Not sure Reform really want to throw former Breitbart News editor Kassam into this one if we are asking who people really are?
My advice to Reform would be to respond to the Binface thing by saying that 'It may be a joke to the other parties, but democracy is not a joke to us'. It's silly and meaningless in context, but it presents as taking the high road.
Going after Binface for not being funny (matter of opinion, I'm sure he's fine in small doses but probably not an entire campaign), or being an establishment stooge (which is just silly - being a middle of the road safe parody candidate hardly makes him some uniparty agent), makes them look angry and that they are taking him seriously, which is what the Count wants.
Yes people can give advice to parties they don't support.
I was 'called out' for not finding Binface hilarious earlier.
I find things hilarious until I think I am being obliged to find them hilarious. Then they can piss off.
Nah, Binface isn't hilarious, barely worth a chuckle.
The farce of the byelection is hilarious though.
I do wonder if Farage will actually chicken out and not stand. It stops the parliamentary disciplinary. He perhaps might stand again at the GE "having cleared his name"
I suppose it depends whether his backers want him as an MP and Reform leader for the next few years or are happy for him to be outside Parliament with the intent of standing at next GE. It would weaken his position in the party but I'm not sure what other downsides there are.
He literally owns the party, and they will do what he says.
Tice stood down for him to take over as leader when Farage showed him a little "Master and Servant" in June 2024.
Not sure Reform really want to throw former Breitbart News editor Kassam into this one if we are asking who people really are?
My advice to Reform would be to respond to the Binface thing by saying that 'It may be a joke to the other parties, but democracy is not a joke to us'. It's silly and meaningless in context, but it presents as taking the high road.
Going after Binface for not being funny (matter of opinion, I'm sure he's fine in small doses but probably not an entire campaign), or being an establishment stooge (which is just silly - being a middle of the road safe parody candidate hardly makes him some uniparty agent), makes them look angry and that they are taking him seriously, which is what the Count wants.
Yes people can give advice to parties they don't support.
I was 'called out' for not finding Binface hilarious earlier.
I find things hilarious until I think I am being obliged to find them hilarious. Then they can piss off.
Nah, Binface isn't hilarious, barely worth a chuckle.
The farce of the byelection is hilarious though.
I do wonder if Farage will actually chicken out and not stand. It stops the parliamentary disciplinary. He perhaps might stand again at the GE "having cleared his name"
I suppose it depends whether his backers want him as an MP and Reform leader for the next few years or are happy for him to be outside Parliament with the intent of standing at next GE. It would weaken his position in the party but I'm not sure what other downsides there are.
He literally owns the party, and they will do what he says.
Tice stood down for him to take over as leader when Farage showed him a little "Master and Servant" in June 2024.
If the Bin wins I'd expect him to apply for the Chiltern Thousands, announcing en passant that he'd settle for the Hundreds if that was the best offer. Your point about Farago not standing raises the spectre of an unseemly gaggle of candidates at the door of the Returning Officer as the deadline approaches, arguing "If you don't stand, we're going to stand" countered by "If you stand, so will we".
TRUMP: And there's actually very little difference between the people. I mean, you know, it's like the Russians and Ukrainian people. And they can get along. ————————————————— “We had a month…35,000 (KIA) two months ago. And I would say more Russians. But it's just, they're people. They're people. And there's actually very little difference between the people. I mean, you know, it's like the Russians and Ukrainian people. And they can get along. But, but it's a nasty war” - American President on Wed, Jul 8, 2026 in Ankara, Turkey, during the NATO Summit.
P.S. Nothing triggers the average Ukrainian more than comparing them to russians.
Even by his own dismal standards today was a doozy. There's going to come a point where even if he's still ticking and in office, they have to start hiding him and most of his statements will be recorded.
His posse of yes-men, goons and sycophants can't control him. That much is obvious. They know he is capricious, vengeful and cruel, so want to stay on the right side of the American Caligula.
Presuming the world still exists in 4 years time there are going to be some jaw dropping memoirs.
Not sure Reform really want to throw former Breitbart News editor Kassam into this one if we are asking who people really are?
