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UK & Makerfield Election: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO) — Transcript

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0:04Before we get to our main story tonight,
0:06I want to talk to you about an area in
0:08the UK called Makerfield. It's between
0:10Manchester and Liverpool, and it
0:11contains, among other things, parts of
0:13Wigan, the town where charmingly Wallace
0:15and Gromit live, and which was slightly
0:17less charmingly once portrayed by George
0:19Orwell as a sinkhole of misery.
0:22Two fun facts that I frankly can't
0:23believe Aardman Animators haven't
0:25already combined into a single movie.
0:28And to be fair, George Orwell's not the
0:29only one with a low opinion of Wigan.
0:31Just watch as this guy pays the town a
0:33visit and interviews some local kids.
0:36>> What's the best thing about Wigan?
0:38>> It's
0:39>> I've only got fingers, Galloways pies.
0:41>> But why does everyone say Galloways
0:42pies?
0:42>> They're better.
0:43>> Bolton or Wigan?
0:44>> Bolton.
0:45>> Really?
0:45>> Yeah, I'd choose Bolton over Wigan. It's
0:47just a Well, they're both
0:48shitholes at the end of the day.
0:50>> Fantastic. I think my favorite part of
0:52that is "Why does everyone say Galloways
0:54pies?" being answered with "Because it's
0:56better." Better than what, exactly?
0:59Although, to be fair, based on those
1:00kids' attitude, I'm guessing the answer
1:01was "Better than any other parts of my
1:02day in this godforsaken town."
1:05And look, as nice as Galloways pies
1:07sounds, I should tell you one of Wigan's
1:09signature local dishes is actually
1:11something called a babby's yed, a suet
1:13pudding that can be served floatin or a
1:15floatin in gravy or pay wet, served
1:18with, and I quote, "the sort of
1:19discharge that comes off of mushy peas."
1:22Which sounds less like a recipe and more
1:24like an episode of Chopped where the
1:26only ingredient were items found in the
1:27dumpster.
1:29Just listen to this man explain the dish
1:31even further.
1:32>> When you tip it out, it's supposed to
1:34look like a baby's head.
1:40The [laughter] hat is obviously this.
1:41So, when they ask for the the babby's
1:43yed with hat on,
1:45or baby's head with the hat on,
1:47it's to keep it warm. I don't like all
1:49the gravy and the peas and everything up
1:50and curry or whatever mushed in. I like
1:52the chips to be dry with and I'll squash
1:56it down like
1:57>> [cheering]
1:58>> And I'll mix it in with the chips.
2:01>> Okay. Just for the record, I also find
2:04that disgusting.
2:06In fact, I genuinely might prefer
2:08watching that man eat an actual baby's
2:10head.
2:11Now, the reason I'm talking about this
2:13relatively small area in northern
2:14England is for complicated reasons. Next
2:16week, it may end up deciding the next
2:19Prime Minister of the UK and changing
2:21the course of British history. And if
2:23you're thinking, wait, hold on. Didn't
2:24Britain just elect a new Prime Minister?
2:27Yeah, it did. Just 2 years ago, Keir
2:29Starmer and the Labour Party swept into
2:31power, breaking the Conservative Party's
2:33stronghold on government that had lasted
2:34for 14 years. And Starmer's Starmer's
2:36slogan back then really was change,
2:39which does make sense as he looks like a
2:41man who saw Obama's hope and change
2:42campaign and said, "Hope? Yeah, come on.
2:45Let's
2:46Let's not go crazy. Let's just go with
2:47change and put it in the smallest font
2:49imaginable."
2:51Back then, Starmer was riding high, but
2:54things have not gone well.
2:56>> He's been in office less than 2 years,
2:58but failed to kickstart Britain's
3:00sluggish economy. He also made the
3:02disastrous decision to appoint Peter
3:05Mandelson as the UK's ambassador to
3:07Washington. Mandelson was known to be a
3:09long-time friend of Jeffrey Epstein. The
3:12scandal has badly weakened Starmer,
3:15who's faced ridicule from President
3:16Trump.
