Just when I thought that I could take it easy for the weekend, up pops what has all the makings of a political scandal that could keep those of us who have a fridge full of beer and pizza entertained for weeks. Let's hear it for Andrew Parker, the man who Channel 4 "secretly" recorded mouthing off in best Essex man style as he supposedly campaigned in Clacton for Nigel Farage.
The short story is that the channel ran a "secret" recording of Parker and used it to vilify Reform as a party of wicked waycists. The problem is that Andrew Parker is a character actor who specialises in rough, diamond geezer accents, so why did he use that accent on the video? It is not his natural speaking voice, which you can hear if you go to this link. You can also hear his diamond geezer accent as well.
Now, I am prepared to accept that Andrew Parker is a Reform supporter, even though nobody in the party had ever heard of him until he turned up to volunteer in Clacton. What I cannot understand is why he turned up in character, complete with the accent? If he was a genuine volunteer, who happened to be a jobbing actor, why would he speak in character?
The suspicion must be that he was either hired to play his standard role, or that he is an activist who decided to play it to discredit Reform and Nigel Farage. Thus, Channel 4 is in the frame as either co-conspiritors in this wheeze or as gullible dupes of a scam.
That will form the basis of the coming week's campaign: the way in which the media establishment from a major television channel sought to undermine a political campaign, by accident or design.
In the meantime, I expect that the votes for Farage and Reform will start to rise.
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