My advice to Reform would be to respond to the Binface thing by saying that 'It may be a joke to the other parties, but democracy is not a joke to us'. It's silly and meaningless in context, but it presents as taking the high road.
Going after Binface for not being funny (matter of opinion, I'm sure he's fine in small doses but probably not an entire campaign), or being an establishment stooge (which is just silly - being a middle of the road safe parody candidate hardly makes him some uniparty agent), makes them look angry and that they are taking him seriously, which is what the Count wants.
Yes people can give advice to parties they don't support.
I was 'called out' for not finding Binface hilarious earlier.
I find things hilarious until I think I am being obliged to find them hilarious. Then they can piss off.
Nah, Binface isn't hilarious, barely worth a chuckle.
The farce of the byelection is hilarious though.
I do wonder if Farage will actually chicken out and not stand. It stops the parliamentary disciplinary. He perhaps might stand again at the GE "having cleared his name"
I suppose it depends whether his backers want him as an MP and Reform leader for the next few years or are happy for him to be outside Parliament with the intent of standing at next GE. It would weaken his position in the party but I'm not sure what other downsides there are.
Yes I do wonder whether Farage being elected as an MP has overall been a net negative for him (harder to present himself as an outsider, perhaps causes the disgruntled to turn to Regress etc).
However, enjoyable as this farce is, I'd feel for the residents of Clacton if they were left holding the Bin, so to speak, with no option but the Count to represent them.
The current situation is enjoyably farcical, becoming hilarious if Clacton chooses Binface. A by-election with Binface standing alone makes a mockery of democracy imo, and becomes something much less funny.
The residents of Clacton are used to having an MP that rarely visits the constituency, or even the House of Commons. If Binface emulated H’Angus and became an active representative, he would be better for Clacton than their present MP.
In 12 days the polling could also be pivotal for the narrative of the next general election. Will a Burnham led Labour get enough of a poll bounce to overtake Reform?
Not sure Reform really want to throw former Breitbart News editor Kassam into this one if we are asking who people really are?
My advice to Reform would be to respond to the Binface thing by saying that 'It may be a joke to the other parties, but democracy is not a joke to us'. It's silly and meaningless in context, but it presents as taking the high road.
Going after Binface for not being funny (matter of opinion, I'm sure he's fine in small doses but probably not an entire campaign), or being an establishment stooge (which is just silly - being a middle of the road safe parody candidate hardly makes him some uniparty agent), makes them look angry and that they are taking him seriously, which is what the Count wants.
Yes people can give advice to parties they don't support.
I was 'called out' for not finding Binface hilarious earlier.
I find things hilarious until I think I am being obliged to find them hilarious. Then they can piss off.
Nah, Binface isn't hilarious, barely worth a chuckle.
The farce of the byelection is hilarious though.
I do wonder if Farage will actually chicken out and not stand. It stops the parliamentary disciplinary. He perhaps might stand again at the GE "having cleared his name"
Does anyone know how long he'd have to stand down for before the slate is wiped? Wouldn't put it past him to chicken of of this one, bail for the required time, then get one of the other Reform MP's to stand aside for him to make a 'triumphant' return.
I've just gone into a pub - admittedly it's in Aldershot - and asked if they had any real ale.
They didn't. The English twenty-something bar lady said she didn't even know what that is.
Young people don't drink alcohol these days.
Friends of my age are utterly mystified by this, their kids just do not want to drink alcohol.
That's not my experience. My son and step-daughter both enjoy drinking with their friends, mostly reasonably sensibly but occasionally to excess. The main difference is pre-drinking at home before they go out because drinking in pubs is so expensive.
Arron Banks @Arron_banks In the U.S. this type of attack on Trump propelled him forward, you guys never learn. People hate the establishment,media & professional politicians!
Narrator: Farage has been in politics since being elected to the EU parliament in 1999.
That's over twenty five years of being a full time professional politician.
Trump lovers (and the comment shows that must be what Banks is) are so obsessed with him they insist on making comparisons to him for everyone and everything.
