Claim 58afdcabChecked 09 Jul 2026
FalseOn the truth scale
“Much of the last 10 years has been grinding poverty.”
Interpreted asmetaphor
“Much of the last 10 years has been severe poverty.”
Reasoning & Evidence09 Jul 2026
Farage’s claim that “much of the last 10 years has been severe poverty” is not supported by the public record. He had been an elected Member of the European Parliament since 1999, and in 2011 MEPs received a pre-tax salary of €7,956.87 per month plus substantial allowances for expenses and staffing. (theguardian.com) Reputable reporting in 2009 also said Farage had taken about £2 million in expenses and allowances on top of a £64,000 salary since becoming an MEP, which is incompatible with “severe poverty.” (theguardian.com) Sources: European Parliament FAQ on MEP salaries and allowances; The Guardian, “Ukip leader Nigel Farage boasts of his £2m in expenses.”
From article
You write that when you left school ‘I had worlds to conquer’ and it struck me: He’s not one of those men who want to save the world, he wants to conquer it.
I was fiercely ambitious when I was 18. Fiercely ambitious. And that ambition was to succeed in business and make a lot of money – that was how I thought and how I felt. But I’ve changed, haven’t I, because I’m not pursuing that course any more. In many ways I’ve turned my back on a life of money completely – I mean, much of the last 10 years has been grinding poverty. People laugh at that, but actually if you’re trying to bring up a big family earning half what a GP earns…
Sources opened+ 72 search hits considered
| [1] | members.parliament.uk |
| [2] | theguardian.com |
| [3] | europarl.europa.eu |