3:17>> This is
3:18not Winston Churchill that we're dealing
3:21with.
3:21>> Yeah,
3:22he's not Winston Churchill. That is a
3:25pretty savage burn coming from a man who
3:27himself is very much not FDR.
3:30Apart from, of course, his pension for
3:32hiding his medical conditions. The point
3:35is, voters in Britain have turned on
3:37Starmer hard, which came to a head last
3:39month during local elections around the
3:41country when Labour got absolutely
3:43clobbered, losing more than 1,400
3:46representatives from English councils.
3:48And it's not just that people feel
3:49Starmer hasn't delivered change. They
3:52seem to personally loathe him.
3:54>> What are your thoughts on Keir Starmer?
3:58>> Can I swear?
3:59>> You can be as honest as you like.
4:00>> He's prick.
4:02>> I mean
4:03that is perfect. The only way that could
4:05have been better is if she then said,
4:06"Actually, can I take a minute to think
4:08of a meaner one? I want to really hurt
4:09his feelings." Or hold on, "Can I say
4:11on the news? I'm pretty sure I can,
4:13right?"
4:14But incredibly, Starmer has been digging
4:16in. In fact, just listen to him last
4:18month, right after his party got
4:20shellacked in those elections.
4:22>> Did you contemplate this morning that
4:25the responsibility is that it's time for
4:27you to go and to resign?
4:30>> Let me be clear, these are really tough
4:31results. I'm not going to sugarcoat it.
4:34>> Did you contemplate that the problem
4:35might be you, that you might need to go
4:37to help Labour win these seats back? Did
4:40you even contemplate it? Did you
4:41acknowledge it as a conversation even?
4:44>> Look, I think it's absolutely clear
4:47that the electorate are fed up with the
4:50fact that their lives aren't changing
4:52quickly enough.
4:54>> Wow, it is brutal how that reporter just
4:57kept rephrasing that same question. Did
4:59you contemplate it was your fault? Did
5:01you even acknowledge it? Did you write a
5:03list of possible problems on a
5:04whiteboard and include as one of them
5:06yourself? Have Have you ever looked into
5:08the mirror and questioned whether you,
5:09Keir Starmer, are the root cause of all
5:11the problems in the country right now?
5:13And if not, WHY NOT?
5:16SUFFICE to say, Starmer and the Labour
5:17Party are in big trouble. But they still
5:21have a chance to change course here,
5:22because remember, the UK system is
5:24different from the US's. Over there, the
5:26ruling party can actually swap out its
5:28leader without having to call a general
5:30election. That is why, while Americans
5:32are typically stuck with our choice for
5:344 years, barring a truly hilarious
5:36manhole accident,
5:39in the UK, prime ministers have a more
5:41transient quality. It's one of the
5:42reasons why there's been four of them in
5:44the past 4 years, including one who
5:47famously didn't even outlast a head of
5:49lettuce.
5:51And many in Labour think their best
5:53option is to replace Starmer with this
5:55man, Andy Burnham, the popular mayor of
5:57Greater Manchester. The thing is, to be
6:00Prime Minister, you have to be a sitting
6:02member of Parliament, but Burnham isn't.
6:05All of which brings us back to
6:07Makerfield, because to make a path for
6:09Burnham, the Labour MP for Makerfield
6:11recently resigned specifically to allow
6:13Burnham to run in a by-election there,
6:15the British equivalent of a special
6:17election this coming Thursday. And if
6:19Burnham wins, he's already confirmed
6:22he'll challenge Starmer to become Prime
6:24Minister. But if he loses, the Labour
6:25Party is pretty much And as
6:28you're about to see, some of the parties
6:30waiting to stake over are just
6:32incredibly grim. The point here is,
6:34roughly 76,000 registered voters in
6:37Makerfield. That is less than the
6:38capacity of giant stadium, and about 1/6
6:41of 1% of Britain's voting population,
6:44currently hold the future of the country
6:46in their hands. So, given all of that,
6:48tonight let's talk about the Makerfield
6:50by-election, how Labour got to this
6:52point, which parties are nipping at
6:54their heels, and who some of the
6:56candidates in it are, because the whole
6:57thing is just bonkers. And let's
7:01start with how Starmer support collapsed
7:03so quickly. To be fair, some of that was
7:06outside his control. The UK's economy
7:07has been struggling for the past two
7:08decades for all sorts of reasons, from
7:10Brexit to the pandemic to Russia's
7:12invasion of Ukraine. People are really
7:14struggling there, with one poll showing
7:16almost six in 10 Britons saying they
7:18felt the cost of living crisis would
7:20never end. That would be a huge
7:22challenge for even a savvy politician,
7:25which Starmer very much is not.