Look, i don't like Farage, and he has tried to curry favour with Trump for a long time, but he really is not very Trumpian in style and history. He dabbles in blame all the media, yes he has been a political outsider, but he's not a major figure outside politics seeking to disrupt it, he's had a decades long approach of influencing mainstream debate, edging forward, and is surrounded by firmly 'normal' political figures because he has kicked out the bigger radicals and loonies because they were too out there.
He is not a Trump, even if opponents often reach for that comparison because he obviously likes and supports Trump.
So whether or not 'mocking' him is a good strategy or not, the situation is more complex than just 'they mocked Trump and it failed, they mocked Farage and it will fail for the same reason'.
As a good book once said, this is not america. Farage could not get away with half the stuff Trump has said or done because our political culture is not the same.
The point is it's nearly impossible to remove Trump. There are so many mechanisms and hoops to jump through that even though he's a traitor and whatever it is he's suffering from (be that dementia, Alzheimer's, PCA) is advancing so fast even JD Vance has apparently noticed it, it's damn near impossible to do anything about it.
Here, Farage can be removed in under an hour by a simple vote. And convicted by a bog-standard court if he ever acted like Trump, even while in office (although he'd be out of office faster than Trump drops his trousers in the presence of beauty pageant contestants if he had his collar felt).
The structural difference is very important. The President is effectively the monarch of America while in office. The Prime Minister is ultimately less secure in office than the average junior typist.
The 25th Amendment isn't that difficult, but Vance has incentive to wait until after 20th January 2027 before doing it.
I've just gone into a pub - admittedly it's in Aldershot - and asked if they had any real ale.
They didn't. The English twenty-something bar lady said she didn't even know what that is.
Young people don't drink alcohol these days.
Friends of my age are utterly mystified by this, their kids just do not want to drink alcohol.
That's not my experience. My son and step-daughter both enjoy drinking with their friends, mostly reasonably sensibly but occasionally to excess. The main difference is pre-drinking at home before they go out because drinking in pubs is so expensive.
I think there is less drinking overall too, but yes prinks is what the youngsters do.
Inflation adjusted, a pint of beer in a pub in 1983 would be under £2 now. No swonder I was in the pub a few nights every week back then.
What happened to all those people who thought we should carry on wearing facemasks forever? I seem to remember there were a few of them on here.
And while we're at it, what happened to all those people who said the Authorities loved lockdown and would carry on enforcing it after the pandemic had gone? ISTR there were a fair few of them on here.
Not sure Reform really want to throw former Breitbart News editor Kassam into this one if we are asking who people really are?
My advice to Reform would be to respond to the Binface thing by saying that 'It may be a joke to the other parties, but democracy is not a joke to us'. It's silly and meaningless in context, but it presents as taking the high road.
Going after Binface for not being funny (matter of opinion, I'm sure he's fine in small doses but probably not an entire campaign), or being an establishment stooge (which is just silly - being a middle of the road safe parody candidate hardly makes him some uniparty agent), makes them look angry and that they are taking him seriously, which is what the Count wants.
Yes people can give advice to parties they don't support.
I was 'called out' for not finding Binface hilarious earlier.
I find things hilarious until I think I am being obliged to find them hilarious. Then they can piss off.
Nah, Binface isn't hilarious, barely worth a chuckle.
The farce of the byelection is hilarious though.
I do wonder if Farage will actually chicken out and not stand. It stops the parliamentary disciplinary. He perhaps might stand again at the GE "having cleared his name"
Does anyone know how long he'd have to stand down for before the slate is wiped? Wouldn't put it past him to chicken of of this one, bail for the required time, then get one of the other Reform MP's to stand aside for him to make a 'triumphant' return.
Until the next Parliament.
We discussed all the details when Boris resigned rather than facing a recall petition in Uxbridge.
I've just gone into a pub - admittedly it's in Aldershot - and asked if they had any real ale.
They didn't. The English twenty-something bar lady said she didn't even know what that is.
Young people don't drink alcohol these days.
Friends of my age are utterly mystified by this, their kids just do not want to drink alcohol.
