Nigel Farage interview with Clacton Gazette: Watch in full

Gazette reporter Elliot Deady chatted with Mr Farage, leader of Reform UK, at the Three Jays pub in Jaywick about the things that matter locally including the NHS, crumbling concrete, and if he really does dread spending five years of Friday nights by the sea.

Watch our interview with Nigel Farage

RECOMMENDED READING:

• Opinion: 'Farage fever' has hit Clacton as controversial candidate launches MP bid

• 'Why we're backing Farage' - Clacton voters have their say on Reform candidate

• Nigel Farage promises to be a 'bloody nuisance' in Westminster if elected in Clacton

What did Nigel Farage say in Jaywick?

ED: Why Clacton?

NF: It’s got a place in my heart of course because what happened here in 2014 with Douglas Carswell’s resignation [from the Conservatives] and the winning of the by-election. I think after that moment there was no way they could cheat us out of a referendum.

For me, having spent 30 years of my life campaigning for us to be an independent free country, Clacton’s been very, very special.

I’ve been back repeatedly often and I feel that with the sort of people that live here, I don’t know why but they seem to like me. So here I am and delighted to be so.

Crowd - hundreds of people listened to Mr Farage's speech in Clacton on Tuesday (Image: PA)

ED: Clacton’s a very diverse constituency. You’ve got Jaywick at one end of the map, you’ve got Frinton and Walton at the other. How familiar are you with some of those other towns?

NF: My first colleague in the European Parliament in 1999, Jeffrey Titford… lived in Frinton. This area has a reputation for electing people who actually believe in the country.

ED: A big issue affecting schoolchildren in this part of the world more than anywhere is Raac – the crumbling concrete crisis. We’ve got three schools here in Clacton that are on the Tories’ schools rebuilding programme and two that are due to get grants. Depending on the way the election goes on July 4 that programme could be scrapped. What’s your take on the Raac crisis and what do you intend to do to keep our children safe?

NF: The election’s over. Labour has won. That’s something people in Essex have to accept, even though it’s always been a very Conservative or Ukip-py type county.

There was so much we built post-war that wasn’t right. We were looking for shortcuts.

My son went to school just over the estuary where the buildings were in a poor state and they’ve put big sort of mobile homes up and taught the kids in that. There are ways through all of this if you’ve got the ingenuity and the will do it.

But you’re right, the current government programme may not survive. We’ll see.

ED: Do you think that teaching schoolchildren in portacabins and temporary classrooms is a long-term solution?

NF: No, it’s not a long-term solution but short-term, if you want kids to be safe it may well be the answer.

ED: One of the biggest stories in Clacton in recent years happened right on our doorstep in Jaywick earlier this year when grandmother Esther Martin got mauled to death by two XL bully type dogs. Legislation changed at around the same time to ban XL bully dogs. What are your views on that?

NF: I’m a dog owner. I’ve got two labs which came from Suffolk just over the border.

I have to say, and I’ve had a lot of letters from people taking a different view, but the number of serious deaths and maulings from XL bullies are at a level where I’m afraid we have to do something. I know for owners of XL bullies this is heartbreaking, but I’m afraid it’s a simple fact.

ED: When you say we need to do something do you mean the breed needs to go?

NF: The breed needs to die out, yeah.

ED: Rishi Sunak was here last year and launched a scheme to give lots of towns £20million over ten years. At the time, he said he wanted to regenerate Clacton to make it not a forgotten town. You said in your speech you want to put Clacton on the map so what do you make of that scheme?

NF: Government money can be helpful but often it’s not spent as efficiently as we would like. Huge amounts get swallowed up in administration and all the rest of it.

Great that the levelling up thing is happening for Clacton, of course. But what Clacton really needs are private companies coming in, be that engineering firms, manufacturing companies, whatever they are.

All I’m saying and I make no false promises but if you have a national figure representing your forgotten seaside town – and it is, even Sunak said much the same thing when he came – I would hope we would be able to attract some genuine investment.

Private money coming in and setting up companies lasts forever. Your £20million – once it’s spent it’s gone.

ED: There’s one NHS orthodontic clinic in Clacton but we’ve had parents reporting their children can’t get appointments for months. That practice puts the blame on a lack of NHS clinicians which is causing staffing issues. What’s the answer?

NF: We have a population explosion going on in the country which means we can’t get GP appointments or NHS dentistry. Orthodontics virtually doesn’t exist in many parts of the country – not just Clacton. We’re all paying the price for this.

Uncontrolled mass migration has changed everything in our country and I think people in Clacton know that and feel that. Given where we are, there’s no magic wand but we have to try and stop the population explosion caused by migration.

ED: Up in Walton we’ve got the Naze – a unique landscape at risk of coastal erosion. Lots of people are worried about it, lots of campaigners are saying action needs to be taken to save it. Would you push for it?

NF: I’m well aware of it. I’ve fished down in Walton many, many times so I do know what’s happening. In Norfolk, we’ve given up. In Lincolnshire and Yorkshire, we’ve given up.

We’re allowing coastal erosion to happen in a way the Dutch wouldn’t even contemplate. In the great floods of 1953, Essex was the worst hit county in terms of deaths. The Dutch had 3,000 killed in that terrible storm. They’ve not had any problems ever since; they’ve done it properly. We haven’t done it properly and we need to.

Farage answers readers' questions

GAZETTE readers also submitted their questions to put to Mr Farage. Here’s how he responded.

ED: Do you plan to defect to another party as soon as this next parliament starts?

NF: No, never! Never, never, never.

ED: What do you feel you could achieve as a party if you were to become the only Reform MP?

NF: What have I achieved on my own leading Ukip and the Brexit Party or my campaign against the banks closing people down? I am a campaigner. I am a fighter. If I say so myself, 30 years on from when I started, I have achieved remarkable things.

ED: Why are you the right person to represent Clacton? Are you less interested in Clacton itself and would rather use the town to further your own career?

NF: I’ve always stood up for people. I’ve been coming to Clacton regularly since 1999 and particularly since 2014. I even brought my GB News show here in November 2022 and did a live audience. Some people think I’m a regular in the Wetherspoons.

I’m not from here, I’m not even going to pretend that I am and do I have a bit to learn… of course I do. Am I capable of learning it? I think I am.

ED: You made a comment about spending Friday nights in Clacton. Do you regret making that comment now?

NF: No. I was asked six to nine months ago if I would stand for Clacton in the General Election. I said ‘well, do I want to spend every Friday in Clacton dealing with local issues?’. It was a question.

I will actually be making a massive commitment to do this… and that’s what I pondered: am I prepared to give up that much of my life? I’ve just turned 60, I’ve got a great life at the moment, I’ve got a TV career, I go to America, I’ve got a lot going for me. Am I prepared to make that commitment? I’ve thought about it hard, and the answer is yes.

ED: What does commitment look like to you? Would that mean moving to Clacton and spending more time here?

Of course. Obviously I’m a national party leader which is slightly different – you can’t spend as much time on local issues as someone who’s a normal backbench MP. I understand that.

These people aren’t stupid, they understand that. But if you put in place the right team to deal with people’s local issues you can still achieve an enormous amount. I will be here a lot.

The other candidates for the Clacton constituency are Matthew Bensilum (Lib Dem), Natasha Osben (Green), Jovan Owusu-Nepaul (Lab), and Giles Watling (Con).