Jack Anderton arrived in Edinburgh to continue his content-farming crusade, only to find himself as the crop. No stranger to controversy, from race-baiting rhetoric to talk of the death penalty, Nigel Farage’s golden boy has been touring universities amid a storm of outrage: hundreds marching against him in York, a free-speech row in Bangor, venues pulled, with heavy security and police now standard at his appearances.
The polished 25-year-old has been credited as the engineer behind Reform’s virality on social media, particularly TikTok, and on Friday evening Anderton pitched up in Edinburgh as part of his Charlie Kirk inspired “New Dawn” tour.
Outside the venue, a braying mob of liberal leftists screeched at anyone attempting to enter. Anderton was branded a “racist” and a “fascist”, ergo anyone going in must be the same. Having navigated the angry mob, Discontent’s very own Bonnie Prince Bob waited patiently for the talk to begin, unaware of the speaker’s background or controversy, having attended impulsively via an Instagram promotion.
“I didn’t know anything about the guy. I saw an ad the night before and clicked it because it was free. I only turned up because they sent an email about changing the venue due to a security risk, so I thought, what is this all about? I’ll go and see.
Bad luck for Jack. With the capital’s OG political antagonist in the room, there was no chance things would be going to plan.
When the “New Dawn” diatribe ended and the floor opened for questions, the Bonnie Prince hit record and ensured Reform’s “digital content guru” was duly converted into Discontent.
Challenged on housing, Anderton protested that Bob was “misquoting” him, insisting he’d only said immigration had “contributed” to rising rents. The reality was even more damning: in the very same talk, Anderton had claimed rents had risen “purely” because of immigration.
“As it happened, I found his arguments race-baiting and reductive: wild generalisations, ludicrous claims of colonisation by immigrants, and tailored, opaque data. His wingman Harrison was even less informed and slavered a load of spurious shite about Tower Hamlets that has now been ruthlessly debunked online.”
The eviscerating exchange has already gone viral, ironically on Reform’s platform of choice, TikTok, racking up over 100,000 views in under 48 hours. Jack Anderton may approve of capital punishment, less so of being punished in the capital.
