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Nigel Farage sensationally quit as MP for Clacton today and vowed to fight a "people versus establishment" by-election amid a row over his finances. Speaking at Reform UK headquarters, he said standards investigations by the parliamentary authorities are “now being used as a political tool” as he insisted he has "done nothing wrong" and has not "broken the law in any way at all." He accused the media of harassment and vowed to fight a “people versus the establishment” by-election as he announced he is standing down as an MP. 0:00 | Natasha Clark explains what Nigel Farage's resignation means 06:08 | Farage is an 'unkillable cockroach', says Mitch 08:51 | Callum thinks this is the 'smartest move' Farage could've made 13:06 | Farage is 'repulsive', says Sarah 16.23 | Marita says Farage's resignation is a 'deflection tactic' Listen to the full show on the all-new LBC App: https://app.af.lbc.co.uk/btnc/thenewlbcapp #ShelaghFogarty #NigelFarage #ReformUK #LBC LBC is the home of live debate around news and current affairs in the UK. Join in the conversation and listen at https://www.lbc.co.uk/ Sign up to LBC’s weekly newsletter here: https://l-bc.co/signup
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0:00
Nigel Farage, the MP for Clacton, the Reform UK MP for Clacton in Essex and the leader of the party
0:07
has announced this lunchtime that he is resigning as MP for Clacton
0:12
only to stand again in a by-election as MP for Clacton. It's not unprecedented. MPs can do this
0:18
Let's talk to Natasha Clark, LBC's political editor again. Particularly, Natasha, if I could pick your brains a bit more about what we spoke about an hour or so ago
0:28
that if a by-election takes place or a general election, any parliamentary investigations into an individual or a party are suspended permanently
0:41
Well, it's actually up to the discretion of the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner
0:46
I've just been trying to read the rules around this because it is quite an unusual situation
0:49
that we have an MP that's standing down that says that they're going to re-stand again
0:54
That doesn't usually happen. It's happened a dozen times or so over the years
0:58
usually when an MP essentially resigns on a point of principle or wants to resign and then become a
1:04
member of another party. We saw it, of course, when politicians jumped ship to be part of different
1:09
parties and decided that in order to continue to become an MP, some of them say, actually
1:15
I do think I need a fresh mandate from the constituents that I serve. So that has happened
1:20
But it's not, as far as I can read, and like I say, I haven't been going back too far in the
1:24
history books yet but as far as i can see that this is quite an unusual situation where there
1:28
is an mp that is resigning at the same time as they face a commissioner a standards commissioner
1:34
investigation so according to those rules it does say um that if a member ceases to be a member while
1:41
an investigation is in process the commissioner will suspend their investigation until the member
1:47
is re-elected so it does sound that the commissioner has the the power essentially to suspend it and
1:53
come back to it which then does raise the question sheila why is nigel farage doing this because
1:58
if he can still face the prospect of being suspended after the commissioner comes back and
2:03
says we do think potentially you've broken the rules here you may be suspended from the commons
2:08
for 10 days and that means you will have to face a by-election and we should say also sheila that
2:12
these by-elections do cost taxpayers and the parties money uh the labour party is not potentially
2:18
in good stead in terms of their finance at the moment. It's between two major elections
2:23
They've had a couple of by-elections that they've had to fight. Each one costs between £250,000,000, £300,000
2:29
So it's not sort of a small amount of money that you're essentially expecting taxpayers and the party to have to pay
2:36
And there is a possibility that we could potentially have another one if the Commissioner finds against Nigel Farage
2:41
I know we're clutching at all kinds of possibilities here because, as you say, if the Commissioner can resume that investigation again
2:47
then that doesn't solve his problem so that's if that's what he was thinking um what about
2:53
the rise of restore and the increasing uh praise for kemi badenok as well because these are
3:02
two leaders of parties on the right which is the battleground he wants battleground he wants to
3:08
dominate before he even thinks about anything else isn't it yeah absolutely i think nigel
3:12
Farage is probably going to have a tough time with Restore, as we indeed saw in the makerfield
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by-election, where they picked up 6%, 7% of the vote, which for a relatively unknown party like
3:23
Restore, that's actually quite something. So we were quite surprised that the Rupert Lowe's party
3:29
managed to get that slither of the vote there, which obviously, you know, ate into the reform
3:34
vote. And we're seeing them, you know, take sort of a few percentage points in polling left, right
3:40
incentives so that will be a threat for Nigel Farage as he goes into this by-election and yes
3:45
as you say the Tories are doing a little bit better not much better we should say but they are