That's not my experience. My son and step-daughter both enjoy drinking with their friends, mostly reasonably sensibly but occasionally to excess. The main difference is pre-drinking at home before they go out because drinking in pubs is so expensive.
I think there is less drinking overall too, but yes prinks is what the youngsters do.
Inflation adjusted, a pint of beer in a pub in 1983 would be under £2 now. No swonder I was in the pub a few nights every week back then.
"Reform UK is insisting that the Clacton by-election is 6th August - but the minimum number of days required between writ being moved and the by-election would suggest the earliest Thursday it can be held is 13th August. We will know soon enough tomorrow."
Mid-August - you could hardly ask for a more perfect time for a silly-season result. .
Doesn't have to be a Thursday
Indeed not, but it should!
Remember that disgraceful moment in 2019 when they were voting on whether or not to have a Tuesday General Election? Horrible.
(I genuinely don't remember why they were arguing over the date at that point, when there were the votes to hold one.
Not sure Reform really want to throw former Breitbart News editor Kassam into this one if we are asking who people really are?
My advice to Reform would be to respond to the Binface thing by saying that 'It may be a joke to the other parties, but democracy is not a joke to us'. It's silly and meaningless in context, but it presents as taking the high road.
Going after Binface for not being funny (matter of opinion, I'm sure he's fine in small doses but probably not an entire campaign), or being an establishment stooge (which is just silly - being a middle of the road safe parody candidate hardly makes him some uniparty agent), makes them look angry and that they are taking him seriously, which is what the Count wants.
Yes people can give advice to parties they don't support.
I was 'called out' for not finding Binface hilarious earlier.
I find things hilarious until I think I am being obliged to find them hilarious. Then they can piss off.
Not sure Reform really want to throw former Breitbart News editor Kassam into this one if we are asking who people really are?
My advice to Reform would be to respond to the Binface thing by saying that 'It may be a joke to the other parties, but democracy is not a joke to us'. It's silly and meaningless in context, but it presents as taking the high road.
Going after Binface for not being funny (matter of opinion, I'm sure he's fine in small doses but probably not an entire campaign), or being an establishment stooge (which is just silly - being a middle of the road safe parody candidate hardly makes him some uniparty agent), makes them look angry and that they are taking him seriously, which is what the Count wants.
Yes people can give advice to parties they don't support.
I was 'called out' for not finding Binface hilarious earlier.
I find things hilarious until I think I am being obliged to find them hilarious. Then they can piss off.
I don't think he can be funny over the length of an election when he will actually be looked at day to day, unlike usually, but then that's surely not the expectation on a perennial candidate who has a bin on his head or whatever Howling Hope dresses up in, or shouldn't be.
He's a light hearted perennial candidate, it's never going to be laugh out loud funny or bitingly relevant. Indeed, anyone expecting more than surface level takes is probably going to be disappointed, since if the dude wanted to be a genuine activist he would be.
I'm a Binface fan, but I wouldn't plan to do more than see what he says maybe once a week to see if anything interesting happens.
Arron Banks @Arron_banks In the U.S. this type of attack on Trump propelled him forward, you guys never learn. People hate the establishment,media & professional politicians!
Narrator: Farage has been in politics since being elected to the EU parliament in 1999.
That's over twenty five years of being a full time professional politician.
Trump lovers (and the comment shows that must be what Banks is) are so obsessed with him they insist on making comparisons to him for everyone and everything.
Look, i don't like Farage, and he has tried to curry favour with Trump for a long time, but he really is not very Trumpian in style and history. He dabbles in blame all the media, yes he has been a political outsider, but he's not a major figure outside politics seeking to disrupt it, he's had a decades long approach of influencing mainstream debate, edging forward, and is surrounded by firmly 'normal' political figures because he has kicked out the bigger radicals and loonies because they were too out there.
He is not a Trump, even if opponents often reach for that comparison because he obviously likes and supports Trump.
So whether or not 'mocking' him is a good strategy or not, the situation is more complex than just 'they mocked Trump and it failed, they mocked Farage and it will fail for the same reason'.
