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Nigel Farage duped into saying ‘Up the ‘Ra!’ in video message

Nigel Farage duped into saying ‘Up the ‘Ra!’ in video message

Nigel Farage has said he was duped into saying “Up the ‘Ra!” in a video message.

Mr Farage, a leading Brexiteer and former head of the United Kingdom Independence Party, used the republican slogan in a paid-for birthday greeting video.

The GB News host offers to record personal messages for members of the public for a fee of €87 on video-sharing platform Cameo, according to The Irish Times.

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In a video posted on social media, Mr Farage says: “This message is for Brian Ó Céileachair, Brexiteer, and I hope you have a great birthday. This comes from your good friend Aidan.

“Now, it’s a bit early in the day, so all I’ve got, actually, is coffee. But I hope you enjoy a few pints with the lads tonight. Up the ’Ra!” he says before taking a drink of coffee.

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Mr Ó Céileachair posted the video on social media, commenting: “Quite possibly the best birthday present I’ve ever gotten courtesy of Aidan Hart and my mate Nigel Farage.”

Mr Farage told MailOnline: “If I saw ‘Up the ’Ra!’ I would have looked at that as something very innocent, and wouldn’t have even known there was an implication to it.

“A lot of messages that I get are friends sending each other messages with their own little jokes or their own little words, which I have to judge – and of course I reject some if they are crude or offensive.”

Asked if he would read out a message if he knew it supported the IRA, Farage replied, “Are you joking? I had a face-to-face death threat from them.”

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Mr Farage, who says he joined Cameo to “connect with people from all over the world in a more personal way”, has 4,000 fans and a five-star rating on the platform, based on 548 reviews.

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