New Alternative News Channel "GB News" chaired by Andrew Neil launching - read OP before posting

The reality is that Farage was always going to back down from those 316 seats.

Cummings was wise to hold firm, and it paid off.

I have read your post and I disagree with it. Farage fielded candidates throughout the country and only withdrew from Conservative strongholds once Johnson didn't accept the agreement.

That said, the agreement was in effect regardless as Farage forced the agreement by standing candidates down anyway.

"Modern conservatives = populism, demagoguery, racism, xenophobia, and venality."

Absolute, undiluted nonsense.

The vast, vast majority of self-assessed conservatives are not associated with the bleak and biased picture you have painted.

Can you actually back that statement up rather than just asserting it?

How is a vote for the UK Conservative Party a vote for racism and xenophobia?

Almost 44% voted for the CP in the last General Election, and your sweeping statements could be taken to conclude that you believe the UK to be a racist nation.

How do those terms match the definition of racist and xenophobic?

Racism: "prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism by an individual, community, or institution against a person or people on the basis of their membership of a particular racial or ethnic group, typically one that is a minority or marginalized".

Nothing of what Johnson wrote as a journalist is discrimination against a racial group. He may have used colourful language but that kind of language does not mean someone is racist. Intent matters when it comes to proving racism, and Johnson's use of language cannot be taken as some sort of intent that he is actively racist and hates ethnic groups. Black people are allowed to use the N-word, for example, but it doesn't make them racist. Again, it comes down to intention.

Furthermore, this has nothing to do with what was included in the Conservative manifesto of 2019.

It's not for you to decide.

Who are you to speak on behalf of the people Johnson was referring to?

That's a different question; the responsibility of public figures and the language they deploy.

But I would rather be on the side of comedy, tongue-in-cheek colourful (yet often accurate) language - than on the side of "...let's not say anything even remotely provocative in case some genuinely awful people in society beat up some victim in the street".

In an ideal society, we should have both - free speech + no violence.

It's often about laughing at ourselves, and I think society would do better to do that a bit more rather than obsessing about what causes "offense", which is an entirely subjective feeling.

And this harks back to GB News, which is in some way an outlet for subjects that others find objectionable by definition.