“He was, in short, the Nigel Farage of his day.” I hope, for Mr. Turner’s sake, Mr. Farage isn’t a litigious type. I would not care to have to defend this article in an action for libel.
But there you go. Mr. Turner is a braver soul than me.
Indeed, he repeatedly makes the comparison with a clear implication that Nigel Farage is a financial crook. And without offering any evidence !
Thoroughly unprofessional by Mr. Turner. And ruins an otherwise interesting article.
This is typical of the sneering, snide mediocre commentator with nothing interesting to say. The comparison is odious
J Bryant
2 months ago
I had never heard of Horatio Bottomley. A very interesting article that reminds me there truly is nothing (or no one) new under the sun.
Andrew Boughton
2 months ago
What a gorgeously authored portrait, thank you! Though I see the Nigel Farage comparison as gratuitously unfair. Perhaps I’m deplorable. What does seem a parallel, though, is John le Carre’s father, the disgraced parliamentary candidate (Liberal?) and crooked businessman Ronnie Cornwell. At least as he was protrayed in the film of ‘Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy’.
For that matter, it was clear seeing that film even as a child that le Carre was familiar with the art of betrayal in love.
Or perhaps even William ARCHER* alias William Grimwood late father of that illustrious Peer of the Realm, one Jeffrey Howard Archer, Baron Archer of Weston-super-Mare?
(*Died 1956.)
Simon Blanchard
2 months ago
So let me get this straight; the Victorian care system produced a young person with “ambition, charm, and unshakable self-confidence”?
Michael Cazaly
2 months ago
Good to see Alwyn Turner on Unherd. He is always worth reading.
Charles Stanhope
2 months ago
When Mr Farage has finished suing (Dame) Alison Rose and Nat West*, he should prepare to eviscerate Mr Turner for this calumny.
(* A major UK Counting House or Bank for US readers.)
Thank you.
Presumably that’s LION and inspired by Orwell?
Martin Bollis
2 months ago
Not sure Nigel is the real target here, but Americans tend to be more litigious.
Charles Stanhope
2 months ago
When I read that line :- “in the Liberal Party but not of it”. I immediately thought of that other great 20th century fraud, one WSC.
For those who haven’t read it, may I suggest the late Clive Ponting’s work on the subject. However in short Ponting clearly believed that WSC was an alcoholic, incompetent, unloved, egotistical racist, who somewhat unjustly has achieved national apotheosis!
To my eternal shame I had! Thanks for reminding me.
David Colquhoun
2 months ago
Let’s hope that it’s not too long before Farage starts reaping.
Richard Craven
2 months ago
The comparison with Nigel Farage is unfair, because Farage isn’t a conman and doesn’t own a newspaper for use as his personal mouthpiece. A better comparison would be with Robert Maxwell.
T Doyle
2 months ago
Wow. Farage is nothing like Bottomley. Ridiculous piece.
James Wyburd
2 months ago
A ridiculous and laughable article; libellous too. I subscribed to UnHerd as an experiment and won’t be renewing
“He was, in short, the Nigel Farage of his day.” I hope, for Mr. Turner’s sake, Mr. Farage isn’t a litigious type. I would not care to have to defend this article in an action for libel.
But there you go. Mr. Turner is a braver soul than me.
Indeed, he repeatedly makes the comparison with a clear implication that Nigel Farage is a financial crook. And without offering any evidence !
Thoroughly unprofessional by Mr. Turner. And ruins an otherwise interesting article.
This is typical of the sneering, snide mediocre commentator with nothing interesting to say. The comparison is odious
I had never heard of Horatio Bottomley. A very interesting article that reminds me there truly is nothing (or no one) new under the sun.
What a gorgeously authored portrait, thank you! Though I see the Nigel Farage comparison as gratuitously unfair. Perhaps I’m deplorable. What does seem a parallel, though, is John le Carre’s father, the disgraced parliamentary candidate (Liberal?) and crooked businessman Ronnie Cornwell. At least as he was protrayed in the film of ‘Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy’.
For that matter, it was clear seeing that film even as a child that le Carre was familiar with the art of betrayal in love.
Or perhaps even William ARCHER* alias William Grimwood late father of that illustrious Peer of the Realm, one Jeffrey Howard Archer, Baron Archer of Weston-super-Mare?
(*Died 1956.)
So let me get this straight; the Victorian care system produced a young person with “ambition, charm, and unshakable self-confidence”?
Good to see Alwyn Turner on Unherd. He is always worth reading.
When Mr Farage has finished suing (Dame) Alison Rose and Nat West*, he should prepare to eviscerate Mr Turner for this calumny.
(* A major UK Counting House or Bank for US readers.)
I disagree…Mr. Turner is a good writer, very often controversial and I trust Farage has more about him than to litigate on this.
The Luon and Unicorn blog…a haunt of Mr. Turner’s is excellent…
Thank you.
Presumably that’s LION and inspired by Orwell?
Not sure Nigel is the real target here, but Americans tend to be more litigious.
When I read that line :- “in the Liberal Party but not of it”. I immediately thought of that other great 20th century fraud, one WSC.
For those who haven’t read it, may I suggest the late Clive Ponting’s work on the subject. However in short Ponting clearly believed that WSC was an alcoholic, incompetent, unloved, egotistical racist, who somewhat unjustly has achieved national apotheosis!
Surely you haven’t forgotten Jeremy Thorpe.
To my eternal shame I had! Thanks for reminding me.
Let’s hope that it’s not too long before Farage starts reaping.
The comparison with Nigel Farage is unfair, because Farage isn’t a conman and doesn’t own a newspaper for use as his personal mouthpiece. A better comparison would be with Robert Maxwell.
Wow. Farage is nothing like Bottomley. Ridiculous piece.
A ridiculous and laughable article; libellous too. I subscribed to UnHerd as an experiment and won’t be renewing