Latest news with #DerekAcorah
The Guardian
4 days ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Britain's voters can't resist a messy drama. How fortunate for Nigel Farage and Reform
It was a busy week for on-again off-again Reform chair Zia Yusuf, whose job over the past 11 months had been to reform Reform. (I know.) Zia quit on Thursday. Had his job split on Friday. Returned on Saturday. Chilled on Sunday. The job split seems to have endured though, as Yusuf will now run a UK version of Doge – as we know, the perfect role for highly emotional men – while this very morning, Nigel Farage was unveiling a new chair: Dr David Bull. David brings extensive experience with witchcraft, ghosts, spirits and beasts from his time as presenter of paranormal reality TV show Most Haunted Live, where he packaged the wailings of reekingly obvious charlatan/compelling spirit medium Derek Acorah for a studio audience. I can't imagine what this CV could do for Reform, but Nigel Farage must have seen something in it. Derek Acorah crossed permanently to the spirit world in January 2020, but it would be nice to think that shouldn't be a bar to his being selected as one of those Reform candidates credited with being able to make deep connections with a public that is desperately searching for something beyond the ordinary. It would certainly be a less mad development than some other of the party's activities this week. On Monday, Farage could be found in Wales promising to reopen Port Talbot steelworks, a plan so nutso that it could only really be believed by conspiracy theorists. Jet fuel can't melt steel beams – and Nigel Farage can re-melt steel furnaces that have cooled solid. Sure thing! Also, he might very well win the next election, so make of that what you will. From the Rupert Lowe conflagration to the Yusuf hokey cokey last weekend, it has to be said that the endless drama in Reform this year hasn't dented Farage's party's poll ratings one tiny bit. In fact, up they climb. My theory is that at some level, people actively like it. They liked Boris Johnson's fecklessness and chaos too – until, admittedly, they really didn't. Still, what a run. As discussed here previously, Britain is a majority nutter nation, and in recent history our deepest and most long-lasting political affections have been reserved for figures across the spectrum who had something of the nutter to them. Thatcher, Blair, Johnson … all nutters. Even Corbyn did miles better than he should have, simply by virtue of being a nutter – though he ultimately failed for not being a kindred nutter. Reform give the impression of being long and strong in nutters. 'He crawled out under the wire,' twinkled Farage this morning of Yusuf's 'bid for freedom', 'but we got him back in!' 'Sorry to put you all through that!' said Yusuf with a slightly strangulated smile. 'I did realise the only way I was going to get a couple of days off was to resign and then come back again … I can't thank Nigel enough for having me back. I regret those tweets, I was exhausted.' As Farage implied, this is just the sort of thing that happens when passionate people care almost too much. For decades, the deepest analysis afforded to the England football side was that they needed to play with more 'passion', and there is now a huge amount of this in the way we assess politicians. Keir Starmer, a sterile lawyer who communicates with all the vim of a recorded 'see it, say it, sorted' message, does not reach the parts that need reaching. Farage speaks a more natural language, and consequently gets away with dismissing with one joke a row that would have consumed other parties' PR machines for weeks. 'Reform hit a speed bump last week,' he said in Wales of Yusuf's resignation and unresignation. 'Maybe it's because we were driving above the recommended 20mph …' Arguably, it was ever thus. Reform keeps refreshing its moniker, but in many ways it's still the same – like a bankrupt who changes his name each time he moves town and starts another double-glazing business. Ukip, the Brexit party, Reform – every time Nigel leads another one you hear a lot about professional revolution, but at some level they're still the same outfit where one MEP had some altercation with another one, after which the latter collapsed in the European parliament. As Neil Hamilton insisted at the time, this is simply the sort of thing that happens when 'passions run high'. But by far the most important part is: it doesn't seem to matter. What's changed in a post-Trump world is that chaos and drama can be repolished as political assets. As I say, I think the lack of discipline is part of the appeal. Discipline – what really is there to love about that word for most people? It smacks of being told off, which many have had quite enough of over the past decade of elite cultural policing. Politicians who manage rigidly conventional discipline above almost anything else have become regarded as robotic, while prodigals like Farage are polling like they're worth laying on a fatted takeaway for. Instead of trying to counter Farage with the very conventions to which he is an adverse reaction, the two main parties should consider how unbelievably badly they've cocked things up that Nigel's rolling drama seems like a good idea. 'Can we do it?' wondered Dr David Bull rhetorically this morning of making Farage prime minister. 'Well, to quote Bob the Builder: YES WE CAN.' Can't help thinking it was someone other than Bob the Builder who made 'yes we can' into an iconic political slogan … but – to use words which may function equally well as a Reform slogan – let's not get bogged down in details. Marina Hyde is a Guardian columnist
The Sun
14-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Sun
