THE BBC AND UKIP

Damian Thompson                       

THE BBC AND UKIP

A triumphant Nigel Farage

Auntie doesn’t have Ukip’s number

How I wish I could have seen the faces of BBC executives and reporters as the good news poured in for Ukip. Until recently, the Beeb portrayed its members as the Hemel Hempstead equivalent of the Romanian Iron Guard – fascists in cardigans. Now they’re going to have to talk to these dreadful little people. I’m told there was panic at Broadcasting House yesterday as staff ran from department to department asking if anyone had a contact number for Ukip. “Try one of the drivers,” suggested a bright spark. Bingo! “The chap had it on his iPhone,” says my source. “Though of course I made sure to say I was asking for a friend.”