's trying to encourage him to make Trump charge the UK more.
4:51How's that working out for working people?
4:54Jon Sopel:It's in the written evidence, the statement Nigel Farage had carefully drawn up before the committee, which says that if the British government goes ahead and tries to sanction US tech companies because of the Online Safety Act, then what the US administration ought to do is impose sanctions and you think hang on you're going there to argue for economic sanctions against your own country against your own constituents this is how sakir starmer saw it yesterday in the house of commons the honorable member for clacton is not here representing his constituencies in the house that he was elected to no he's flown to america to badmouth and talk down our country.
5:38And worse than that, Mr Speaker, if you can believe it, he's gone there to lobby the Americans to impose sanctions on this country, which will harm working people. You cannot get more unpatriotic than that. It's a disgrace. And just to repeat that, Keir Starmer was in the House of Commons. Nigel Farage could also have been in the House of Commons asking questions or being part of the UK parliamentary debate. But no, he was in Washington asking Trump to punish Britain.
6:12Jon Sopel:We spoke yesterday on the podcast about the case of Graham Linehan and his arrest at Heathrow Airport when he came back from America. And we said it was on the wrong side of it. And the police wanted that clarification that you can't just arrest people kind of willy nilly. You can't bring policing into the culture war sort of battles of today. And we took a very sympathetic view to the fact that Linehan probably should not have been arrested. And what he'd said was, you know, kind of may have been a bit offensive. But, hey, we can say offensive things if we want to. Sorry, how many people are getting arrested every single day in the US?
6:46How many people are getting arrested for writing the wrong column or protesting the wrong cause or saying something that has made Trump's paper thin, wafery skin slightly more fragile than it was? That is the climate now in America. It is one of fear, where, as you said not so long ago, people are checking their social media feeds before they land in the country because they're too scared of angering a government that might take against them. That's what we're dealing with. That's the America that we are dealing with under Trump in 2025. And yet Nigel Farage somehow, well, he hasn't noticed any of that.
7:24Jon Sopel:So if you think we're sort of, you know, going over the top, this is Nigel Farage in Congress setting out the case against Britain. This legislation we've got will damage trade between our countries, threaten free speech across the West because of the knock-on rollout effects of this legislation from us or from the European Union. So I've come today as well to be a klaxon to say to you, don't allow piece by piece this to happen here in America. And you will be doing us and yourselves and all freedom loving people a favour if your politicians and your businesses said to the British government, you've simply got this wrong.
8:11Jon Sopel:At what point did we become North Korea? Well, I think the Irish comedy writer found that out two days ago at Heathrow Airport. This is a genuinely worrying, concerning and shocking situation. Look, the committee is Republican controlled and the chair of the committee is Jim Jordan, who's a very close ally of Donald Trump. But there are Democrats on the committee and they weren't there to rub a stamp and praise everything that Nigel Farage said. This is Jamie Raskin, the ranking member who we interviewed quite recently on the newsagents, setting out, well, what are you doing here, Nigel Farage?
8:54Jon Sopel:There is a free speech crisis in America today, but there's no free speech crisis in Britain. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has not shut down GB News, where Mr Farage has his own show, just because Mr Farage has used his airtime to call for banning peaceful protests that he disagrees with. No one has stopped him from going on Russian TV 17 times and saying also and repeating that the one world political leader he most admired was Vladimir Putin, even though Vladimir Putin is a war criminal and a dictator who has regularly interfered in other countries' democratic elections. No one has stopped Mr.
9:33Jon Sopel:Farage from parroting Putin's absurd talking points, like when Farage claimed that NATO, the US and Britain provoked this war in Ukraine. For a man who fashions himself as some kind of a free speech martyr, Mr. Farage seems most at home with the autocrats and dictators of the world who are crushing freedom on Earth. Farage got torched. Raskin ran him over as a Putin-loving free speech imposter. A very well-briefed Democrat there, explaining what many in America simply haven't seen, the true nature of Nigel Farage. And he's had firsthand experience. This is what he told John back in July when he was here trying to exercise his own rights to free speech.