7:28His solutions like cutting fuel payments
7:30for the elderly have caused huge
7:31blowback and for minimal gain, to the
7:33point where this is how one group of
7:35analysts describe him.
7:37>> I remember I I was looking back at what
7:38he said at the time. His plan was to
7:40make good decisions.
7:42That's not a plan.
7:44And particularly if you're not good at
7:45decision-making, which turns out he also
7:47wasn't very good at. Let's talk about
7:48his judgment of people.
7:49>> Is he Is he good with people?
7:51>> Uh no.
7:52>> Does he work well with cabinet
7:53ministers?
7:54>> They regard him with near open contempt.
7:57>> Holy that is so brutally cold. I
8:01almost wish they kept GOING THERE. WHAT
8:03ABOUT ANIMALS? How is he with animals?
8:05Birds frequently try to fly into his
8:06face and dogs show him even less
8:08respect. And what of children? He held a
8:10baby at a speech once and the baby
8:11called him a risless wanker. Anything
8:14else you'd like to add at this point?
8:15Sure, automatic doors refuse to open for
8:17him and plants exposed to his picture
8:19are 70% less likely to yield flowers.
8:23And amazingly the public is even less
8:25enthusiastic about Starmer with recent
8:26focus groups descriptions of him
8:28including a jellyfish and a doormat.
8:31And one big reason for that is for a man
8:33who's already pretty much a centrist, he
8:35has relentlessly pandered to the right
8:38on everything from trans rights
8:39immigration to the pro-Palestine
8:41movement. On that last front, his
8:43government's now classified a civil
8:45disobedience group called Palestine
8:46Action as a terrorist organization
8:49banning it uh which has made belonging
8:51to it or inviting support for it a
8:53serious crime punishable by up to 14
8:55years in prison. Now in the wake of that
8:57decision, priests, teachers and
8:59pensioners are among hundreds of people
9:01who've been arrested merely for holding
9:03up signs in support of the organization
9:05resulting in these crazy images of
9:08elderly protesters getting carried away
9:10by police. Those are some bad visuals
9:13for any leader, let alone one who
9:15literally used to be a human rights
9:17lawyer.
9:19And it is frankly no wonder many
9:21progressive Labour supporters have since
9:23been drawn to the UK's Green Party
9:26including this one.
9:27>> Looking at the parties, who do you like
9:29at the moment?
9:30>> I think definitely Greens these days or
9:33independent probably.
9:35>> You say these days?
9:36>> Yeah.
9:36>> A couple of years ago would that have
9:37been the case?
9:38>> Uh no, I was a big fan of Labour.
9:41>> So, what's changed in the last few
9:42years?
9:42>> There's been a a lot of things that have
9:45been sliding to the right and betraying
9:47a lot of um like working class voters.
9:50And people of color, also refugees, and
9:54um basically minorities, even like trans
9:57healthcare and and LGBT rights and all
9:59this stuff.
10:00>> That's quite a long list.
10:01>> Yes, for sure.
10:03Yeah. It is a pretty long list, isn't
10:05it? It kind of seems like someone asked
10:07Starmer, "Who do you want to throw under
10:08the bus?" and he just said, "Yes."
