Arron Banks Double Own Goal

Arron Banks, the alleged “man who bankrolled Brexit”, self-appointed diamond geezer, serial disrespecter of Parliament and unprincipled spiv of uncertain means, spends a disproportionate amount of time hurling abuse at those who pass adverse comment on him, and especially the Observer’s Carole Cadwalladr.

This is because Banksy knows his stuff, well, he claims he does. Not only does he possess spirit, bravado and a touch of derring-do, he ranks as high as any in Rome. And his ability to open mouth and insert boot is only matched by his ability to open mouth and insert boot - only to excuse himself by doing it all over again.

To show just what a complete clown Banksy is, we need look no further than a Twitter exchange which progressed not necessarily to his advantage. Also, what happened was entirely self-inflicted. The story unfolded after Labour MP Chuka Umunna Tweeted “Britain was the only G-7 country to see growth slow in 2017. We are feeling the effects of Brexit and we haven't even left yet. That's why we need a People's Vote on the Brexit Deal”.

Banksy wasn’t having any of that. So, with the mental agility of Gerald Ford talking about Russian influence, in he went. “Canada, the USA & Japan aren’t in the G7, dopey”.  Er, along with Germany, Italy and France, yes they are. Perhaps he’s confusing this with the G8, which is no more after his beloved Russia got booted out.

The Tweeter otherwise known as JustaMum was on hand to award Banksy his jacksy on the customary plate. “Ladies and Gentlemen, may I present the ‘Brexiteers' … According to the monumentally stupid @Arron_banks - ‘Canada , the USA & Japan aren’t in the G7’ . I think you might find they are”. Perhaps he’s looking to beat Robert Mueller’s polygraph when the FBI comes for him. But that was not the end of it.

Banks was not downhearted, far from it. He didn’t really mean the G7! “Lol EU” he spluttered. Well, yes, but … Scott Lawson had a hint of how Banksy had just made matters a whole lot worse for himself. “France, Germany and Italy are both in the EU and G7 though”. And they are still outperforming the UK. And it gets worse.

As the Guardian reported in June last year, “The UK economy was the worst performer in the European Union in the opening months of 2017 as the Brexit vote took its toll, according to official statistics that underscore the challenge facing the next British government … With economic growth of just 0.2% in the first three months of this year, the UK was well behind its European neighbours”.

So not only was the UK bottom of the G7 class, it was bottom of the EU one too. Whichever way you slice it, we did worse than the competition last year. And Arron Banks only made things worse by saying “don’t look at us being bottom of a class of seven, look at us being bottom of a class of 28 instead”. Worst. Including Greece.

Arron Banks. When you want to see someone excuse his stupidity by displaying even greater stupidity. What was that about business acumen? I’ll just leave that one there.