Nigel Farage: Nationalism Is A Bit Like Alcohol...

21 December 2017, 19:55

Nigel Farage says nationalism is a bit like alcohol. A little bit makes the world a better place, but very wary about having too much.

The LBC presenter made the analogy as polls closed in Catalonia’s regional election, called following the controversial independence referendum.

The vote comes a year after Brexit in Britain and Donald Trump in the US - seen by some as the return of nationalism.

The word has some negative connotations to it, as it is often hijacked by far-right parties.

Discussing whether a return to nationalism was a bad thing, Nigel gave his verdict using something familiar.

Nigel Farage
Picture: LBC

Broadcasting from Washington DC, he said: “I think nationalism is a bit like alcohol.

"A little bit of it actually seems to make the world a better place and makes people feel pretty happy and pretty good about themselves, too much is disastrous and leads to negativity and perhaps possibly in very extreme cases even hatred.

“I think a sensible balance nationalism is a very, very good thing.

“One of the fascinations for those of us that have fought against the European Union is that I now believe it's the EU itself that is nationalist, extreme nationalists.

“They want their flag, their anthem, their presidents, their armies.”

He finished: “So anyone that tells you that the European Union is the antidote to nationalism ought to look I think a bit more closely at the organisation.”

The Nigel Farage Show will return to LBC in January 2018.