10:11So,
10:12So, Starmer's clearly disappointed many
10:14on the left. And normally, the challenge
10:16to his right would have come from
10:17Labour's traditional opposition, the
10:18Conservatives, but they too saw major
10:21losses in last month's elections. And
10:22the party that's increasingly taken
10:24their place is the further right Reform
10:26UK. It won nearly 1,500 council races,
10:30which is clearly great news for its
10:31leader, Nigel Farage, biblically
10:33accurate frog prince and professional
10:36Now, we've talked about Farage
10:38before. He's the provocative bigot who
10:40spearheaded the campaign for Brexit and
10:42has on multiple occasions had milkshakes
10:44thrown at him.
10:45Here he is right after one of those
10:47incidents,
10:49looking like he's modeling a suit from
10:51Jos. A. Bank collection.
10:54>> [applause]
10:54>> Farage built the Reform Party around his
10:56usual right-wing talking points, which
10:58are heavy on the xenophobia, as you can
11:00kind of see through videos like this.
11:03>> You ask yourself why public services
11:05have diminished. You ask yourself why
11:08rents have gone through the roof. The
11:09population explosion has done that. And
11:12then you look at parts of London, for
11:13example,
11:14where the road names, the underground
11:17signs aren't just in English,
11:19they're in a foreign language as well. 1
11:21million people living in this country
11:23don't speak any English at all.
11:25>> Okay, first, and I think you probably
11:27already know this, that 1 million figure
11:29is just As of the most recent
11:32census, only around 160,000 people in
11:34England and Wales said that they
11:35couldn't speak any English. But also, a
11:37British man complaining, "Foreigners
11:40showed up and now this road sign isn't
11:41in the language I speak." is
11:44bold given, you know, history. I'm just
11:48saying.
11:49The largest lake in Africa wasn't always
11:51called Lake Victoria.
11:54That only started when some pasty white
11:56dude showed up and decided to name it
11:57after his national mommy.
12:00And as much as I'm sure everyone liked
12:02imagining her drowning in there, it is
12:03probably time to rename it. But
12:06nonetheless, bigotry and grievance have
12:08propelled the Reform Party forward
12:10despite Farage's own significant baggage
12:13from his long history of lies and sexism
12:15to more recent questions about how how a
12:175 million pound gift that he received
12:19from a crypto billionaire shortly before
12:21announcing that he'd run in the 2024
12:23general election. When asked about that,
12:25his response wasn't exactly great.
12:28>> This was given to me as an unconditional
12:31basis.
12:32Completely unconditional basis. But
12:34frankly,
12:36it was given as a reward for campaigning
12:38for Brexit for 27 years.
12:39>> And it had no it had no impact on your
12:41decision to come back into public life?
12:43>> No.
12:44>> He He who
12:45pays the piper picks the tune.
12:47>> Hang on a second. Hang on a second. I
12:48can't be bought by anybody.
12:50>> Well, Farage makes some sharp turns
12:52there going from this was an
12:54unconditional gift to I was paid as a
12:56reward for a specific action to I can't
12:59be bought by anybody. Honestly, if you
13:01let him talk for long enough there, I'm
13:02pretty sure he'd get himself to But you
13:04know what? I can be rented out on an
13:06interim basis.
13:08But despite all of that, Reform's
13:10anti-immigrant messaging has clearly
13:12found an audience. Just watch this video
13:14of a local Reform candidate from earlier
13:16this year denying charges of racism
13:19before then talking to a supporter who
13:21slightly undercuts her argument.
13:23>> I think the thing I hear more than
13:25anything else is a fascist and Nazi,
13:28which is the furthest
13:30>> [laughter]
13:31>> than what we are. We're just not that at
13:33all.
13:35>> None of us are racist.
13:37>> No, I'm not.
13:38>> But they tell you that if you say
13:39something about it.
13:41>> but I'll tell you what, to be honest,
13:42I've never been racist.
13:43>> No.
13:44>> But I'm getting that way.
13:45>> WOAH!
13:46>> [screaming]
13:47>> WOAH!
13:49I'VE NEVER BEEN RACIST, BUT I'M GETTING
13:51THAT WAY. WELL, GUESS WHAT? If you're
13:52CONSIDERING IT, YOU'RE ACTUALLY ALREADY
13:54THERE.
