Nigel Farage will be speaking in Cambridge this Friday.

The controversial leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) will give a lecture at Mill Lane Lecture Rooms on Friday the 17th of October, at 6pm.

It is unclear as to the subject of his talk, but he is listed as a speaker under the Department of Politics and International Studies and so has been approved by the university.

Professor Jonathan Haslam “agreed to host Mr Farage some months ago before he was so topical” and revealed that Farage will give a “brief opening” before engaging in debate with attending students.  

Haslam described the idea of politicians visiting as “good for them and good for us”, emphasising that “the study of politics is not to be done solely from books”.

He also alluded to Farage’s recent success in Clacton, after UKIP secured its first MP in the area last week, as a reason for inviting Farage to speak.

“These people of Essex - the once East Enders who moved out to public housing beyond the marshes - are the relatively dispossessed; yet they are enfranchised. They have rights,” said Haslam.

“We ought to find out at first hand what exactly appeals to them and not spurn their views as do London-obsessed MPs, like bumbling Etonian Boris, Mr Snooty, Cameron, out-of-touch Clegg and no-hoper Miliband (Hampstead, indeed) do in Westminster.”  

The move has attracted untoward attention from students as UKIP remain a deeply divisive party. Just a few days ago Farage outraged HIV/AIDS campaigners by remarking that the UK Border Office should be able to “control the quantity and quality of people who come... people who do not have HIV", before saying he would also extend the ban to “people with tuberculosis too”.

A Facebook event has already been set up organizing a protest outside Mill Lane Lecture Rooms on Friday. The event, "Tell Nigel Farage (UKIP) that he is NOT welcome in Cambridge!" encourages students to "bring/make banners and placards if you can and also any noise making equipment like drums, megaphones, whistles etc.". 

Haslam was unfazed by the idea of protesters, saying that “if students disagree vehemently, then they should go out, cancel their holidays and canvass against UKIP in the marginal constituencies with some understanding of what draws the downtrodden to it as an alternative to the usual merry-go-round of the usual two parties.”