As a good book once said, this is not america. Farage could not get away with half the stuff Trump has said or done because our political culture is not the same.
The point is it's nearly impossible to remove Trump. There are so many mechanisms and hoops to jump through that even though he's a traitor and whatever it is he's suffering from (be that dementia, Alzheimer's, PCA) is advancing so fast even JD Vance has apparently noticed it, it's damn near impossible to do anything about it.
Here, Farage can be removed in under an hour by a simple vote. And convicted by a bog-standard court if he ever acted like Trump, even while in office (although he'd be out of office faster than Trump drops his trousers in the presence of beauty pageant contestants if he had his collar felt).
The structural difference is very important. The President is effectively the monarch of America while in office. The Prime Minister is ultimately less secure in office than the average junior typist.
With the level of immunity the Supreme Court has granted Trump (I expect them to realise the broadness was a mistake when the next President is in and dial it back a notch) he is in fact more powerful than most monarchs in reality now, since whilst they are immune to things most constitutional ones would be forced out if they did something requiring immunity.
Though sadly the trade off is even those peripheral to the monarch like Prince Andrew can be punished socially but probably get no more than a slap on the wrist for their main (possible) crimes.
Not sure Reform really want to throw former Breitbart News editor Kassam into this one if we are asking who people really are?
My advice to Reform would be to respond to the Binface thing by saying that 'It may be a joke to the other parties, but democracy is not a joke to us'. It's silly and meaningless in context, but it presents as taking the high road.
Going after Binface for not being funny (matter of opinion, I'm sure he's fine in small doses but probably not an entire campaign), or being an establishment stooge (which is just silly - being a middle of the road safe parody candidate hardly makes him some uniparty agent), makes them look angry and that they are taking him seriously, which is what the Count wants.
Yes people can give advice to parties they don't support.
I was 'called out' for not finding Binface hilarious earlier.
I find things hilarious until I think I am being obliged to find them hilarious. Then they can piss off.
Nah, Binface isn't hilarious, barely worth a chuckle.
The farce of the byelection is hilarious though.
I do wonder if Farage will actually chicken out and not stand. It stops the parliamentary disciplinary. He perhaps might stand again at the GE "having cleared his name"
Party leaders being outside Parliament is not unheard of, though I personally think it is a terrible idea, but I feel like Farage does not hate being an MP as much as people say he does.
Sure, there's aspects of the role he probably doesn't care for, but MPs give their focus in different areas anyway, and it's a question of whether you can retain enough support locally if you ignore or minimise certain parts of the role and still get reelected.
I don't get the sense he's a structural radical, despite some of the wilder rhetoric from the more excitable Reform people - the fact he's turning the party in the Tories Mark II would make me think he likes the general set up including that he would need to be an MP to direct things.
Not sure this is a real advert but it sums up the technology
Not a fan, but they realised what Google did not for ages that if you are going to have that kind of product be popular you need to not look like a wally when wearing them.
I have to say that for me, if the idea of someone who many expected to be the next prime minister, and the face of a continent-wide populist wave, having his career brought to an unexpected stop , at a stunt by-election he himself called by a man dressed as a dustbin, isn't funny, then nothing is. I also can't really think of any precedent for anything like it.
It's like some sort of huge magnification of one part of the national character, or alternatively the universe itself acting in concert, in some moment of comic genius.
I've just gone into a pub - admittedly it's in Aldershot - and asked if they had any real ale.
They didn't. The English twenty-something bar lady said she didn't even know what that is.
Young people don't drink alcohol these days.
Friends of my age are utterly mystified by this, their kids just do not want to drink alcohol.
That's not my experience. My son and step-daughter both enjoy drinking with their friends, mostly reasonably sensibly but occasionally to excess. The main difference is pre-drinking at home before they go out because drinking in pubs is so expensive.
I think there is less drinking overall too, but yes prinks is what the youngsters do.
Inflation adjusted, a pint of beer in a pub in 1983 would be under £2 now. No swonder I was in the pub a few nights every week back then.
In 12 days the polling could also be pivotal for the narrative of the next general election. Will a Burnham led Labour get enough of a poll bounce to overtake Reform?