13:55IT'S NOT LIKE GETTING BANGS. YOU DON'T
13:58HAVE TO WAIT for the racism to grow in.
14:00You did it. The journey is the
14:01destination.
14:04Now, now Reform will claim that they've
14:06distanced themselves from rhetoric like
14:08that. Farage has boasted that they've
14:09professionalized the party, but it is
14:11worth noting that the candidates it ran
14:13last month included Brett Muscroft, who
14:16reportedly posted on Facebook, "Islam is
14:18like cancer. If you don't remove it on
14:20time, it will kill you." And Andrew
14:22Mahon, who posted, "No disrespect, but
14:24why can black people use the N-word, but
14:26white people cannot?" Demonstrating the
14:28exact level of delusion that would make
14:30someone comfortable leaving the house in
14:32this selection of outfits. And honestly,
14:35if his argument is that he can't see
14:37color,
14:38he's making a pretty good case for it.
14:40>> [cheering]
14:42>> And when one of Reform's leaders went on
14:44the news right after their election wins
14:46last month, he got this awkward question
14:49about yet another of their shitty
14:51candidates.
14:52>> One of your new Sunderland councilors,
14:54so a man who was elected to represent
14:56Reform, suggested melting Nigerians to
15:00fill potholes. Is that person, who's
15:03expressed those views, somebody you are
15:05happy to see represent Reform?
15:07>> This weekend, we are celebrating our
15:09incredible successes. Like any party,
15:11you have internal party processes to
15:13look at where people uh have said or
15:16done the wrong thing.
15:16>> condemn those remarks?
15:18>> Laura,
15:19I condemn anything that is wrong AND
15:22>> WHICH THAT IS?
15:24>> JESUS CHRIST, I DON'T KNOW WHAT IS WORSE
15:25THERE, HIS FAILURE TO directly condemn
15:27someone for suggesting melting Nigerians
15:29to fill potholes or that he seems
15:32genuinely annoyed that he's being asked
15:33about it. Because if you cannot denounce
15:35that, you should really expect to be
15:37asked about it for the rest of your
15:39life. In fact, EVEN AFTER YOUR LIFE, at
15:40your funeral, someone should politely
15:42knock on your coffin to say, "Sorry you
15:44died, but last chance, any final comment
15:46on that pothole racist?"
15:49And it actually gets worse because
15:51incredibly Reform itself is now being
15:54challenged on its right by an even newer
15:55party called Restore Britain. It enjoys
15:58the support of fascists, neo-Nazis, and
16:00other extremists with Elon Musk even
16:02tweeting, "Only Restore Britain can save
16:05Britain." And the fact that Restore is
16:08gaining support should be pretty
16:10alarming given just how poisonous its
16:12policies are. Here Here is their leader,
16:14Rupert Lowe, giving you just a taste.
16:17>> We will celebrate our Christian heritage
16:19and the identity [music] that built and
16:21shaped this country, responsibility,
16:23restraint, forgiveness, duty, [music]
16:26and fairness.
16:28In short, a high-trust society. That
16:31will mean defending our culture.
16:33That will mean [music] resisting the
16:35relentless creep of radical Islam. That
16:38will mean banning the burka, outlawing
16:41Sharia law,
16:43blocking cousin marriages, and
16:45reimposing our Christian-based rule of
16:47law. A Restore Britain government would
16:50legislate to ensure [music] that no
16:52halal or kosher slaughter on British
16:55soil. This is Britain, and we will do
16:57things our [music] way.
16:59>> Oh, spare me, Rupert. And while
17:02it is clearly not the most important
17:04thing there, for the record, the
17:05culture, heritage, and identity that
17:07shaped Britain was literally built on
17:09cousin marriages. IT'S
17:11IT'S BEEN A PRETTY CRUCIAL PART of the
17:14whole process. YOU MIGHT WANT TO BRUSH
17:16UP ON YOUR HISTORY given that your
17:17general vibe there is so cartoonishly
17:19English. You look like your first words
17:21as a baby were British East India
17:23Company.
