The Washington Post, Monday, weighed in on Britain's impending election, attacking the leader of the conservative United Kingdom Independence Party [UKIP] as a "far-right firebrand" known for his "nastiness." In an article appearing in print and online, writer Griff Witte knocked the "the beer-swilling, immigration-bashing Nigel Farage."
He added that Farage "has dominated British debate with an insurgent message that has struck fear into the heart of London’s elite and that critics say has dragged politics to new lows of nastiness." The headline for the online version hopefully announced, "Britain’s far-right firebrand may be making his last stand."
UKIP has been running on a platform of reining in illegal immigration and exiting the European Union. Witte repeatedly referred to the threat of the "far right" in Britain:
That would mark a dramatic shift after years in which the far right has surged across Europe on the back of voter frustration with ailing economies and open-door immigration policies.
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But with European economies healing — albeit slowly — the far right may be losing some of its magic.
Later, Witte touted an imagined scenario of the joy of Farage losing:
Meanwhile, Owen Jones, a columnist with the liberal Guardian newspaper, staged a “Stop Farage” rally Sunday at a Ramsgate pub.
“It’s election night. Nigel Farage has lost his bid to become South Thanet’s new MP. After years of being built up by the media, his entire political project has been humiliated, and UKIP are in turmoil,” the Facebook page advertising the event offers tantalizingly. “This could happen.”
Towards the end of the story, the Post writer acknowledged that "hopes of UKIP's demise" could be "overstated."