Yes, they will!
Labout will have a clear lead by September. But that won't be the end of the story...
In 12 days the polling could also be pivotal for the narrative of the next general election. Will a Burnham led Labour get enough of a poll bounce to overtake Reform?
Yes, they will!
Labout will have a clear lead by September. But that won't be the end of the story...
I think Labour will draw level with Reform but not sure yet they'll overtake them.
Beth Rigby @BethRigby · 41m NEW: The PM is planning to announce a bank holiday if England win the World Cup. Final is the day before handover of power day on July 24 PM expected to confirm bank holiday if England reach the final, with the likely date set to be July 24. Dare to dream!
I've just gone into a pub - admittedly it's in Aldershot - and asked if they had any real ale.
They didn't. The English twenty-something bar lady said she didn't even know what that is.
Young people don't drink alcohol these days.
Friends of my age are utterly mystified by this, their kids just do not want to drink alcohol.
That's not my experience. My son and step-daughter both enjoy drinking with their friends, mostly reasonably sensibly but occasionally to excess. The main difference is pre-drinking at home before they go out because drinking in pubs is so expensive.
I think there is less drinking overall too, but yes prinks is what the youngsters do.
Inflation adjusted, a pint of beer in a pub in 1983 would be under £2 now. No swonder I was in the pub a few nights every week back then.
Beth Rigby @BethRigby · 41m NEW: The PM is planning to announce a bank holiday if England win the World Cup. Final is the day before handover of power day on July 24 PM expected to confirm bank holiday if England reach the final, with the likely date set to be July 24. Dare to dream!
I can't help feeling this isn't a government remorselessly focused on growth.
Not sure Reform really want to throw former Breitbart News editor Kassam into this one if we are asking who people really are?
This is worrying. Nigel's admirers are beginning to sound as if they actually fear BinFace. I can't believe Nigel thought BinFace would be a factor when he planned all this, but here we are!
Breaking: @CountBinface would not be able to sit in the House of Commons wearing his signature space-warrior costume in the unlikely event he wins the Clacton by-election against Nigel Farage, the @theipaper can reveal.
The House of Commons operates under a mixture of standing orders, precedent and the Speaker’s authority, and MPs are expected to wear “business-like attire” in the Chamber.
Parliamentary guidance says clothing should demonstrate respect for the House, and that uniforms, large slogan-bearing items and other forms of demonstrative dress are generally not considered in order.
Members who show “flagrant disrespect” in their manner of dress can be asked to withdraw from the Chamber, and the Speaker may refuse to call them to speak.
Andrew Marr: " The Commons rules are very clear and they forbid face coverings "
Count Binface: " Well the Commons rules are very clear about what you can do with donations , but that seems to have got all murky so why can't I see how the line can get tested ? " https://x.com/JibbaJabb/status/2074917901078053338
Breaking: @CountBinface would not be able to sit in the House of Commons wearing his signature space-warrior costume in the unlikely event he wins the Clacton by-election against Nigel Farage, the @theipaper can reveal.
The House of Commons operates under a mixture of standing orders, precedent and the Speaker’s authority, and MPs are expected to wear “business-like attire” in the Chamber.
Parliamentary guidance says clothing should demonstrate respect for the House, and that uniforms, large slogan-bearing items and other forms of demonstrative dress are generally not considered in order.
Members who show “flagrant disrespect” in their manner of dress can be asked to withdraw from the Chamber, and the Speaker may refuse to call them to speak.
Andrew Marr: " The Commons rules are very clear and they forbid face coverings "
Count Binface: " Well the Commons rules are very clear about what you can do with donations , but that seems to have got all murky so why can't I see how the line can get tested ? " https://x.com/JibbaJabb/status/2074917901078053338
The beauty of what’s happening in UK politics isn’t just Farage having his thunder stolen from all directions. The Binface saga is proving what Britain is REALLY about and it’s not the shit sold by the far right… True Britishness is, at its heart, about MERCILESS pisstaking. https://x.com/supertanskiii/status/2074837061077532732
Not sure Reform really want to throw former Breitbart News editor Kassam into this one if we are asking who people really are?