17:25The point is, with Reform on the rise
17:28and Restore pulling it even further to
17:30the right, Britain risks heading in a
17:32very dark direction and at least in the
17:34immediate future, the only party
17:36positioned to stop that slide is the one
17:38currently in power, Labour. Which brings
17:40us back to Andy Burnham. He's actually
17:42been a contender to lead the Labour
17:43Party for years now. He used to be an MP
17:46and even served as Health Secretary for
17:48a year. But after two failed attempts to
17:50become leader, he became mayor of
17:52Greater Manchester, where he made
17:53national news standing up to Boris
17:54Johnson's government over its failure to
17:56provide enough assistance during the
17:57COVID lockdowns.
17:59>> It is wrong to place some of the poorest
18:01parts of England
18:03in a punishing lockdown without proper
18:05support for the people and businesses
18:08affected. This is an important moment.
18:12Greater Manchester will stand firm. We
18:16are fighting back for fairness and for
18:19the health of our people in the broadest
18:21sense.
18:22>> Yeah, it's moments like that that helped
18:24Burnham become known as the King of the
18:26North. In fact, he's currently ranked as
18:28Britain's most popular politician with
18:30an average popularity rating of 35%,
18:33which I know doesn't sound like much.
18:36>> [laughter]
18:37>> But you do have to remember the British
18:38mind can only hold 35% happiness at a
18:41maximum.
18:42Winning the World Cup can push us up to
18:4440%, but that has only happened once
18:47unless, I guess, they win again this
18:49summer. So we'll just have to wait and
18:50see exactly how they don't. And And on
18:53its face,
18:55Burnham winning in Wakefield really
18:57shouldn't be difficult given it's been a
18:59safe Labour seat for more than 120
19:01years. But the truth is, voters there
19:03have become less predictable in recent
19:05years. During Brexit, nearly 2/3 voted
19:07to leave the EU. And in last month's
19:09local elections, Reform won every ward
19:11there. What is more, Burnham doesn't
19:14technically live in the constituency.
19:16And while some residents may find his
19:18ambitions for higher office appealing,
19:20others are understandably a bit
19:22resentful at having him sworn in and use
19:24them as a springboard to get there.
19:26>> You're going to be voting for someone
19:27who's not going to be here, who's got
19:29bigger issues than Ashley Mayfield,
19:32really. So, it won't be his priority.
19:34>> We're not here to enable him to pursue
19:36his personal ambitions.
19:37>> I'm sure Andy Burnham is only using
19:40those as a stepping stone, anyway. He
19:43don't care about Mayfield. He's not
19:45local.
19:47And he just wants to get into number 10.
19:52>> My mom is right. I don't I don't love
19:54that she's going around giving
19:55interviews about Andy Burnham with my
19:56dad, but that's a conversation that we
19:58can have at Christmas. Now, to counter
20:00that outside of narrative, Burnham's
20:02tried to point out his local bonafides,
20:04like the fact that his children went to
20:05school in the area and that he has loads
20:07of connections there. He even recently
20:08claimed that his favorite Wigan delicacy
20:10is, you've guessed it, Bab's yed. But
20:13But Reform seems to think that it can
20:15exploit the perception that he's an
20:17ambitious outsider because their
20:18candidate, Robert Kenyon, has gone out
20:20of his way to remind people that he is
20:22very much a local.
20:24>> I was born in Mayfield. [music]
20:26If I was elected, I'd be the first
20:27person born in the constituency to
20:29become the MP. I don't think any MP
20:31that's ever stood in Mayfield was
20:33actually born in the area. I'm a
20:35plumber, gas engineer. [music]
20:36I don't know, it gets me a bit emotional
20:37sometimes thinking there's a chance that
20:39I could be representing people [music]
20:40in Parliament because it's a massive
20:42honor and people will be thinking, "Hang
20:44on a minute, he serviced my boiler last
20:46week."
