Brexit leader Nigel Farage, who wanted to stop HIV+ migrants, won’t stand as MP
Former UKIP leader Nigel Farage says he will not be standing in the UK’s General Election on June 8.
The leading Brexit figure, who has made a long string of anti-equality statements during his political career, told the Daily Telegraph he wouldn’t be seeking election.
He had previously said he was undecided on whether or not to stand in the snap election, which took politicians and commentators by surprise when Prime Minister Theresa May declared it Tuesday morning.
Mr Farage has failed to be elected to parliament on every attempt, but has served as a Member of the European Parliament for the South East.
Farage was the leader of UKIP from 2006 to November 2009, from November 2010 until May 8 2015, from May 11 2015 until September 2016, and then interim leader from October 2016 until November 2016.
At the 2015 general election, he caused outrage for comments made about migrants who are HIV positive.
When asked which kinds of people should be allowed to enter the UK, Mr Farage said: “People who do not have HIV, to be frank. That’s a good start.”
During the election campaign, the then UKIP leader repeatedly claimed the UK is “incapable” of treating people with HIV because of immigration.
Health experts say that refusing to provide HIV treatments to foreign nationals would actually cost more money in the long term, as it massively increases the risk of transmission within the UK.
He told radio station LBC: “I took a lot of stick for saying I didn’t believe in health tourism, and if anybody flew into Britain from anywhere in the world, and had an HIV test, that we would give them anti-retroviral drugs costing £25,000 a year.
“Since then, I’ve been written to by lots of HIV sufferers in this country, who say ‘our local clinic is now unrecognisable, we’re struggling to get the drugs we need’.
“HIV is a very emotive topic, but it takes you back to a basic question: is it the National Health Service or the International Health Service .
“I took a load of stick over that, six months on do people take those views as being outrageous? I don’t think so.”
After serving as a key figure in the campaign for Britain to leave the European Union, he announced his resignation as UKIP leader and took up a radio show on LBC.
The conservative news outlet revealed that it would hire the Brexit-backing British politician, who has sought a media profile in the US with his outspoken support for Donald Trump.
Farage, who has a close relationship with the new US President despite being a minor figure in British politics, was signed by Fox as a political analyst.
A statement, released mid-way through the inauguration of Trump, says: “FOX News Channel (FNC) has signed former United Kingdom Independence Party Leader Nigel Farage as a contributor.
“In this role, he will offer political analysis across FNC and FOX Business Network’s (FBN) daytime and primetime programming.
“Prior to joining FNC, Farage was the leader of UKIP from 2006 to 2009 and from 2010 to 2016.”
