Nigel Farage, You’re A Tit

Sooner or later, new political parties start to behave like all the old political parties, and Nigel “Thirsty” Farage and his fellow saloon bar propper-uppers at UKIP are no exception, as the fallout from Nige’s latest foot-in-mouth escapade has proved. No longer is the chief Kipper just “telling it like it is”, he’s having the aftermath spun rotten. It is not serving him particularly well.

Squeaky spinning finger up the bum time

Mr Thirsty’s gaffe came when LBC host Nick Ferrari broached the case of Louise Burns, who was breastfeeding her 12-week-old baby while taking tea in the foyer of Claridge’s Hotel. Ms Burns had been approached by a waiter who informed her that it was the establishment’s policy for the baby to be covered in a napkin, in order to conceal the activity from other customers.

What did Nige think about that? “Frankly, that’s up to Claridge’s. I very much take the view that if you’re running an establishment you should have rules” [says the great libertarian]. Should she have repaired to the toilet? “Or perhaps sit in the corner, or whatever it might be – that’s up to Claridge’s. It’s not an issue that I get terribly hung up about, but I know particularly people of the older generation feel awkward and embarrassed by it”. Foot duly deposited in open mouth.

There was instant and joyous condemnation from any other party that was asked to comment. Young Dave’s spokesman sniffed “It’s for Mr Farage to explain his views”. For Labour, Yvette Cooper suggested it should be Farage who sat in the corner. Jo Swinson for the Lib Dems was equally contemptuous of the UKIP leader.

Pretentious? Who, moi?

But whereas in the old days Nige would just have shrugged it off, and would let it be known that he was not going to give in to the PC brigade, this time there had to be spin. Now, here on Zelo Street we are not pointing the finger at anyone, but it has to be pointed out that Farage has recently hired self-promoting tosser Raheem “Call me Ray” Kassam as his spinmeister.

This did not stop the ridicule from across the political spectrum: Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett at the Guardian and Isabel Hardman at the Spectator were equally unimpressed with Mr Thirsty’s excuses, particularly the suggestion that what Ms Burns had done was somehow “ostentatious”.

And when Farage joined the tendency towards asking himself rhetorical questions and providing his own conveniently devised answers – “I remarked that perhaps they might ask women to sit in a corner. Did I say I believe they should have to? No. Did I say I personally endorse this concept? No” – he had at one bound become just another spinning, and well spun, machine politician.

Is “Ray” Kassam behind this change? If so, he deserves credit from all the other parties for making Farage look like an inferior version of them. And a complete tit.