This is worrying. Nigel's admirers are beginning to sound as if they actually fear BinFace. I can't believe Nigel thought BinFace would be a factor when he planned all this, but here we are!
Well, Clacton does have form on electing novelty candidates with no coherent agenda...
Beth Rigby @BethRigby · 41m NEW: The PM is planning to announce a bank holiday if England win the World Cup. Final is the day before handover of power day on July 24 PM expected to confirm bank holiday if England reach the final, with the likely date set to be July 24. Dare to dream!
I can't help feeling this isn't a government remorselessly focused on growth.
Maybe FIFA have reassured them that a bank holiday will not be needed outside Argentina?
Beth Rigby @BethRigby · 41m NEW: The PM is planning to announce a bank holiday if England win the World Cup. Final is the day before handover of power day on July 24 PM expected to confirm bank holiday if England reach the final, with the likely date set to be July 24. Dare to dream!
Not sure Reform really want to throw former Breitbart News editor Kassam into this one if we are asking who people really are?
This is worrying. Nigel's admirers are beginning to sound as if they actually fear BinFace. I can't believe Nigel thought BinFace would be a factor when he planned all this, but here we are!
I am loving the idea of the media playing this ultra, ultra seriously with a TV debate between Nigel and Binface. Completely deadpan (and brush, if you'll allow me). This is the timeline we deserve.
The other point, of course, is that Farage's "principled stand"/stunt is about nothing more than defending the democratic right of any MP to accept £5m bungs, and keep them secret.
The Speccie article is by Brendan O’Neill, so this is not surprising. Has the Speccie travel writer - I forget his name, some overpaid tart - squeezed out a couple of thousand words to earn a dishonest crust on the Crap-ton in Clacton?
They are under no obligation to play Farage’s games.
Indeed, and I think it is a bit pathetic that choosing not to fight a by-election is being presented as a moral outrage.
We all know Nigel would have won it anyway, so sure, they are 'running away' from that, but it's not as though they can deny it was a stunt - it is one by definition, a dramatic event design to draw attention (though not necessarily in the way they wanted) - and if Labour or the Tories had engaged in a stunt Reform would not be obliged to participate in the way their opponents wanted. So it is being fair minded to not play Reform's game.
So accusations of cowardice and anti-democratic behaviour look a little artificial and exaggerated. If the parties are trying to make it a joke, then play it serious, not not bitter - this is a serious matter and campaign, and the people of Clacton are not to be taken for fools, it is regretful the other parties do not care to stand.
Instead they are moaning that the media is making fun of them, and moaning is never a good look (think of Corbyn's 'can we have a question about the NHS please?').
"How dare the media find amusement in a bin man candidate?" seems to be the approach, and find it lame or not, complaining about what other people are amused by is even lamer (that's why mocking those who enjoy Adam Sandler movies does not lead them to change their attitudes).
The Speccie article is by Brendan O’Neill, so this is not surprising. Has the Speccie travel writer - I forget his name, some overpaid tart - squeezed out a couple of thousand words to earn a dishonest crust on the Crap-ton in Clacton?
Yes, it is an outrage and everyone is running scared.
Comments
Tice stood down for him to take over as leader when Farage showed him a little "Master and Servant" in June 2024.
Presuming the world still exists in 4 years time there are going to be some jaw dropping memoirs.
But yes, 99% of the time it is perverts and wannabe influencers
Inflation adjusted, a pint of beer in a pub in 1983 would be under £2 now. No swonder I was in the pub a few nights every week back then.
We discussed all the details when Boris resigned rather than facing a recall petition in Uxbridge.
Remember that disgraceful moment in 2019 when they were voting on whether or not to have a Tuesday General Election? Horrible.
(I genuinely don't remember why they were arguing over the date at that point, when there were the votes to hold one.
I don't think he can be funny over the length of an election when he will actually be looked at day to day, unlike usually, but then that's surely not the expectation on a perennial candidate who has a bin on his head or whatever Howling Hope dresses up in, or shouldn't be.