3:49
performing a little bit better than potentially two years ago at the general election an area
3:54
like Clacton you would expect that the Conservatives might pick up a little bit more support so there
4:00
are lots of questions at the moment swirling around about what this essentially means I've been trying to talk to people in reform about why they're doing it and reform sources has told me
4:08
this morning they say the media are trying to be the judge jury and executioner of a man that has
4:13
done nothing illegal and they can't even stand up him breaking any rules he hasn't they say
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we are taking back control and giving the people of clacton their say but equally sheila my inbox
4:23
has been filling up with responses from other parties we've just in the last few minutes had
4:27
response in from the green party and the liberal democrats the greens say zach polanski says nigel
4:32
farage is once again trying to con the public with this stunt trying to duck the fact that his
4:37
history of taking dodgy donations is finally catching up with him and a similar response
4:43
from the Lib Dem leader Ed Davey. He says this self-obsessed diatribe is from a Timu Trump
4:49
Ed Davey says Nigel Farage has spent his whole life dodging responsibility for his actions This new stunt is his latest attempt to escape the consequences for his biggest grift and we won let him So clearly lots of opposition critics trying to pile in now on Nigel Farage
5:05
They think this is all one big facade and way to try to get out
5:09
The question is today, do reform think that this essentially will suspend this investigation
5:14
The rules seem to suggest that no, he will continue to face this investigation after
5:18
if indeed he does win this seat and return to Parliament. And if he doesn't win it, Parliament would have no interest in continuing that investigation, would they
5:26
They wouldn't. So essentially what would probably happen is what's happened with other MPs
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is that they do tend to wrap up their investigation and say what's happened so far
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So with a former MP, Aaron Bell, he decided to resign from Parliament and he decided not to stand again
5:41
The Standards Commissioner then came back and said, if he'd been an MP, this is what we would have suggested
5:45
have suggested we would have said we would have suspended you from parliament but now of course
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he is null and void because he's no longer an mp so essentially takes the bit of the sting
5:53
he's left the school exactly he's left the school so there's no point suspending him thank you very
5:57
much natasha natasha clark thanks for clearing that up because it was picking away at my break
6:02
lbc's political editor let's get to your calls mitch's call from lincoln hello mitch uh hello
6:08
um here we well i would say here we are again but with everything that farage done
6:14
it seems to be unprecedented thing after unprecedented thing. Well, it's not unprecedented, but it's new from him anyway
6:22
Well, yeah. I mean, pretty much is my plea to Clackton. The easiest thing to avoid all of this
6:31
and let all of this come out is just don't re-elect him in the first place. But I suspect that, you know, I mean, he's a grifter, he's a charlatan
6:38
he is many, many different words that I cannot say on the radio
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but you know the easiest way is just to not re-elect him but i think that he thinks that
6:47
the people of clacton are genuinely stupid because there is i don't see another reason
6:54
for a stunt like this than to basically him get re-elected and then go trancing around going but
6:59
look i've got a massive mandate nothing else matters because you know i mean he spent the
7:03
last how many weeks being questioned by journalists and basically gone nobody cares nobody cares i
7:08
care a lot of people i know care i care i care that our politics is as clean as it can be
7:15
well you know i mean at the end of the day and that it involves and is about people in this
7:20
country country yeah i mean you know the i i i am i've said this before i'm amazed that he's gotten
7:29
as far as he is you know i mean the man that there's one thing i don't want admire about him
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is that he seems to be unkillable and unlike, you know, he's like a cockroach
7:40
No matter how many times you kick him down, he'll keep coming back up. I mean, he tried with Brexit, you know
7:44
he tried with the Brexit party, then now again. And, you know, I fail to see what his ultimate end goal with this is
7:54
is to sort of trance around with him going, look, well, I've won a by-election, nothing else matters
7:58
It's the only thing that I can... Yeah, and the idea that it's a media witch hunt
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it just beggars belief really you know or indeed or indeed a parliamentary witch hunt because he
8:10
claims both he wants to frame parliament's do it in the first place well it's not well let's
8:15
well let's withhold judgment on what's been done for just just for you know be absolutely rigorous
