Farage calls anti-Brexit MPs 'enemies of democracy' — here's what his hero Churchill had to say

Nigel Farage, former Ukip leader and King of the Frogs, is at it again. He called all 114 cross-party MPs who voted against the Brexit Bill "enemies of democracy", which is slightly ironic for a man who tried and failed to win a seat in parliament seven times.

The dissenting MPs were, of course, carrying out their duty as parliamentary representatives to come to a decision they believe is in the best interests of their constituents, and not to slavishly vote like mere delegates.

More than that, they were also representing in parliament the views of the 48% who didn't vote for Brexit in the June referendum. And that's leaving aside the complex debate about what type of Brexit there should be as there are many options on the table. The bill passed comfortably anyway, and Brexit will go ahead.

It's no secret that Winston Churchill is a political idol of Farage's. He called the wartime leader "one of Western civilisation's true heroes", and his wibbly jowls often adorn Ukip leaflets.

When Farage travelled to the US to meet Donald Trump after his election victory, he implored the new president to put a bust of Churchill back in the Oval Office after it was moved elsewhere in the White House by Barack Obama. Trump agreed to, and Farage has made a big deal about it since.

But Farage apparently doesn't share his hero Churchill's views on parliamentary democracy, which you might remember Britain fought an enormous and bloody war to defend, and I think Churchill may even have been involved in it somewhere. But as The Telegraph's Michael Deacon pointed out:

The first duty of a member of parliament is to do what he thinks in his faithful and disinterested judgement is right and necessary for the honour and safety of Great Britain. His second duty is to his constituents, of whom he is the representative but not the delegate. Burke's famous declaration on this subject is well known. It is only in the third place that his duty to party organisation or programme takes rank. All these three loyalties should be observed, but there in no doubt of the order in which they stand under any healthy manifestation of democracy.

— Sir Winston Churchill on the Duties of a Member of Parliament. Source: UK Parliament