He's a light hearted perennial candidate, it's never going to be laugh out loud funny or bitingly relevant. Indeed, anyone expecting more than surface level takes is probably going to be disappointed, since if the dude wanted to be a genuine activist he would be.
I'm a Binface fan, but I wouldn't plan to do more than see what he says maybe once a week to see if anything interesting happens.
Though sadly the trade off is even those peripheral to the monarch like Prince Andrew can be punished socially but probably get no more than a slap on the wrist for their main (possible) crimes.
Party leaders being outside Parliament is not unheard of, though I personally think it is a terrible idea, but I feel like Farage does not hate being an MP as much as people say he does.
Sure, there's aspects of the role he probably doesn't care for, but MPs give their focus in different areas anyway, and it's a question of whether you can retain enough support locally if you ignore or minimise certain parts of the role and still get reelected.
I don't get the sense he's a structural radical, despite some of the wilder rhetoric from the more excitable Reform people - the fact he's turning the party in the Tories Mark II would make me think he likes the general set up including that he would need to be an MP to direct things.
It's like some sort of huge magnification of one part of the national character, or alternatively the universe itself acting in concert, in some moment of comic genius.
Labout will have a clear lead by September. But that won't be the end of the story...
Piers Morgan
@piersmorgan
·
5h
Six more weeks of campaigning to beat a bin, and get the seat back that he just voluntarily quit. This is tragic. 🤣🤣
https://x.com/piersmorgan/status/2074894144149876975
Farage looks unwell in this video.
@BethRigby
·
41m
NEW: The PM is planning to announce a bank holiday if England win the World Cup. Final is the day before handover of power day on July 24 PM expected to confirm bank holiday if England reach the final, with the likely date set to be July 24. Dare to dream!
Eh? The game is on 19th
Count Binface: " Well the Commons rules are very clear about what you can do with donations , but that seems to have got all murky so why can't I see how the line can get tested ? "
https://x.com/JibbaJabb/status/2074917901078053338
https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2025/11/where-are-they-now-malcolm-gluck-apostle-of-plonk/
https://x.com/supertanskiii/status/2074837061077532732
Meanwhile, on GB News, they're saying that if Count Binface wins, it's somehow a win for Nigel Farage, and they're calling it "incredibly clever."
https://x.com/I_amMukhtar/status/2074937071140049144
The Count might not be the funniest thing in the world, but his opponents here...
But he doesn't have the skills to dissemble being delighted by a deathmatch with a dustbin.
And getting cross with the situation he has placed himself in is genuinely funny.
Here's the Spectator getting in on the act.
It looks like it will be Nige vs Count Binface, to the childish glee of every Radio 4 comedian and Remoaner on the internet.
Well, I'm not laughing. I think the parties are behaving abominably. Their choreographed retreat smacks of moral cowardice. ..
https://x.com/spectator/status/2074878709241126945
And so that proves the establishment stitch up Britain and stop ordinary hard working MPs from taking pots of five million quid from crypto kings.
Or something...
The f*cker demands to be ridiculed for that.
We all know Nigel would have won it anyway, so sure, they are 'running away' from that, but it's not as though they can deny it was a stunt - it is one by definition, a dramatic event design to draw attention (though not necessarily in the way they wanted) - and if Labour or the Tories had engaged in a stunt Reform would not be obliged to participate in the way their opponents wanted. So it is being fair minded to not play Reform's game.
So accusations of cowardice and anti-democratic behaviour look a little artificial and exaggerated. If the parties are trying to make it a joke, then play it serious, not not bitter - this is a serious matter and campaign, and the people of Clacton are not to be taken for fools, it is regretful the other parties do not care to stand.
Instead they are moaning that the media is making fun of them, and moaning is never a good look (think of Corbyn's 'can we have a question about the NHS please?').
"How dare the media find amusement in a bin man candidate?" seems to be the approach, and find it lame or not, complaining about what other people are amused by is even lamer (that's why mocking those who enjoy Adam Sandler movies does not lead them to change their attitudes).