20:47>> Yeah,
20:47it's pretty striking, isn't it, when
20:49your opponent is being accused of being
20:50out of touch with the community? It's a
20:52pretty good counter to be able to say,
20:54"I have literally been elbow-deep in
20:55this entire community shit."
20:58But the point is, Kenyon is a
21:00salt-of-the-earth guy, a straight
21:01shooter, a regular Joe, it's not a
21:03career politician. And if you have the
21:05pattern recognition of a pigeon, you can
21:07probably tell what I'm about to say
21:08next, which is that his online history
21:10is a mess.
21:13A lot of his posts have resurfaced,
21:15including one that says, "I'm sexist,
21:17sorry, but I am." And another saying,
21:19"English women just walk around with
21:20their fat bellies and odd shapes pushing
21:22a pram at 16 in their PJs." One post
21:25actually caused that same reporting you
21:26saw earlier to physically chase him down
21:29the streets to answer for it.
21:31>> Why should women in Makerfield vote for
21:33you, Rob, if you speak to the press
21:34often? Why did women Why should women in
21:37Makerfield vote for you, Rob, when you
21:38said you were a sexist?
21:39>> Can you not
21:40>> No, no, but why should women vote for
21:42you?
21:42>> No, sorry. Thank you.
21:43>> When you said that you were a sexist and
21:45that they can't drive?
21:47>> It's true.
21:48Kenyon once said that women can't drive,
21:50so it might be more accurate to say that
21:52people in Makerfield will be thinking,
21:54"Hang on a minute, that guy did fix my
21:55boiler last week, but he then randomly
21:57told my wife that her natural place is
21:59in the kitchen." But amazingly, it gets
22:01even worse, because Kenyon also made a
22:03controversial post about a beloved
22:04figure in British broadcasting named
22:06Carol Vorderman. Very basically, for
22:08decades, she was the co-host of a
22:09popular afternoon game show called
22:11Countdown, and she became a national
22:13treasure. And knowing that, you can
22:15hopefully now understand the visual
22:17impact of what I'm about to show you.
22:20>> So, on Christmas Eve, um we spotted a
22:22message somebody sent to Carol Vorderman
22:25on their website.
22:27Uh
22:28which said, "Happy birthday, Carol. My
22:30god, I would love to smell and lick your
22:32asshole." Now, did you respond to that?
22:34>> Uh I responded to it a separate tweet.
22:37>> You responded to a separate tweet. So,
22:38go on, clarify.
22:39>> So, somebody had had written that. Um
22:42somebody else had commented on that, and
22:44then I responded to the comment on that.
22:48>> So, which one of them were you
22:49responding to? Were you responding to
22:50the one about the
22:52>> I mean, if you're even being asked that
22:55question, you are in serious trouble.
22:57And while he's trying to make it
22:59confusing there, it's actually pretty
23:00simple. Basically, someone on Twitter
23:01posted on Carol Vorderman's birthday,
23:03"Happy birthday, Carol. My god, I'd love
23:05to smell and lick your asshole." Someone
23:07else replied criticizing it saying, "If
23:09you're prepared to post this on a public
23:10forum, I would suggest your computer's
23:12drive probably needs checking." Only for
23:14Kenyon to respond, "He's only saying
23:16what we're all thinking." Cry laughing
23:18emoji, thumbs up emoji. So, KENYON'S
23:20DEFENSE OF THAT POST was essentially,
23:22"Hey, I'm not the one who brought it
23:24up."
23:25But, that's not remotely exculpatory, is
23:27it? It's like IF SOMEONE TWEETED, "HEY,
23:30BRONX ZOO, you should let visitors jerk
23:32off the lemurs."
23:33AND I REPLIED WITH, "FACTS." THUMBS UP
23:35EMOJI. SURE, I might not technically
23:38have brought it up first, but I did not
23:40cover myself in glory there.
