Farage flies 5,000 miles for a pathetic PR stunt

On the final weekend before the vital Gorton and Denton by-election Reform confidently claim they will win, was Nigel Farage working the doors of the Manchester constituency ensuring he gets the vote out for his man Matt Goodwin? No – he was 5,000 miles away having flown to the Maldives on a £45 million private jet for an absurd publicity stunt.

The Reform leader was attempting to get on to the Chagos Islands on a so-called “humanitarian mission” in protest against the government’s plans to transfer control of the barely-inhabited territory to Mauritius. Alas, he was not allowed on to the atolls.

“The British government are applying pressure on the president and the government of the Maldives to do everything within their power to stop me getting on that boat and going to the Chagos Islands,” he complained in a video posted on, inevitably, X.

Suggested Reading

“Here I am, a member of parliament, leader of a political party that’s topping the polls. The British government, the high commissioner here, they’re doing everything they can. They’ve got search parties out trying to find me and they do not want me to leave this place.”

Rather than applying pressure on anybody, though, it appears the government didn’t know about Farage’s flying visit – and nobody is allowed to just rock up and visit the isolated Chagos isles. As the UK Foreign Office website states: “The British Indian Ocean Territory is not a tourist destination. There are no commercial flights, access is restricted and you need a permit before you travel.” The rules even apply to attention-seeking political leaders, topping the polls or otherwise.

As the former defence secretary Ben Wallace has said: “There are strict rules and permits about who can visit. Pub bores like Farage need to fill in a form! And the island base is full of serious people doing serious things.

“Reform are treating us all for fools. These controls apply equally to all UK bases in Britain. MPs can’t just turn up at nuclear weapons facilities or special forces barracks.”