10:21And Farage, guess what?
10:23Jon Sopel:Shut him down. He wouldn't let me finish my speech. He wouldn't let me talk. We had just listened to an hour presentation by right-wing politicians and think tank people about how the European Union is essentially crushing civil freedom and how your new online safety act, which was adopted to make the internet safe for children and so on, is actually going to destroy the right of conservatives to speak. And so we wanted to give them another perspective on that. And one of the cases they kept talking about was a guy who regretted that he and his girlfriend had had an abortion 20 years before, and he was protesting by praying near an abortion clinic.
11:04Jon Sopel:And there's a law, a buffer zone law. They were saying that this means that, you know, the UK is no longer on the side of free speech, which struck us as ridiculous, because that buffer zone law exists in America. We've got a federal law on that and was upheld by a Supreme Court. So I was trying to explain that. And then and I also was talking about all of Donald Trump's attacks on free speech, the rights of law firms and the rights of universities and colleges, and he couldn't handle it. And, you know, two or three minutes into my talk, he began screaming that this wasn't about Donald Trump and he wasn't going to.
11:36Jon Sopel:And so it's worth playing now a bit of the exchange that took place in the congressional committee between Farage and Jamie Raskin, the congressman from Maryland. Because Raskin, as you say, Emily, is well briefed and has very specific questions he wants answers to. You've banned journalists from your political events that you disagree with, haven't you? No, in fact, I'm the only... Really? At your convention, you didn't ban journalists and revoke their credentials? You know, I take... At the average press conference, I take 25 questions. No, no, that wasn't my question. Mr Farage, we're politicians, so we see what you're doing.
12:15Jon Sopel:I'm asking you a direct question. I'm asking you a direct question, and I hope you can answer it. Why do you ban journalists who oppose your views from coming to your events? Why did you tell your party, why did you tell the local government not to do interviews with your local newspaper? I am the most open person to any journalist. Undoubtedly, you're the handsomest man in the world. But I'm asking you a different question, okay? I do it every day. That's not my question. My question for you is, and it's legit, why do you ban journalists that you disagree with from your political events, like from your convention?
12:48Jon Sopel:I don't. OK, and you say you've never done that? I can't think, if I go back the last 25 years, I can't think of banning anybody. But I mean, maybe somebody else did. But look, I repeat the point. I take more questions from journalists. So let's just dig down into some of those claims, because it is true that reform, Nottinghamshire County Council, has stopped speaking to local journalists. It's stopped even handing out routine press releases. The ban won't be lifted until they apologise for what reform is calling biased coverage. Now, how's that working out for your free speech, Nigel Farage?
13:28What about this whole idea of labelling peaceful protesters hard left communists? What about accusing the police of being gutless for not banning a pro-Palestinian protest? Sorry, we thought you didn't like bans, but it turns out you do. What about refusing to give accreditation to signed up journalists who want to attend your own Reform Party conference this weekend? it's inevitable that what it comes down to is rank hypocrisy. Free speech means shutting down the kind of speech that you don't like and getting cross about anyone else who does the same.
14:06Jon Sopel:And if you look at the people who have been banned from attending the Reform Conference, yeah, they are people who oppose Nigel Farage. They are people who've been critical of Nigel Farage. They are people who question his climate change denying politics. There are people who want to investigate all sorts of aspects of reform and the way it functions. But if you believe in free speech, you don't fear those people. You embrace those people. You challenge those people. You argue with those people. You don't ban them. And yet that is what Nigel Farage has done as he goes to America to talk about how free speech is under threat in the UK.
14:47Jon Sopel:And there is another aspect that I think we do need to talk about in relation to this. And this is that Nigel Farage, when he was in the halls of Congress, he's filmed walking along and he's got a little pin badge in his lapel. Oh, a Union Jack. No, no close, but no cigar. The badge is for GB News. He is there to launch and promote GB News where he has a show and where he has a minority shareholding. So I guess my question that I'm struggling with, is he representing Britain, which is sort of what he says he's doing as the elected representative for Clacton on Sea, where we are sitting delightfully now with the seagulls in the background.
