The Brexit deal has been branded by Nigel Farage as “the worst in history” – despite the fact that it hasn’t been published yet, and he hasn’t seen it.
The former Ukip leader made the bold assertion in a tweet on Tuesday night and then, having still not seen it, repeated the claim on a host of TV shows.
Speaking to Good Morning Britain from Strasbourg, he said: “We’re giving away in excess of £40 billion in return for precisely nothing – trapped, still inside the European Union’s rulebook, continuing free movement of people, continuing with a foreign court having a say over our own country.
“Nothing has been achieved other than giving away a huge sum of money.”
More than a few people took issue with what Farage said and were eager to highlight the multitude of other things that are more worthy contenders for “the worst deal in history”.
Looking In The Mirror
Things started off on a personal note. One user replied to Farage simply: “You did this. You don’t get to blame anyone else.”
Dutch MP Sjoerd Wiemar Sjoerdsma suggested Farage himself was the architect of the worst deal in history, when he “deceived Brits into voting for Brexit while you got to keep your sizeable EU pension.”
Last year Farage was accused of hypocrisy for saying he would claim his £73,000-a-year pension from the European Parliament after Brexit.
He also said he is “skint” after spending 18 years as a Ukip MEP.
There were numerous examples of history dishing out arguably far worse deals to people.
The Historical Record
Peter Warner suggested that a contender for the “worst deal in history” should in fact go to the Treaty of Breda in 1667, which saw the Dutch gave away Manhattan to the English, in return for the tiny Indonesian island of Run.
At the time the deal made sense for the Dutch – Run was a prolific producer of nutmeg at a time when the spice trade was worth the equivalent of billions.
Manhattan was merely a small trading village in some swampy marshland.
But the boom days of the spice trade were short-lived, and eventually the Dutch were left with an unprofitable tiny island while Manhattan went on to become the booming metropolis it is today.
Ian Burnet, author of East Indies, describes it as “the real estate deal of the millennium”.
Then there is also that time Russia sold Alaska for $7 million, around $120 million in today’s money but still a bargain for 586,412 square miles of land
It paid off too - not long after the sale reserves of gas and oil were discovered.
The Second World War
Then there is the non-aggression pact signed between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union in 1939.
Signed just days before the outbreak of World War Two, Adolf Hitler and Josef Stalin agreed not to attack each other as they both invaded Poland and divvied up the spoils of war between them.
But two years later, Hitler reneged on the deal, invading Russia and creating what became the bloodiest theatre of war in history – and around 30 million people died as a result.
Keeping It Local
Of course not all deals are so global in their nature. Danny here is simply annoyed that Kal Naismith has only scored one goal this season.
And it seems football is a bit of a sore point.
The Worst Music Deal In History
In 1962 a music executive told the manager of a pop group angling for a record deal: “Guitar groups are on their way out, Mr Epstein.”
Only that pop group was The Beatles, and Dick Rowe had just turned down what would become one of the biggest musical phenomenons the world had ever seen.
The Biography
Author Chas Newkey-Burden also didn’t agree with Farage’s assetion. He pointed out that he had once agreed to write a biography of Paris Hilton...
He doesn’t specify how much he received but he still seems sore about it.
(the book is Paris Hilton: Life on the Edge)
And To Finish...
Not a deal as such, just a fantastic meme.