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parliament the standards uh or the disciplinary on standards committee are allowed to investigate
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MPs, plain and simple, if anomalies appear. It may be an anomaly that turns out to be
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explicable, it may not. But the idea that either Parliament or the media has some kind of dirty
8:38
tricks campaign to undermine him is for the birds. It's something that's very, well, it's something
8:43
out of his best mate's playbook. Trump, yeah, you're right. I think so too. Mitch and Lincoln
8:49
thank you. Callum has called from Newcastle, a reform supporter. Hello, Callum
8:53
how are you doing you're right yes thank you you're fantastic i think this is the smartest
8:59
move he could have done i think it's absolutely very well precise and very well spoken about
9:06
he has came out and said like i am a victim and i do agree i do believe he is a victim of
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not just the press because i do believe the press does most of the time do very balanced things
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but he is a victim of kind of being attacked and judged for things that he shouldn't be
9:26
yes i do think he's made a lot of mistakes as a reform supporter i do think he's made a lot of
9:32
mistakes as in not declaring i think he's been given the wrong advice etc but i do generally
9:39
believe that this by-election will now take him from 46 percent to roughly 60 and i think the next
9:46
Poland will take reform from around 25 to maybe 32 33 34 What makes you think that Because I do feel like this country is in the situation
9:57
where we do believe that, I'm sorry, but like Conservative and Labour are being absolutely useless
10:03
Lib Dem are fantastic in local areas, but absolutely useless on the whole country
10:10
Great in your local parks, great on your local roads, but useless in the public
10:14
I think the case is what we think now, especially for myself, feels like, come on, let's go, let's attack, let's get the mainstream parties and prove what is the case of, like, Nigel has been a victim of scrutinisation on another level
10:37
So, for example... He hasn't, Callum. I would disagree. I do agree that the press normally is pretty balanced
10:46
I'm not going to argue that point because LBC is one of the best for it
10:50
I will not deny that. I'm not even talking about what we do. I'm talking about just political scrutiny
10:56
It's hideous for all of them. And it's necessary. But just to jump in, sorry, apologies, Sheila
11:04
Look at Rishi Sunak. Yeah. Made, what, 2 million, 2.3 million? and was making that while he was Prime Minister
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Was any of these questions asked at all? He wasn't advising any consultancies when he was Prime Minister
11:19
and the two million he has made is based on consultancies for a post-Prime Ministership
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He literally couldn't do it while he was Prime Minister and didn't do it while he was Prime Minister
11:28
And actually, on scrutiny, his wife's tax affairs were so heavily scrutinised she had to give up non-non-status
11:36
Yes, yes. So Nigel Farage is not uniquely targeted. He really isn't
11:40
No, no. No, no, no, no. I do agree with that. He is not uniquely targeted
11:45
He is definitely targeted a lot more. But the other argument I would say..
11:49
What evidence do you have for that? I mean, the scrutiny... Just to use Rishi Sunak as an example
11:55
because I remember it in the press, constant scrutiny about his wife's wealth
12:00
her father's wealth, her connection to her father's wealth. Constant, constant, constant
12:06
So I personally don't remember it being... Well, it was, Callum. at this intense. I'm not saying you're wrong, I'm just saying it doesn't feel at this intense now
12:15
She had to give up. She's the wife, so she's the equivalent of the daughter in this story
12:21
if you see what I mean. As in she's not an elected person. She had to give up her tax code
12:27
because of press scrutiny. But to be fair, again, I'm not trying to defend Nigel in that kind of
12:35
scenario, and I'm not trying to compare the both. What I'm trying to say is, in that scenario
12:39
is yes, she was scrutinised, but to be fair, the non-dom scrutiny was going on to Yale
12:44
I'm not saying it was unfair against Rishi Sunak's wife. I'm just saying, you know
12:50
that the point is the press scrutiny was sufficiently intense for the wife of the Prime Minister to change her tax status
12:59
Nigel Farage is not uniquely targeted by the press. He just isn't
13:05
Callum, thank you. Hello, Sarah. Hi there. Yes, well, on one level is, you know, this saga, I'm enjoying it, but I have to say that I find this man just personally repulsive, but there you go
13:20
Three years on the Fisheries Committee as an MEP, he went to one meeting out of 42, because he said it's pointless
13:30
Yes. The thing that really angered me was when he was justifying this 25 million
13:38
He said, I gave up 25 years of my life and this is my reward
13:45
And I thought, who are we kidding? We don't give up our lives
13:49
You know, a lot of people spend their lives having to clean tube trains or lavatories or wiping elderly people's bottoms
13:58
They don't say, I gave up 25 years of my life. I mean, why is he loud