15:33Jon Sopel:Or is he there representing a right wing TV channel which was launching in America that day? What a coincidence. Is he marketing his own channel as a complete grifter in an American market? I mean, is that basically what you're asking? We're not saying that. We're just asking that question. We're exercising free speech. Nigel, I'm sure you appreciate it hugely. But I think the real question is why he's now playing to the MAGA playbook. Because we heard Paul Marshall, who is, you know, one of the co-owners, founders of GB News, saying last night at the reception, President Trump, you have to save us.
16:14You, Trump, have to save us. Is us GB News? No, us is Britain. And it's a really odd place to go when you look at some of the polling, because actually reform voters don't really like Trump at all. When Trump got inaugurated back in January, he had a favourability rate of about 31%. That has now dropped. It is minus 18. In other words, people have watched his first eight, nine months in office and thought, crikey, don't bring that here. I don't really like what's going on. That is reform voters, according to More In Commons polling by Luke Trill. So you have to wonder why Farage thinks it's helpful to play up to a man that many of his voters don't even like.
16:59Jon Sopel:Well, I think that Nigel Farage is modelling himself on Donald Trump. He looks at the victory of Donald Trump against the odds, making himself seem like the outsider, making himself seem like the person that everyone is against, probably relishing the fact that the news agents are slagging him off because that, oh, yeah, they're trying, the establishment are frightened of me. And this is what they're doing. That is what Donald Trump did to great effect when he was there. But the idea at the moment that what we want is to be like America, where some of the things that you are seeing happening are so counter to the democratic instincts of that country, to the ideas of the founding fathers of three co-equal branches of government.
17:40Jon Sopel:And we've talked about this a great deal. And the idea that what Britain needs now is a sort of salvation and that what we need to be is much more like America. I don't think that chimes. I think a lot of people are seeing some of the things that are unfolding. And you've talked about the universities and you've talked about free speech. We've been talking about, you know, the way the medical profession is being treated, what's happening with vaccines in America. You know how the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics is fired because Donald Trump didn't like the statistics on the job. Yes. Or you tell the judges that you don't like their judgments.
18:14And can you please find another judgment? Exactly.
18:16Jon Sopel:All of those things are a challenge. And I count myself as someone who loves America. I lived there for seven and a half years. I think it is a fabulous country. But, you know, do I think it is fabulous right now? I'm not sure. And I'm not sure how many Britons think that the direction of travel in the US right now is something to be emulated here in Britain or here in Clacton-on-Sea. Do you know what? Even if America right now was the best country in the world, there is something so unsavory about heading off there just to slag this country off. I mean, he's got his little pin badge. OK, it's not quite the flag, but he does love the British flag.
19:00He loves the Union Jack. He loves the St. George's flag. And yet there he is basically just telling America, American Congress, men and women, how awful this country is. If I was one of his constituents, I don't think I'd want my MP to be going abroad just to slag us off. And it all comes back to that main thrust, which is how reform operate. You destroy things. You talk things down. You break things up. It's much easier for him to talk about how broken Britain is. Of course, Britain is broken. He broke it. He's done everything he could to break down this country, whether it's community cohesion, whether it's our economic wealth through Brexit, whether it's our approach to foreigners, whether it's our understanding, actually, of fundamentally good British values.
19:50He's broken all that. And now he's going off to tell everyone abroad how broken we are. Well, thanks.
19:57Jon Sopel:Yeah, and you know, what is the idea of patriotism and what is it to be a true patriot? It is when you go abroad, and this has been the political tradition for a very long time, that you don't talk down your country when you're abroad. You can admit that there are challenges. You can say, of course, we've got things we've got to do to get things better or to make things right. That's fine. but it's the actual idea that you are giving congressional evidence to a committee which purely is to talk about how free speech is being trampled upon in this country and going to do it in a country where as you say free speech has already been trampled upon and people are fearful about what they say i'm not sure what the bravery is in that or whether that is just pure cowardice What's the opposite of being an ambassador?
