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As with so many of Britain's modern woes, there in the rubble of the issue like some kind of superhero in reverse stands thumb-faced everygit and default liberal blame doll, Nigel Farage. The UKIP leader's bar stance has evolved into a kind of meme that is slaying the very things it is intended to evoke. It is a peculiar subset of society that might gaze upon such images and think, 'I'll have what he's having.'N. Farage still morphing into work of F. Bacon. pic.twitter.com/JWUIlUWVk8
- Michael Holden (@thewrongwriter) October 20, 2014
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Farage's look while drinking has evolved into a kind of wild political sex-face. A troubling montage of features, part war cry, part dim glee but absolutely a vision of conventional biology fading, a sense of something primal that might at any moment shrug off human form. In these moments he seems to slither right across the Venn diagram from corny to chthonic, somewhere between roast beef Rotarian and one of Francis Bacon's screaming Popes. An image so stirring, singular and ubiquitous you might find yourself looking at your own drink, whatever its dimensions or alcohol content, and wondering whether it's really a good idea.But there are darker things even beyond the Pontiff of Pilsner, the abyss-jawed bishop of Bombardier; Nigel, his glass and all the other things he clings to smiling are but fresh convulsions of a thing already rabbit punched and gutted by bigger boys and girls. Farage is just the latest face in a parade of "trust me, trust my pint" pirates, but he remains the junior barman. Our real landlords have told the greatest lie and still have real power.When George Osborne began appearing in pub photos following the ending of the Beer Duty Escalator in 2013, the resultant images were meant to signify a good bloke doing a good thing. It is a stunning piece of subterfuge that one of the architects of an administration whose ideological hostility to the idea of social living can be read almost entirely through the decline of British drinking culture can walk into a pub, pull a pint badly, smile and say not just "It wasn't me," but "See how I have helped you."The definitive link spotted by @wb_gooderham pic.twitter.com/HcvVcd4iYp
- Michael Holden (@thewrongwriter) October 23, 2014
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