NIGEL Farage is facing fierce criticism over the decision to charge people to attend a Brexit Party rally in Edinburgh.
Farage is returning to Edinburgh six years after he had to barricade himself inside a Royal Mile pub to avoid protesters.
He will lead a rally at Edinburgh Corn Exchange on Friday night – charging attendees £2.50 for the pleasure – amid campaigning for the European Parliament Elections on May 23.
READ MORE: If only the SNP suffered from the same ‘BBC bias’ as Farage
Alex Cole-Hamilton, Liberal Democrat MSP for Edinburgh Western, said the Brexit Party leader was “out of his mind” if he think locals will pay up to attend the rally.
“I’m ready to welcome anyone to the finest city in Scotland,” Cole-Hamilton said.
"Though judging by the last time he usually gets short shrift when he comes to Edinburgh.
“He must be out of his mind if he thinks citizens of the capital will be willing to pay to hear his narrow-minded, insular world view.”
Social media users also condemned the visit as a “money-making exercise”.
One outraged commenter said: "I hope he addresses an empty hall, what brass neck to expect that people will pay to hear his ranting.”
Another added: "It is just a money-making exercise from start to finish", while someone else commented, "no doubt there will be dozen or so utter mugs willing to cough up".
"They should be paying people to attend,” read another comment.
READ MORE: People know what the Brexit Party is all about – and still support it
Security is expected to be heightened for the event on Friday.
Jim Ferguson, Scottish chairman of charity Crimestoppers, said police would “take any kind of law-breaking" at the event seriously.
The Inverness businessman said: "Just because people don’t agree with a particular political view, doesn’t mean they can be violent or disruptive and the police will absolutely be there to ensure the rule of law will be kept.
“I can tell you that Police Scotland will take any kind of law-breaking very seriously, and they’re very good at their job.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions. What should we do with our second vote in 2021? What happens if Westminster says no to indyref2?
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversation, register under fake names, and post vile abuse. We’ve had hundreds of emails from you complaining about this, asking us to take steps to ensure that these people aren’t given a platform on our site.
We’re listening to you, and here’s how we plan to make that happen.
We have decided to make the ability to comment only available to our 12,000 paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them.
We’ll be monitoring this change over the first few weeks, and we’re keen to know your thoughts. Email us at letters@thenational.scot if you want to have your say.
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Last Updated:
Are you sure you want to delete this comment?
Report This Comment