23:43And to be clear, Kenyon still hasn't
23:44apologized for those comments,
23:46continuing to defend himself claiming
23:47that he's just an ordinary person who's
23:49rough around the edges. Though, for the
23:51record, rough around the edges means
23:53that you don't know what a crab fork is,
23:56not that you think it's okay to
23:57participate in internet discourse about
23:59a public woman's birthday
24:01The point is, this is the candidate with
24:05vehemently sexist and rim job positive
24:07views
24:08who could theoretically take down
24:10Labour's best hope of retaining control
24:12of the government past the next
24:13election. And it is really hard not to
24:16feel for the voters of Makerfield here,
24:19who've been at the center of an absolute
24:21circus over the last month. And who have
24:23plenty of local issues that do need
24:26addressing from affordable housing to
24:28flooding concerns to this massive
24:30illegal waste dump that Makerfield's
24:31previous MP, the very guy in fact who
24:34stepped down to let Burnham run, had
24:36actually been working to finally get
24:38cleaned up.
24:39>> It's a grotesque dump that Sky News has
24:42investigated over the past year.
24:45It was March, almost 3 months ago when
24:48it was announced that the funding was in
24:49place to clear this up. But, it's still
24:52hasn't happened.
24:53>> Which of the candidates in this
24:54by-election do you think would follow
24:56through on that and make sure it is
24:58cleaned up?
24:58>> I would say that the candidates are just
25:01front men, really. It's not just about
25:03us anymore, it's about
25:05I think the future of
25:07politics in the country. It feels a bit
25:09more, you know,
25:11a bit overwhelming, really, that we
25:12could be pivotal in this, and I just
25:15really hope that
25:17people make the right choice.
25:19>> Yeah, so do I. And if there are two
25:22things that you don't want someone to be
25:24overwhelmed by at the same time, it's
25:26responsibility for deciding England's
25:28political future and odors from a
25:30massive illegal waste dump.
25:32So, what happens next here? Well,
25:34someone is clearly going to win this
25:36Thursday's election. And while current
25:37polls suggest Labour has a lead, that
25:40may be partly because Reform, the ultra
25:42far-right party that remember is going
25:43to save Britain from kosher butchery, is
25:46siphoning off votes from Reform. And
25:48even if Burnham does win and is then
25:51able to unseat Starmer, he'll still face
25:54the same dismal economy and the same
25:55furious voters with only 3 years to
25:58figure out how to deliver the change
26:00that Starmer couldn't before facing
26:01elections in 2029. But if Burnham loses,
26:05it is going to be a mess. I
26:08mean, a Babi's head spread on a pile of
26:10chips mess. And I don't say that
26:12lightly.
26:14A Burnham loss would be a huge success
26:16for Farage's Reform Party and a
26:18humiliation for Labour so devastating
26:20devastating they may never recover. And
26:23at that point, with Britain's two
26:24long-dominant parties further crushed,
26:26there was a genuine chance that in a few
26:28years we could see Money Shot McFlurry
26:31here elected as Prime Minister.
26:33Look, when we last covered an election
26:35in the UK, we talked about how it could
26:37be an extinction-level event for the
26:39Conservative Party. And it kind of was.
26:43But it is frankly incredible that just 2
26:45years later, Labour has up so
26:47badly and has thrown his own voters
26:49under to bus so consistently, they now
26:52face the same threat. Because, and I'm
26:54sure this is a lesson with no
26:56applicability to US politics.
26:59You can't promise change, only to turn
27:02around and capitulate to the right on
27:04key principles that you are supposed to
27:06stand for. Because not only will you
27:08lose people to your left, the right will
27:10just keep moving the goalposts again and
27:13again, and you'll only have yourself to
27:15blame.
27:17AND IF LABOUR loses this by-election,
27:20and what ultimately comes out of it is
27:22Prime Minister Farage, that is going to
27:24be hard to swallow.
27:26In fact, I'd go so far as to say that it
27:28will be the hardest thing to swallow to
27:30come out of the Makerfield area,
27:32aside from, of course,
27:35the babies. YEAH.
27:38WE ALL KNEW THAT IT WAS GOING TO end
27:40like this.
27:43That is our show. Thank you so much for
27:45watching. We'll see you next week.
27:47Good night.
28:00>> [music]
28:04>> There's no place like home.

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