The night Farage’s best man joke made Rod squirm
NIGEL Farage was last night accused of homophobia after footage emerged of him making a joke about ‘fags’ in a best man speech.
The Ukip leader’s final hours of election campaigning were overshadowed by the release of the video of his brother’s wedding.
Singer Rod Stewart, who was a guest at the July 2001 wedding, appeared uncomfortable after Mr Farage used the word ‘fags’ in a joke about the death of Stuart Lubbock at Michael Barrymore’s house, which had happened months earlier.
Mr Farage yesterday pulled out of a planned visit to a bingo hall shortly after he was contacted by the Daily Mail about the film. He claimed that he had intended ‘no malice’ with the joke, but did not apologise.
He said: ‘It was a best man’s speech for Christ’s sake. If you look at the whole video I told a whole series of jokes. There was absolutely no malice intended in it at all. That particular joke was one doing the rounds quite widely at the time.’
The video shows Mr Farage, 51, as he gave the speech during the reception after his brother Andrew, 48, married his wife Wendy, 41, in Downe in Kent.
Mr Farage says that he would like to start his speech with some ‘housekeeping’. He says: ‘As far as smokers here are concerned there’s good news and bad news for you. The bad news was we were not allowed to smoke until the coffee was served.
‘But the good news for us who are smokers is that we are far better off here than if we had been at Michael Barrymore’s house. Because there they removed all the ashtrays on the basis that now they chuck all the fags in the pool.’
A female guest sitting next to Mr Farage on the top table gasps as he mentions the gay entertainer’s name. Others clap and cheer as he gives the punchline.
The video then zooms in on Rod Stewart, thought to have been a guest of the bride’s family. He looks uncomfortable and starts to play with his hair.
Mr Lubbock, 31, was found dead in a swimming pool at Barrymore’s Essex mansion in March 2001.
Ecstasy and cocaine were found in Mr Lubbock’s blood but internal injuries suggested that he had been the victim of a sexual assault before his death.
An inquest returned an open verdict and police never charged Barrymore or anyone else with murder. Mr Lubbock’s family have remained adamant that he was not gay.
The wedding guest who made the recording handed it to the Mail because he said he it showed Mr Farage is homophobic. He said: ‘He is homophobic. It’s disgusting. He is an out and out liar if he says he is not homophobic, there’s no question of that. His attitude is dreadful. He is now trying the soft touch, but he’s definitely homophobic. No question about it. He is a total hypocrite. I want the nation to see it.
‘He claims not to be homophobic but why tell a joke about throwing fags in a pool at his brother’s wedding?’
‘His attitude is dreadful’