Ignore or challenge? Is it worth engaging with Nigel Farage about cycling?; No new deal at Bahrain McLaren for Mark Cavendish; Chris Froome's emotional reflection after final race for Team Ineos; New study supports e-bike safety + more on the live blog

Really?  The best thing to do with Farage is to starve him of the oxygen of publicity.  He is only saying what has been said to me by countless morons over the years.  
 

sadly, it is indicative of UK society - cyclists are considered as 'other than', weak,  second class and a nuisance who get in the way.  So they are vilified and targeted by loud mouthed louts like Farage and Co. 
 

one of the 'sleb' cyclists needs to invite Nigel out for a bike ride.  Like Germany invited Al Murray (pub landlord character) to do a TV travelogue there.  

I wish we could just ignore him, but can we? Wikipedia claims The DM is the UK's "highest-circulated daily newspaper". It is a sad truth that a lot of people will read this - and a lot of them will believe it. I don't think it's much of a leap of faith to accept that this sort of drivel leads to attacks on cyclists (including deliberately dangerous driving), along with the aggresive resistance to any infrastructure designed to make life better for people traveling by bike (which, incidentally, will make life better for everyone else too).

That said, I am also very aware that any article published here is just going to be preaching to the choir. Is responding to it in that manner actually going to achieve anything? Or will it just generate revenue for the DM through people clicking through to the article in order to ogle at the stupidity on display?

I'm not sure what the solution is. Letters to the editors? Can anyone get some column inches in a national newspaper to set the record straight? Write to your MP's - make it clear that Mr Garage does not speak for the "common person"?

The thing that always makes me laugh is how motorists go on about how cyclists need to be punished for breaking the law, like drivers, as if every driver is penalised as soon as they do something illegal.  Yet I'm not sure I could give a percentage for the number of cars going past my house that actually abide by the 20mph speed limit because it is so low.  Or I could add to that the number dangerously cutting the corner (per the image I've added).

Road.cc is so sincere about the idea of ignoring Farage that they've filled the whole of the Live Blog with "news" about him, and even created a poll...shall we ignore him or not? Well, by creating the poll you've answered your own question.

Farage is symptomatic of the whole populist politicians that are endemic at the moment, one wonders if this was what Germany was like in the 1930's, but with added online echo chambers like TwitBook.

Challenge the message - ignore the people.

If pigfaceshagger had not engaged Farage with how different this 2020's UK would be. 

Our relationship with the EU was 10th on the things people worried about in 2010.

Ignore the fascist Toad of Toad Hall, he's only lashing out because he knows he's now about as welcome in the White House as a lingering fart.

Also, how great would a coffee domestique be! Especially in these pandemic times when a coffee stop is difficult.

The deplatforming of "people" like H*pkins and Yaxley-Lennon proves that the lack of engagement with their so-called commentary works; don't engage, don't amplify. 

On the local neighbourhood forum (N London) some one has posted 'is anyone else frustrated with the new cycle lanes installed by the council?' And lo, there are hundreds of comments all repeating the same lies and misinformation. It's profoundly depressing. Not just that people hold such baseless, hateful attitudes towards people who ride a cycle but because the Cllrs will waver and before long the cycle lanes will be scrapped. 

Ignore the person, but challenge the ideas.

Farage is just mirroring or repeating stuff that comes up with monotonous regularity about cycling,that any delve into a local paper story about cyclists will confirm alot of people believe are true statements.

How we challenge them I dont know as we dont ever seem to make much ground on it,but pretending that people dont think like that towards cycling is a bad idea imo.

Please ignore Farage generally, not just in relation to cycling (and the Loophole bloke too!)

Does Nigel Farage read road.cc ?

What form and medium do you perceive this engagement will take ?