Last Thursday, it was claimed that Don Naughton, who is 82 years old and served his country for more than 20 years as a member of the armed forces, was pelted with milkshake while volunteering as a teller for the Brexit Party during polling for the European Parliament elections. Photos were circulated; the pro-Brexit media was in uproar.
That's a milkshake stain? Ri-i-i-i-ght ...
The Leave EU Twitter feed was in no doubt as to Who Done It. “This man in Aldershot served his country in the Armed Forces for 22 years. Today he went out to exercise his democratic rights on an election day and this is what disgusting Remainer scumbags did to him. Don't let them win - get out today and #VoteBrexit!” How convenient.
Former Screws and Daily Mirror editor Piers Morgan, who has a history of being a sucker for photos he hasn’t yet verified, was apoplectic. “This elderly gentleman served in the British armed forces for 22 years. Today he was manning a Brexit Party polling station when he was attacked & had milkshake thrown all over him. All because he wants the result of a democratic referendum to be honoured. Disgusting”.
What’s “Disgusting” is that a former national newspaper editor and current TV host is so ignorant that he thinks there are such things as “Brexit Party polling stations”. Yet more disgusting is that Morgan didn’t look twice before losing his rag. And there was more.
“Because Don served in the Parachute Regiment.. so some spotty young Remoaner twerp chucking a milkshake over him is probably not the most dangerous enemy he’s ever been confronted by”. Morgan does not know the age of the alleged assailant, nor his stance on Brexit, nor his dermatology. That’s not really the point. The point is pointless ranting.
... OK, so let's compare with known milkshake hits. Stephen Lennon ...
Hampshire Constabulary has investigated. Dire penalties have been urged against the assailant. It happened in broad daylight in a built-up area right outside a polling station. Yet no-one has managed a positive ID of the milkshake chucker.
... Carl Benjamin ...
It got worse: look at the recent milkshake hits on Stephen Yaxley Lennon, who styles himself Tommy Robinson, Carl Benjamin, who styles himself Sargon of Akkad, and Nigel “Thirsty” Farage. The milkshake spatters. It drips. It’s not thick enough to form a residue of the kind seen on the Brexit Party volunteer’s tie. So another excuse was needed.
... Nigel "Thirsty" Farage. See the difference?
And that is to suggest that it may have been yogurt. Well, colour me sceptical, because I am sceptical, but how exactly does one chuck a yogurt over someone? It’s too thick. You’d need to be close up, as in very close up. The more answers, the more righteous indignation that the Brexit Party and its supporters produce, the more questions occur.
That’s not to say an incident did not happen. But as the substance on Don Naughton’s clothes appears not to be milkshake, one has to wonder what else we are not being told. Farage’s party could not have had a better incentive to get the vote out.
So what happened? We’ll find out, but by then it will be too late. How very convenient.
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11 comments:
A bloke in a newsagent shop said on Twitter that he has cctv and when he rolled it back no one threw it over the man. There was no one there.
Worth pointing out that this former Para who served his country for 22 years just happens to be one Sergeant McNaughtonm tried for the attempted murder of an unarmed civilian in Armagh in 1974
Careful, the newsagent thing was fake too.
?
@harveyschmacker on Twitter did a full analysis of the offending "weaponised" dairy based treat. If you zoom into the photo you can clearly see great big lumps of cherry. It waa a cherry yogurt. The other photo clearly shows him eating the other part of his packed lunch - a sandwich.
@harveyschmacker has had to protect his tweets because of abuse and trolling since.
But the image is here - https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/05/24/09/13901538-0-image-a-42_1558688294161.jpg
Wearing Political Identification outside a polling station is NOT allowed - One can wear 'colours' but not a rosette identifying a particular Party or organisation on the Ballot Paper.
"The only people permitted to wear a rosette are the candidates and their polling agents. The rosette must be plain and not refer to the candidate or bear a slogan. Size used to be an issue. While the Electoral Commission doesn't specify dimensions at this election, guidance in 2008 set out a maximum width of "three to four inches".
@Osscat 01:26
Handbook for polling station staff Supporting a European Parliamentary election in Great Britain
Tellers may:
• approach voters for information as they
enter or leave the polling station
• display a coloured rosette or badge
displaying the name of the candidate or
political party; the rosette/badge should not
bear a slogan and must not be oversize
Handbook for polling station staff
Order code: EPE19G001E
© The Electoral Commission 2019
Osscat
Utter bullshit
See: https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/164255/EPE-Polling-station-handbook.pdf
Appendix 8
Guidance on tellers, the media and exit polls
Hanraha'hanrahan:
Appendix 8: Tellers may: display a coloured rosette or badge displaying the name of the candidate or political party; the rosette/badge should not bear a slogan and must not be oversized.
That is basically what I said :) - The text in quotes on my post is from the BBC website.
I have run many elections and first thing on polling day is to visit all polling stations to check if tellers are complying.
One year I found a table set up inside the polling station with the Liberal Democrats handing out election material and all wearing large named Party rosettes - they were removed by the police but not without some aggressive behavior from them.
Osscat
No. You wrote "Wearing Political Identification outside a polling station is NOT allowed - One can wear 'colours' but not a rosette identifying a particular Party or organisation on the Ballot Paper."
If you've been going round polling stations ordering tellers to remove rosettes that display a political party, you should have been put right and disciplined for not carrying out your duties in accordance with the law.
@Osscat 26 May 21:10
That is not what you said in your earlier post.
From your recent post, you seem to be saying that you were a Returning Officer at elections. If it's true that you held an official capacity of overseeing conduct at polling stations, please let us know where the elections were held and on what dates.
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