20:51You know, an ambassador is meant to be somebody who sort of sells their country abroad. He's like a, I don't know, you know, you do the opposite. You basically go over there to slag us off. Well, yeah.
21:02Jon Sopel:And when we come back, the constituents of Clacton on sea and what they think.
21:18in a flawless fit and appreciated in the details that make our styles unique. It's the standard Coldwater Creek has honored for over 40 years, derived from a rich Mountain West heritage and designed for today in styles that are distinctively Coldwater Creek. For a wardrobe you can count on season after season, visit coldwatercreek.com, shop new arrivals and save 15 % on purchases$75 or more with code iHeart.
21:48Jon Sopel:The News Agents. So we thought we'd go in search of a few Vox Pops, a few voices from local Clacton residents. It's always tricky in a seaside place because a lot of the people that we've stopped to talk to have actually just come here on holiday. They're down for the day. We're heading into the spoons, weather spoons just behind the beach. And it's always harder for some reason to find women to talk to you when you're across them in the middle of the street. I mean, I probably understand that. But you will hear predominantly the male voices of Clacton. It's not for want of trying. You were saying that it's like North Korea.
22:26What, Clacton? No, Britain. Yeah, it is. Is it? Why? It's getting worse. Go on. Too many foreigners here. I'm sorry, but to me, they're just letting too many in. The boat should be stopped. We want our country back. Are you pleased that he's over in America saying what's wrong with this country? Yeah, they need to know. I think, in all fairness, Freud should be Prime Minister. Clears Darmus has done nothing for this country. We can't wait till the next election comes up because he'll be in. Definitely he's got to be in. Yeah. And are you happy that he's going over to the US to tell everyone there how bad this country is?
Read the full transcript
23:07Yeah, right. They should know. because if we don't sort in there, all the countries are turned aside. Thank you very much. He said that this country was becoming like North Korea. Does it feel like that to you? No. Do you notice him in Clacton at all? Have you seen him here? No. Have you noticed any difference since he became your MP? Absolutely not. Okay. Do you think we have a problem here with free speech in Britain? Do you think Britain is broken? I do think Britain's broken. I think lots of things are broken. Not just free speech. I think lots and lots of things are broken, but there you go.
23:46Do you mind that Nigel Farage, that your MP, is in Washington slagging this country off, or do you think it's helpful? Not really, obviously. That's a silly thing to do. Since he's got into power, he's done nothing for Clacton at all. He's spent more time in America than he has here. Do you see him here at all? No. Not locally and not recently. Not at all, no. Do you mind that he's over there sort of talking? Yeah, because he's sworn his legions to the captain and this is his constitution and he's never here. Did you give him your vote? No, I didn't. When he goes... He rubbed shoulders with the wrong people.
24:26What's that mean? He rubbed shoulders with the wrong people. What do you mean? He's not a trusted politician. OK. When he goes over to Washington to slag this country off, how do you feel? I feel let down. I fly Union Jack from my property. I'm patriotic. I love England. He's an Englishman. Why does he not feel the same? Why is he putting his country down? We need to stand together. He's an Englishman. Do you think it's unpatriotic? Yes. Yes. Would you put the country down? Are you British? I love Britain. Well, there you go. Would you go to another country and slag this country off? I don't need to.
25:07I love it. Well, there you go. There you go. It's just two-faced. Like, most politicians is a high-paid liar. That's all they are. They lie to our faces to get into power and then do nothing that they've told us. The only person I have slight belief in is Ben Habib. That is the only person. And I hope I get a chance to vote him in. He said, we're becoming like North Korea. I support a lot of things he says and does, but I don't support that. I don't think we're getting anywhere near like that. Do you think it's helpful to have him over in Washington slagging off this country? Honestly, no, I don't.
