‘Farage is no Nazi,’ says fashion designer at stall

FASHION designer Jeff Banks believes the Reform UK party is the “only opportunity” the country has for success.

About 10 members of the Henley branch set up a stall in the Market Place on Saturday.

Four new members were recruited at the event, which was part of the party’s nationwide action day, in which a total of 450 branches participated.

Mr Banks, who lives in Henley, believes Reform is the only party to wrestle the country out of what he describes as a “desperate downward spiral”.

He said: “I think we have a government that has no real strategy to actually turn the country around and make it profitable. There is no strategy so that we can afford to pay for all the things that we would like, such as free education and free healthcare.

“I look at Reform as being the only potential for young people for the future.

“For me, I don’t have many years left on this planet, but I do look at younger people and think ‘What’s life going to be like in this country for them?’.”

He described the party’s leader, Nigel Farage, as a “good man” who will bring the change the country needs.

He said: “I think Nigel Farage is a really good man and he has genuine and like-minded people around him.

“I think they’re ready to make a change and I think we need it. I think there are some misconceptions around Nigel Farage. People call him a Nazi, a narcissist and opinionated but I don’t think he’s any of those things.

“I also think he’s a successful businessman who has fought the European Union, succeeding in Britain to leave, which I think was the right decision, with Europe falling apart.”

He said: “It’s important that everyone gets the chance to see what we’re doing and to understand that, even though this area has a particularly strong Liberal Democrat hold, there are other political parties around.

“What’s important is to make sure people understand how Reform is relevant not just for other parts of the country but also for here in Henley.”

Martin Dew, who chairs the Henley branch, said: “We’ve had three sign up today but we only had our card reader working for the last 20 minutes due to some technical issues.

“We’ve had a lot of interest because not only can we sign people up using the machine but they can also use the QR code on the leaflets and get on the Reform Go App.”