Word Warriors.
by Lord Immaculate
The 21st century has been bereft of great statesmen, but the EU referendum has at least brought a few great speakers to the fore. On the plus side nearly all of them are batting for Leave. Sadly, on the arse side most are also Tories and I’ll have little to agree with them on when business returns to normal.
Nigel Farage and Boris Johnson we already knew about, of course. A pair of vile capitalists yet such oustanding talkers they could sell ice to the Eskimos. Farage is possibly the best debater in the country, which is why federalists attempt to shut him down with hysterical ad hominems and at times violence. Daniel Hannan has been a revelation, but again he is one who will be returning to the enemy trenches when this particular battle is over. The left is not so blessed with character and oratory recently. Nobody has stepped into the void where the giant figures of Tony Benn and Bob Crow once dazzled. Even if Jeremy Corbyn had stuck to his anti-EU principles instead of turning coat in fear of his New Labour colleagues he would make a pitiful replacement for the articulate and likeable Benn. As for the rest let’s hope the Beast of Bolsover is saving his quotes for the optimum moment because he has been all too quiet so far.
As well as reminding us that there are still a handful of entertainers in politics the debate has bestowed a fantastic crop of satire in the form of internet memes, and has even coaxed a splurge of top gags from the tired old Private Eye.
I’m going to do my bit to share some of the finest and most pertinent doodles and wisecracks, or in the absence of a readership preserve them for posterity on these tumbleweed-friendly pages. Not least my own modest efforts, which unsurprisingly are failing to draw the widespread acclaim they merit. There’s just no respect for yer good lord these days.
