Sargon of Akkad - Carl Benjamin - Dear Mr Farage

All Episodes

Previous Next

Feb. 20, 2025 - Sargon of Akkad - Carl Benjamin

09:08

Dear Mr Farage

Some advice.

Large

Audio Only |

Scroll

Time	Text
	Dear Mr. Farage, I hope this video letter finds you well, and I apologise for seeming a little bit overdressed, but I've just returned from ARC.
	I haven't had time to go and get changed because I've had to deal with my children.
	And I wanted to summarize the content of many, many, many conversations that I've had with very intelligent people who are well-meaning and wish for reform to do well, because it looks like at the moment reform will indeed be the next government of the United Kingdom.
	But the problem is there was a lot of convergence on the perspective that reform don't feel like they think they're going to be the next government of the United Kingdom.
	There's a slight issue in the messaging, and I'd like to offer some advice for free, and I expect nothing from it.
	And I think that it would really help.
	So for starters, I think you should be dressing for the job that you want, not the job that you have.
	I can't help but notice that a lot of reforms, media, and messaging is coming from the perspective of MPs who are campaigning, rather than an almost existing prime minister in waiting, which I think many people view you as.
	I would definitely consider investing in some sort of set or something that always had a set of British flags and possibly some wood paneling in the background just to make it look prime ministerial.
	And I wouldn't be hesitant to give addresses from this in response to something Kierstarmer has done or if you just want to announce a reform policy or a statement of fact or something like this.
	If people repeatedly perceive you to be in a sort of prime ministerial role, the I will do most of the work for you.
	And this I think will very much help.
	The next thing is, I ask people, who is Nigel Farage going to put in his cabinet when he wins?
	And people have absolutely no answers for us.
	This is quite strange because I think there are many lessons we can learn from Trump.
	And I'm going to draw on a bunch of them in this letter.
	And I think the first one is make sure you have a very effective team around you because I'm pretty sure that you must be aware that when you win, you will get non-stop, hardcore resistance from the civil service and powers that be.
	They're going to do everything in their power to scupper any plans you have for when you are prime minister.
	So you need to, I think, prepare now.
	And what that means is getting a hardcore crack team around you.
	And frankly, that seems to be missing.
	I don't know who you worked with during Brexit.
	There are lots of economists, lots of experts in various subject matter fields who would, I think, be very happy to sign on to the reform agenda and join the reform party and be a part of this agenda, but we don't see them and we need to see them.
	They should be with you pretty much at all times, ready to be called upon when something needs to be done.
	And the issue is that it seems at the moment that you're very isolated and you're carrying the whole thing yourself, which is very commendable and noble, but I don't think it's sufficient.
	And so I think that if you haven't done this deep preparation now, then you will find yourself with lots and lots of problems later on.
	As Gizgo might have said to Hannibal, you may well be able to win a victory, but you may not be able to use it.
	Moving on, I think another thing that you need to think about is the messaging.
	You, I think, should stop being reactive to the things that they say to you and pretty much stop doing media interviews at this point.
	You can become the news cycle in the way that Donald Trump became the new cycle by simply asserting something that you will do when you are in office and letting everyone else discuss it.
	Not only does this increase your power and majesty and make you a more mysterious and interesting figure, not that you're not ready, but you know what I mean, it allows the commentariat who is sympathetic to you to do something for you.
	It allows us to speak out in your defense and explain your points of view while you are moving on to the next thing, the next big plan, the next big win that is going to drive them to have to catch up with you again and again.
	And so they will forever be downstream of you rather than you being downstream of them and struggling to play catch-up.
	If you're explaining yourself, you're losing.
	Let us do that for you.
	You don't need to do it.
	I would recommend something strong, something simple, and something that is categorically popular.
	For example, I would probably use the catchphrase: we are going to put the Royal Navy in the channel.
	We are going to turn the boats around by force.
	That simple.
	Everyone will agree with this.
	The only people who don't agree with this are the sort of traitors who we are trying to surely defeat here.
	And this will, frankly, be something the media won't be able to not touch.
	They will have to talk about this.
	If you start just saying this repeatedly on Twitter or in interviews or wherever, this is what we're going to do, then they will respond to it.
	And when they're responding to you, when they're explaining about their position rather than you explaining yours, that's when you know they're losing and you are winning.
	Not only that, but I think summoning up the old British martial spirit in times like these is probably necessary for the revitalizing work that I'm sure you have in mind.
	So this is something that I think you could be very, very clear about.
	And the reason that I think these things actually really matter is because it may not actually be that long until the general election is called.
	Now, there's no direct mechanism that we can use to make one call be called.
	And Kier Starmer isn't going to likely give up willingly.
	He'll probably have to be dragged out by his fingertips.
	But I can't help but feel that there could be some sort of crisis that makes a general election essentially necessary.
	And I think you really need to be worried about Boris.
	Now, it's easy in the intelligentsia or the commentariat for us to have a propositional explanation for why Boris is bad and why we should not back him.
	But Boris, like the slippery eel that he is, will secrete a thick verbal slime and manage to wriggle out of your rhetorical grip and escape accountability for the betrayal of the British people.
	Do not, I think, underestimate him.
	Do not underestimate him.
	He is a charismatic and therefore a dangerous opponent.
	And unless you can start damnimorying him now, then he, I think, will be able to come back.
	And I think he's probably the only person in the country that can beat you.
	People forget that 90% of politics is just being likable.
	Just make sure that people want to be in a room with you and people are more likely to vote for you.
	And with Boris, people, for some reason, love him.
	He's very charming.
	He's very affable.
	He is a master of rhetoric.
	And he knows he wields this as a weapon and as a magic spellcasting tool to win people over to him and his cause, despite how unbelievably deceptive he is when he is in power.
	He can beat you.
	Be aware of this.
	Have a plan.
	I would take the threat of Boris very, very seriously, especially in the light of the rumors that he is thinking about making a comeback.
	People have short memories.
	And like I said, Boris is quite a slippery fellow and will doubtless be able to weave his way around any rhetorical traps and almost make it seem like he isn't really at fault or that he did nothing wrong when obviously he did.
	So I would be very, very careful.
	And finally, I would recommend appearing less guarded when you're making public appearances.
	Now, I appreciate that you have campaigned for 30 years on often unpopular positions to make them popular.
	And in the course of this, you have personally been assaulted multiple times on the campaign trail.
	I understand that you have been relentlessly demonized by the media and an activist class that wants to see the destruction of this country.
	I appreciate how much psychic damage that does to a person because I've had it too.
	But I think that what you do need to do is look more, I don't know how to frame this properly, but settled as if it were, as if reform is at this point inevitable, and there's almost nothing that can be done to prevent your rise and inevitable victory.
	And honestly, I think that barring any kind of huge miscarriage by yourself, there's probably not.
	So I think if you were to appear more like you are inevitably going to win and that the stars have aligned and the fates have decreed it, then the opponents of yours, any of the opposition, will seem insignificant, childish, and yesterday's men.
	Whereas you are in fact the future, and the future is in fact now.
	As I said at the beginning, I'm offering up this advice for free, and I don't mind what you do with it, obviously.
	I just think that these are open flanks that the Reform Party needs to guard a little more closely, because in them may lie the seeds of defeat.
	And if there's one thing I want, it's to see you win.

▲