The Ukipper Who Changed His Mind... Thanks To James O'Brien
21 June 2018, 12:07 | Updated: 21 June 2018, 12:41
This is the charming caller who admitted he was a member of Ukip, but changed his mind after listening to James O'Brien.
Describing Nigel Farage as "his Charles Manson", Patrick in Eltham told LBC that his interest in politics became "about picking a side and doing everything you can to perpetuate that view.
"Those figureheads, the Jacob Rees-Moggs, the Donald Trumps, they are the compasses for the people who support them.
"Politics used to bore me, but there was something about Farage and his charisma which got me engaged and I was swept up in that.
"It was a movement, it felt exciting to me in my ignorant point of view."
But he told James that after listening to his show for a while, he realised he was wrong.
He said: "There's a metaphorical, social filter that's placed before your brain by populism and automatically, you hear certain people or phrases and that filter shuts it down.
"You're placing a defence mechanism in people that reason and logic can't get through.
"But in my case, I started listening to people I disagreed with. And I couldn't resist it any more.
"Over a year of listening, I finally thought 'Gosh, what on Earth?'"
After the lovely call, James said: "There's hope for everybody. Even the people suggesting I should be hung from the nearest lamppost, one day you too could be like Patrick.
"Didn't he sound so happy!"