14:03
And no one mocked that. He made an awful lot of money as an MEP as well
14:09
I mean, why he suddenly said, I had no money. I mean, he actually says it's a good job to make money when he was an MEP
14:19
And he had his wife as well. And can you please tell me, how does his cult think he's a man of the people when after Brexit he had a celebration thing
14:35
It was at Claridge's. I believe it was Claridge's. Honestly Sarah I not sure that people who really truly love and support Nigel Farage care if he as rich as Croesus I honestly don Some other voters might but there are other politicians who are as rich as Croesus as well But I don think for them
14:57
it's an issue. They don't feel the insult that's in there, which is I'm a man of the people
15:02
but actually people just randomly give me five million quid, which doesn't happen to most of us
15:05
does it? But I don't think that's how they feel it. Can I just give you a bit more detail on the
15:10
suspension of investigations by the Standards Commissioner. Just to add a bit more detail to
15:17
what Natasha Clark, LBC's political editor, was telling us that the Commissioner does indeed. She
15:22
was telling us to have the discretion to continue the investigation. Points 39 and 40 of the Code
15:29
I'll read these short paragraphs to you. The Commissioner has the discretion to suspend
15:32
investigations at any time. This might, for example, happen if the member suffers ill health
15:37
or a bereavement during the time of the investigation or where a related police investigation is taking place
15:45
If Parliament is dissolved, so for a general election, or the member otherwise ceases to be a member
15:52
while an investigation is in process for a by-election, the Commissioner will suspend their investigation
15:59
until the member is re-elected. So, it doesn't mean an end to the investigation
16:05
as Natasha was saying. if the member is not returned to Parliament, the Commissioner will decide if it's appropriate
16:10
and proportionate to resume their investigation. So very key there. The suspension of an investigation
16:18
for whatever reason, does not mean the end of the investigation. Marita's call from Lambeth
16:25
Marita, what's in your mind, on your mind? Oh, I think this is just the classic deflection tactics
16:31
Don't look here, look over there. And let's carry on like none of this
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that even happened i'm i'm i was quite surprised that that rule even existed
16:39
rather yeah it's definitely one that needs to be um done away with i would suggest
16:46
me too i mean you know if somebody's political career ends and they're not operating politically
16:54
i can kind of understand why parliament might say well what's the point of you know unless a crime
16:58
has been committed in which case you'd hand that over to the police but i think somebody who is
17:03
still a party leader standing in a by-election, even if it's suspended for the period of the
17:08
election, and even then I can't particularly see why that would need to be the case, but you know, the quiet investigation of it, I mean, I see no reason why it should cease permanently
17:19
Exactly. It should be completely done away with. I wasn't quite sure. Is he suggesting he's going to
17:26
step down so there can be a by-election and then he's going to put himself back up for
17:31
election again. Is that what he's doing? Yeah, which he can do
17:36
God. It just seems like we're losing the run of ourselves. More taxpayers' money
17:42
Yeah. A couple of other things that stood out from the speech for me was
17:47
him invoking the Levinson inquiry, which I thought was quite hilarious because he was all for
17:55
freedom of the press and let the media be unscrutinised, let them carry on
18:01
And, you know, again, I was quite surprised that it was the Times that broke the story on him, you know, for whatever reason is going on in that great big world that we aren't a party to
18:16
It's just, the whole thing is just not right. It doesn't, for me, it doesn't, the whole thing doesn't pass the SNF test
18:25
Do you think an MP should be able to do that? I'm resigning in order to
18:31
play out a little bit. No, I don't think so. Like if that's the case, you could be having mini
18:37
by-elections every other day of the week within a four-year government term. Like I don't
18:43
even agree with what happened with Andy Burnham. I think that that shouldn't have been allowed to happen either
18:49
Purely from a democracy point of view. Which bit of it? The fact that
18:53
Josh Simons resigned and Andy Burnham was allowed to stand, that that by-election happened
18:58
Well, MPs can resign for all kinds of reasons, can't they? They can, but again, that didn't pass the sniff test for me
19:08
because it was just too perfectly set up that an MP in his area
19:13
was the MP that stood down. Yeah, but I'm not sure they were hiding why ever
19:18
I don't think we'll... Sometimes you don't know the reason why anything happens
19:22
at the time it happens, and it only becomes more evident later on down the line
19:28
Well, I think, yeah, if you listen to some of the reflections to post-Andy Burnham winning in Makerfield
19:35
you'll see that it was very much a plan and Andy Burnham wouldn't have stood in a seat
19:41
that he was overly anxious about losing
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