What does it say about the UK’s pro-Europeans that they hide their message behind a bin? |
The UK could be forgiven if, like Brenda from Bristol, it feels it has had too much politics of late. The long death rattle of the Starmer government against a backdrop of relentless excitement from the White House has left everyone suffering a severe case of overwhelm. We all deserve a holiday – even Andy Burnham, exhausted after a few weeks in the job.
So the political and media class may think they are doing us a favour by turning the forthcoming byelection prompted by the resignation of the Reform UK leader, Nigel Farage, into a joke. But it is not very fair on the people of Clacton, who are being told they face a binary choice on 13 August, between Farage and the novelty candidate Count Binface.
Most people outside the Essex constituency have already picked a side. Unless you are a diehard Reform supporter, everyone seems to be backing the bin. A huge media operation is in full swing, in the hope that Clacton voters will oblige by embarrassing Farage. A speaker on BBC Radio 4’s Thought for the Day piously informed listeners that Binface’s candidacy belongs to a rich tradition in Britain of political satire that has its origins in the parables of Jesus Christ. The new high priests of political broadcasting, Alastair Campbell and Rory Stewart, bestowed their blessing on Binface with the sacrament of a podcast interview.
Yet the........