Watch the moment mum's £3 B&M mug EXPLODES two days after she bought it – as she says it ‘could've blown up in my face'
A MOTHER has been left gobsmacked after a B&M mug s pontaneously exploded and sounded 'like a bomb', just two days after she purchased it. Rebecca Drake, 33, caught footage of a glass mug exploding with no one near it and claims it could have blown up in her face. 7 7 7 The mum-of-one picked up two glass mugs and glass tumblers from the bargain chain on May 6th and used the cup for the first time just two days later on May 8th. She took a sip of her cold matcha latte, before putting the £3 mug down and popping into the garden. But when she returned, she found it shattered and the contents splattered across her table. Pointing the finger of blame at one of her two Sproodle dogs, the cake business owner looked at her dog camera footage and was stunned to see it had spontaneously exploded, sounding 'like a bomb'. After sharing the now-viral clip on Facebook, social media users were whipped up in a paranormal frenzy, urging her to flee the property and suggesting she contact famous psychic Derek Acorah. While the mother admits the explosion was 'spooky', she believes a chip in the glass was a more likely cause - and simply wants a refund from B&M. Rebecca, from Mirfield, West Yorkshire, said: "At first I thought maybe it could be a ghost, it was spooky. "I had one of the radio stations on and they were literally talking about poltergeists as I was cleaning it up. "But nothing has ever happened in my house before which has made me think that it's haunted. "I thought I'd check the dog camera to see if one of them jumped up and knocked it. I tried a viral hack promising to save hundreds on my B&M trolley but it was a total con - I scoured for 2 HOURS & only saved a tenner "I checked the camera and the sound was as if a bomb had gone off, I just couldn't believe it. It took my breath away how it did it on its own and how loud it was. "There were bits of tiny, tiny glass everywhere, it was all in the dogs ' fur and there were big chunks of it all on the table. "I was only outside for four minutes, I was drinking out of it three minutes before it exploded.' Not only this, but the shocked woman then added: "It could have literally exploded in my face or in my hands. 7 7 7 'I've got a daughter who's 11 and if she'd had it in her bedroom it could have really hurt her. "It's really scary to think what could have happened if myself or my daughter were holding the mug. "If there was hot liquid inside it could have scalded anyone. It's really dangerous. "I've wrapped up the other ones I bought and I'm going to take them back - I don't want them in my cupboard and I don't want them in my house." Stunned Rebecca, who bought the mugs from the Dewsbury branch of B&M in West Y orkshire, is unsure of the cause but believes damage in transit may have weakened the glass. Rebecca explained: "One thing that did confuse me a bit was that they wouldn't let me wrap them up when I bought them. "I asked if I could get some packaging so that they didn't get any chips in them but they said that they don't keep packaging and they just chuck it all. "If they're getting damaged then anything could happen. "Even if it gets the tiniest little chip that can cause the glass to have a weak point. I'm going to take the other mugs back. I don't trust them anymore." Footage shows the mug on the table as Rebecca's dogs, Suki and Cooper, watch her through the patio doors before a loud smash can be heard. The mug can be seen exploding as the contents of the matcha latte spills out across the kitchen table - with no one near it. Social media users react How to save money at B&M Shoppers have saved hundreds of pounds a year by using B&M's scanner app. The scanner lets you see if an item's price is cheaper than advertised on the shop floor label. Products that are typically discounted are seasonal items and old stock that B&M is trying to shift. The app is free to download off the B&M Stores mobile app via Google Play or the Apple App Store. According to one ex-B&M manager, you'll want to visit your local branch at 10am on a Wednesday too. Here's how you can join the B&M bargain hunt: Download the B&M app for free on any smartphone with an App Store or Google Play. Once you've installed it on your device, click on the option labelled "more" on the bottom, right-hand side of the app home page. You'll then find an option that says "barcode scanner". Click on this and you'll open a camera screen. Use the camera to hover over the barcode of the product you wish to check. If the price comes up as lower, take it to the cash desk and it will automatically scan at the lower price. You don't need to sign up to the B&M app to use the barcode scanner. Viewers shared their theories as to what caused the mug to shatter, with many suggesting it was most likely a manufacturing issue. One wrote: "Probably a fault in the glass or cold drink not helping." Whilst a second chimed in: "It's material fatigue. If it's tempered glass, then it doesn't tolerate scratches, micro-cracks etc well. "Or could be a fault while tempering glass too, uneven tension distribution, if it's manufacturing fault, there would be at least one piece that's much different from the rest.' However, at the same time, others looked to paranormal reasons. One simply wrote: "Poltergeist', whilst another commented: "I reckon you need to get Derek Acorah involved." And alongside a ghost emoji, someone else claimed: "I'd move house.' A B&M spokesperson has since said: "Product safety is our highest priority. 'This glass mug has undergone rigorous thermal shock testing by an independent laboratory, with all samples passing the required safety standards. "We are in direct contact with the customer and are actively investigating the issue."
