You might think it’s a good time to be Nigel Farage. His lifelong obsession with Britain leaving the European Union is within striking distance, and his newly established Brexit Party has defied the odds by surging to first place in polls ahead of the U.K.’s European Parliament elections later this week.
However, you’d be wrong—he’s absolutely furious and covered in milk.
You see, a new kind of street protest is striking fear and fury into the hearts of right-wing politicians in Britain. On Monday, Farage became the latest victim to be “milkshaked.” The simple yet humiliating act of being drenched in sweet, thick, luminous liquid has taken the European election campaign by storm and there appears to be no way to stop it.
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The latest milkshake attack took place during a campaign stop in Newcastle in the northeast of England. Local journalist Sean Seddon reported from that scene that the Brexit leader was utterly furious about being ’shaked, barracking his private security with shouts of “It’s a failure!” and “How did that happen?” as he was frogmarched to a waiting car.
Farage later confirmed that he failed to see the funny side of the incident, tweeting shortly afterward: “Sadly some remainers have become radicalised, to the extent that normal campaigning is becoming impossible. For a civilised democracy to work you need the losers consent, politicians not accepting the referendum result have led us to this.”
Farage is a deeply divisive figure. As much as he’s loved by Brexit supporters, thanks to his carefully manicured and deeply misleading Everyman image, he’s equally loathed by people who want to remain in the European Union and those who fear that he’s just the friendly face of a troubling rise of extreme and intolerant right-wing politics in Britain.
He and others associated with the extreme fringes of the Brexit movement have found themselves to be prime targets of the milkshakers. The first incident happened when anti-Islam activist Tommy Robinson was drenched as he campaigned to become a member of the European Parliament.
Robinson responded by punching the milkshaker, who later joked to the media: “I feel a bit shaken up and shocked to be honest.”
YouTuber and candidate for the United Kingdom Independence Party Carl Benjamin has also been repeatedly targeted by the milkshakers. Benjamin has been making headlines for a series of “jokes” about whether or not he would rape a Member of Parliament.
His milkshaking in the southwest region of Cornwall was no less than the fourth time that he has been drenched with a cold lactose treat during the short campaign period.
But Farage is by far the highest-profile victim of milkshaking so far.
Police in Scotland’s capital city, Edinburgh, were so worried that he would fall foul of a milkshake last week that they specifically asked one branch of McDonald’s to stop selling them on an evening he was holding a pro-Brexit rally in a nearby conference hall. The McDonald’s outlet put a sign up saying it wouldn’t be selling milkshakes that evening.
That led Burger King’s official Twitter account to respond: “Dear people of Scotland. We’re selling milkshakes all weekend. Have fun.”
Now, with pictures of a milky Farage bound to be leading news bulletins for the rest of the day, it’s only a matter of time before another plucky protester with a good aim takes a trip to his local milkshake emporium.