25:47Jon Sopel:As I said, there's a lot of things he does, and I believe in some of the same things that he does, but there's also things like that I don't know. I think he should stay here and work for Clacton. Do you see him here much? I've not seen him here at all yet, and I would love to. I'd love a one-to-one just to see what he's really all about. Never had that opportunity. And what would you like to see him do here? Have you noticed any changes in the last year? No. I mean, to me, it's more things like the infrastructure of Essex in general. I'm a northerner. I come from up north. I've been here four years.
26:19Jon Sopel:And everybody says the north is hard done to compared to the south. To me, this area is far worse done to than anywhere that I lived up north. And I was up there all my life. So I'd like to see some changes here. And so far, I've seen nothing. Would you still give him your vote? I mean, are you convinced by him as a constituency MP here? You know, that's a really good question. I'm an unsure, I would say. Previously I would have said, to be fair, I've been a Conservative most of my life, but it worries me a lot the way they've gone over the last few years. And so for a couple of years I've been more towards reform and what they believe in.
26:52Jon Sopel:I'm now swaying. But I don't know who I could vote for now, if I'm honest. Thank you. Thanks very much. He was useless. Why? Because he's just got no idea. He said that Britain's becoming North Korea. He said that, but he isn't. He knows that, but he just does it because he just wants attention. And he's just lying to the people. Do you see him much around here? Never. Would you like to? No. No. He said he'd bring industries down here and jobs. Nothing down here. He never's done nothing. Have you noticed any difference in the last year? No, no, nothing. He hasn't done nothing. So why do you think he went to America to slag off Britain?
27:35Jon Sopel:Because he's interested in the money America's going to give him. It's just for money? Yeah, literally money. He's not worried about anyone down here. He's just interested in feathering his own nest, full stop. And why do you think other people don't see it like that in Clacton? Why do you think he got in? Because a lot of people come from London and why they move out of London. I'm not going to say why they're moving out of London, but they move out of London, they come down here, and everyone around is, it's a poor area, isn't it? as such, as they say. But, you know, that's up to other people to decide what they want to do.
28:11Jon Sopel:But, well, I just think he's a con man and he's just, you know, he's not interested in us at all. In the middle of it all, we stumbled into Zach Polanski, just off the high street towards the pier. He was down here, he said, trying to find out what people in Clacton are thinking and saying right now, because he wants to take his own political fight as leader of the Green Party directly to Nigel Farage. We've met the brand new leader of the Green Party, Zach Polanski. You're not from Clacton. No. I've come here essentially to take on Farage's agenda head on. But rather than just being on the media and saying that, I want to speak to people in the street.
28:51And actually over and over again, people are saying to me, number one, they don't see Farage at all. And number two, when they voted for him, they didn't know when they were voting for him that he would support fire and rehire, that he would support zero hours contracts. I don't and a lie immigration is still clearly an issue in clacton and there's a green party we've got to find a message for that but it's very clear people know that farage is not the answer we just went to the weather spoons and asked people whether they agreed with nigel farage that this was like north korea and they said yes i mean that's pretty grim and i think that demonstrates what a need there is right now to communicate to the country in the way that farage has been communicating and cutting through the real solutions because actually everything that farage suggests is going to make people's lives worse.
29:33I've been saying to people over and over again today, do you feel like you live in one of the wealthiest countries in the world? And people look at me and laugh. And actually there is lots of wealth in this country, but we know it's being hoarded by multi-millionaires and billionaires. And we need a wealth tax. Wealth tax could help us invest in our communities, protect our national health service, build council homes. These are the things that people want. They don't want to see stripping back of workers' rights and people blaming immigration. They just want fairness. Can I ask you what you made of his appearance in Congress yesterday at the committee?
30:04Well, I was glad to see his arse handed to him, if I'm really, really honest. I think it demonstrates, actually, when he's really held accountable, when people hold him to the truth of what the situation is, he has no answers. Far too often, Farage is just left to be able to spew his propaganda. He has, you know, GB News, multimillionaires and billionaires and deep pockets, which mean essentially far too often he is not held to account. and actually what I want to see more and more is Farage held to account. His deputy leader, Richard Tice, I wanted to have a one-on-one debate with at Glastonbury and do you know what his answer was?
