Claim 6c8af6e0Checked 09 Jul 2026
TrueOn the truth scale
“Looking back on it now, many people would be repelled by it.”
Reasoning & Evidence09 Jul 2026
By late 2011, UK attitudes toward heavy drinking had clearly shifted against excess: Home Office research reported that 65% of the public thought alcohol consumption was out of control, the Home Office’s alcohol strategy said it aimed to make excessive drinking no longer acceptable and to change drinking culture from excess to responsibility, and ONS data showed heavy drinking had fallen from 2005 to 2011. That makes Farage’s retrospective remark a fair characterization of how many people would view that old City culture, although “repelled” is still a subjective word. (theguardian.com) Sources: Office for National Statistics, “Drinking (General Lifestyle Survey Overview - a report on the 2011 General Lifestyle Survey)” `https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/personalandhouseholdfinances/incomeandwealth/compendium/generallifestylesurvey/2013-03-07/chapter2drinkinggenerallifestylesurveyoverviewareportonthe2011generallifestylesurvey`; Home Office, “Alcohol Strategy” `https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/224075/alcohol-strategy.pdf`; The Guardian, “UK drinking 'is out of control', two-thirds of public believe” `https://www.theguardian.com/society/2011/jan/18/uk-drinking-home-office-research`
From article
I didn’t say that in the book, no.
Listen, drink is an extraordinary thing. It’s very, very deeply embedded within our culture, and when I left school and went into the City – well, everything revolved around it. I’m very honest about the culture. You know, looking back on it now, many people would be repelled by it. And some people who go through that lifestyle are lucky and some are desperately unlucky, and you never know which you’re going to be. Lots of people who were my drinking mates in the City have been through the most disastrous downward spirals, and a lot of them are dead. A lot of them are dead. I lived through all of that and I’m very candid: I say I am lucky. I am lucky.
Sources opened+ 80 search hits considered
| [1] | highprofiles.info |
| [2] | assets.publishing.service.gov.uk |
| [3] | ons.gov.uk |
| [4] | theguardian.com |
| [5] | assets.publishing.service.gov.uk |