Nigel Farage said that the “vindictiveness of the cancel culture mob knows no limits” after a rugby club that was meant to host him for a charity event cancelled his appearance due to backlash.
Preston Grasshoppers RFC axed the event “An evening with Nigel Farage: The man not the myth,” that was due to be held on December 21 to raise money for St Catherine’s Hospice, after supporters and members of the club expressed their anger.
The now-deleted advert had said the event would offer a “fascinating look at the life, times, background and career of a truly groundbreaking politician,” but insisted: “This is not about his politics, it’s about his journey, taking on the establishment, cheating death three times, his love of sport, his insight and friendship.”
Is this some sort of sick joke ? @RugbyHoppers pic.twitter.com/sLhmgFWb4i
— Burns (@Barnes_James93) November 6, 2021
Packages in tables of ten were available, offering three-course dinners for £750 while V.I.P pre-event drinks with Farage and a table of ten were on offer for £1,000.
In his Daily Mail column, Farage described how he was “due to give a speech and then take questions about my life and career” at the event and described the appearance as “an entirely non-political affair.”
Britain is now in the grip of a terribly dangerous fever for which no politician or organisation has so far been strong enough to find a cure.https://t.co/zrRruzkU1D
— Nigel Farage (@Nigel_Farage) November 14, 2021
But there’s no denying the fact that most people know Farage from his controversial political career campaigning for Brexit, rather than his earlier career as a trader in the City - so it’s hard to imagine that the B-word wouldn’t come up at least once.
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Farage then went on to say that two “politically-active” members of the rugby club “took offence” to the event, calling one of them out - surgeon Hussein Khambalia.
Khambalia had responded to a tweet from the rugby club about the event, asking how they could “justify giving this bigot a platform at what is supposed to be an inclusive community rugby club.”
“You are supposed to be helping to increase participation in rugby from all communities and backgrounds, not inviting racists to lecture us,” he added.
Is this a joke @RugbyHoppers ? How can you justify giving this bigot a platform at what is supposed to be an inclusive community rugby club. You are supposed to be helping to increase participation in rugby from all communities and backgrounds, not inviting racists to lecture us
— Hussein Khambalia 🏴🇬🇧🇪🇺🇹🇿🇮🇳 (@hkhambalia) November 7, 2021
This clearly riled up Farage who then accused Khambalia of “putting politics above end-of-life care.”
In response to Farage, Khambalia reaffirmed his stance on the matter: “If by “woke” you mean inclusive, anti-racist and sensitive to the views of the local community, then I’m proud to be woke and support â¦@RugbyHoppersâ© for this decision.”
If by “woke” you mean inclusive, anti-racist and sensitive to the views of the local community, then I’m proud to be woke and support @RugbyHoppers for this decision. Never thought I’d be quoted in @DailyMailUK 😂 https://t.co/j5i2Puyf8z
— Hussein Khambalia 🏴🇬🇧🇪🇺🇹🇿🇮🇳 (@hkhambalia) November 9, 2021
Meanwhile another disgruntled member, Steve Tiernan replied to the advert with a photo of two membership card that had been cut in half.
(Though Farage didn’t call him out by name).
“The decision was always going to have that backlash,” Tiernan told the Daily Mail.
“For the reputation of the club, I don’t think it was in-keeping with the brilliant philosophy of an amazing club like Preston Grasshoppers.”
As the event has now been cancelled, Tiernan told the publication that he will continue to support the club.
— Steve Tiernan💙 (@Steve_Tiernan) November 7, 2021
After detailing how the hospice and rugby clubs were abused by trolls which led to the event being cancelled, he said the “wellbeing of a hospice with a catchment area of 380,000 people had been sacrificed,” because of “the hate-fest from hard-Left trolls.”
The former politician then gave an even more extreme take on those responsible for cancelling the event, by casually mentioning murder: “I would like to think they would not commit murder to achieve their aims. You never know, though.”
“Watch out. You could be cancelled next,” Farage warned.
In a statement posted to their website, Preston Grasshoppers Rugby Club said: “The club took a private booking with Nigel Farage as a speaker at a dinner scheduled for 21st December 2021.
“The club are not the organisers of the event, but a posting was made on our website advertising the event. This has made it appear that we are the promoters of the event. Following feedback from our members and wider comments on social media, the club has taken the decision to cancel the booking.
“We apologise for posting the event on the website and giving the impression that we are the promoters of the event or endorse any political views. The club would reiterate that we don’t endorse and align ourselves with any political party or organisation.”
A spokesperson on behalf of the management committee of Preston Grasshoppers RFC said:
“First and foremost, the club does not endorse and align itself with any political party or organisation.
“Following feedback from our members, the club’s management committee decided to cancel the booking to use our venue.
“We subsequently contacted the promoters of Nigel Farage’s event and informed them that they would not be able to use our venue for their event. As the booking is now cancelled, we consider the matter closed.”
indy100 has also contacted Nigel Farage for comment.