30:35That's not a safe space for me. So what I'd say to Nigel Farage is anytime, anyplace, I am ready to debate you. Let's have a discussion about the real issues. Let's talk about the things that people really need in this country. People are homeless living on our streets. There is deep inequality. Yet he is the party, or reform is the party, that has taken£2.1 million in donations from oil and gas companies. It is not a surprise that then they are challenging net zero. People need to know what these vested interests are. The Green Party have two vested interests, people and planet. OK, let me just ask you, is there a free speech problem in Britain right now?
31:09I don't think there's a free speech problem, but I think we need to have a nuanced conversation about free speech. Free speech comes with responsibility, and I'm presuming you're talking partly about Graham Lindenham. You know, he talked about punching... Well, no, I'm actually saying that Farage has gone to tell Americans that we have a free speech problem. So can you objectively say we don't? No, I don't think we have a free speech problem. What I think we have is irresponsible politicians who are whipping up hate and division. What I do think we have is a policing problem. So I had friends arrested just last week for holding a cardboard sign saying I support Palestine action.
31:44I don't think that's a good use of police time. The government have obviously decided to make decisions about what's prescribed or not prescribed. That's a separate conversation. But I think most people want to see the police dealing with violence against women and girls, against violence on our streets, against burglarism, theft. They don't necessarily want disproportionate responses. Zach, thank you. Thanks so much. So a surplus there of Steve's. Steve. Steve. But what was interesting is that they're not all going in one direction. One Steve that we talked to liked Farage's policies but didn't like the man himself.
32:18The other Steve, who was actually a taxi driver, a sort of cabbie in the rank, said he didn't like Farage at all. The only politician he trusted was Ben Habib, i.e. a kind of splinter group politician to reform. There isn't a lot of love here for the current government, that must be said, and there isn't a lot of enthusiasm for what is the natural opposition to Labour, the Conservatives. and more than anything you got a sense that people actually just don't really know who they would put their trust in right now. There isn't a lot of love, at least none that we found on the streets here for the government of the day and there wasn't an awful lot of love either for the traditional opposition, the conservatives of Clacton.
33:08What you got a sense most of all was that People didn't really like what was happening in the country right now, but they didn't really have any answers either to what they needed to see to trust politicians more.
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34:33Jon Sopel:The News Agents. So just before we go, there was a hilarious bit. where during this congressional hearing, Nigel Farage disappears. Given that he's the main witness for the hearing, that is a pretty odd situation. Where was he? Proper fucking lunch. No? No, no, no, no. It wasn't just to go and have lunch and a fag. He went to be interviewed by GB News. So the witness has suddenly disappeared because he's got to appear on television for his own show. He's got to appear as an interviewee for the station on which he actually is a presenter anyway, launching his own show. And has a minority shareholding.
35:15Jon Sopel:It's good to know what the priorities are in all of this. Well, that's all transparent, isn't it? Good. Right. Well, we're off from Clacton-on-Sea now. It's been lovely. One of us is off for a swim. One of us is off for some fish and chips. And we all know who's getting the fish and chips. Yes, and I'll have Vinnie McGraw on those, please. Thank you very much indeed. See you tomorrow. Bye-bye. Bye.
35:37Jon Sopel:This is a Global Player original podcast.
From the publisher
The morning after Nigel Farage appeared in Washington DC to berate his own country before Congress, the News Agents decamped to a Farage-free zone; his own constituency of Clacton-on-Sea.
On Capitol Hill, Farage warned that the UK was turning into "North Korea" due to the restrictions on free speech laws. He urged the US not to follow Britain down this path - even urging Donald Trump to slap sanctions on his own country if it forces big tech companies to follow UK law rather than America's.
We’ve been asking people here how they feel about their MP slagging of his - and their - country in America? Does they think he has a point? Or is Reform's leader simply being deeply unpatriotic?
The News Agents is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/